Debt Collection Agencies in Japan
Akebono Translation Service
Does anyone have any good experiences with collecting small amounts of
money in Japan (about 2 man yen)? It's rather about the principle than
the actual amount.
I found these guys at http://www.god-hand.biz/lev1/ but they still
charge 5 man yen just for starters.
Basically I have a client here who, 75 days after the invoice (payment
terms 30 days net) was sent, suddenly comes up with the name of a third party we never heard
of, who is supposed to pay this invoice. The contract however is
between us and the client, not between us and the third party (who
refuses to reply to e-mails anyway). To make a long story short: this client has the letters
SCAM written all over him...
Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Best regards,
Loek van Kooten
--
Akebono Translation Service
Rijnstraat 32
2311 NK Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-71-5128026
Fax: +31-84-7390618
www.akebono.nl
Algemene voorwaarden: www.akebono.nl/algemeen.doc
Terms and conditions: www.akebono.nl/terms.doc
Chamber of Commerce reg. no.: 28066372
IMPORTANT: All delivery dates stated in quotes are as of the moment the quote
was sent and can change as soon as other projects come in.
BELANGRIJK: Bij alle leveringsdata in offertes gaan we uit van de agenda op dat
moment. De data kunnen wijzigen zodra er andere projecten binnenkomen.
Marc Adler
Basically I have a client here who, 75 days after the invoice (payment
terms 30 days net) was sent, suddenly comes up with the name of a third party we never heard
of, who is supposed to pay this invoice. The contract however is
between us and the client, not between us and the third party (who
refuses to reply to e-mails anyway). To make a long story short: this client has the letters
SCAM written all over him...
Where is the client who isn't paying? Just a general area (Tohoku, Hokuriku, Kanto, Chuubu, etc.) would be useful.
--
Marc Adler
Austin, TX
لا شيء إلا الضوء
Akebono Translation Service
Dear Marc,
|
> |
Where is the client who isn't paying? Just a general area (Tohoku, Hokuriku, Kanto, Chuubu, etc.) would be useful. |
Peace.
He (or actually I believe it's a she) lives in Tokyo (Nakano-ku, Hon-cho to be precise).
Matt Stanton
along these lines:
近い将来に私のラグビーチームが東京で大会に参加するので、その時にこの件について話し合うために貴社にちょっと寄ろうかと思っております。よろしくお
願いいたします。
The money was in my account within a day or two.
No threat made, but the company obviously weren't too keen on the idea
of a group of foreign rugby players dropping in on some unspecified
date to "discuss" the issue.
By the way, the last time I played rugby was when I was in school 20
years ago.
Matt Stanton
Edward Lipsett /t
> He (or actually I believe it's a she) lives in Tokyo (Nakano-ku, Hon-cho to be
> precise).
We've had maybe a dozen or so bad debts in about 25 years of business,
mostly from individuals rather than companies. For the three companies that
stiffed us, we went to court, won, and collected zip. They were gone.
Sure, we talked to collection agencies, and they weren't interested because
it would cost too much to hunt the people down and there wasn't much chance
of recovering the cash.
We talked to the local Chamber of Commerce about blacklisting the companies
and people involved. Sorry, can't do that, it wouldn't be nice.
The bottom line is we got stuck, nobody cares, and we tightened up our
procedures for accepting jobs.
Unless you're talking about a significant amount of cash, I'd settle for
just stating the facts here, on JAT and anywhere else you can think of,
including all their contact information.
----------
Edward Lipsett, Intercom, Ltd.
translation @intercomltd.com
Publishing: http://www.kurodahan.com
Translation & layout: http://www.intercomltd.com
friedem...@gmail.com
On May 21, 3:35 pm, Matt Stanton <mattst...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 近い将来に私のラグビーチームが東京で大会に参加するので、その時にこの件について話し合うために貴社にちょっと寄ろうかと思っております。よろしくお
> 願いいたします。
>
> The money was in my account within a day or two.
>
Uh, I'm glad it worked out for you, but you can make a good
argument that you threatened them with physical force.
How is this any different from saying "I know a couple of
chaps without pinkies but lots of tattoos and golden watches
in your neighborhood. We'd like to come around and discuss
this issue." (Come to think of it, those are the guys in charge
of most out-of-court dispute resolution anyway.)
Friedemann Horn
Keith Wilkinson
letter setting out the facts and requesting that they pay
by such and such a date may be enough to make them
pay up. Cost : about 300 yen for the forms plus about
410 yen postage. 内容証明 are used in this sort of case
when you want proof that you told somebody something,
and the proof may well be intended for use in court (read on).
Small claims court （簡易裁判所） is good for
claims up to 1.4 million and also costs surprisingly
little (the cost depends on the amount claimed).
The other side either contests it (and has the
choice of dragging it out in court, if it's a sum
like say over half a million yen then it might be
worth contesting) or if he/she doesn't contest it
then it can take as little as 20 minutes in court
and the court can order seizure of assets.
You don't need to use a lawyer, you can use a
司法書士 or even represent yourself, I gather.
Matt Stanton
> argument that you threatened them with physical force.
> How is this any different from saying "I know a couple of
> chaps without pinkies but lots of tattoos and golden watches
> in your neighborhood. We'd like to come around and discuss
> this issue." (Come to think of it, those are the guys in charge
> of most out-of-court dispute resolution anyway.)
>
> Friedemann Horn
that all it actually did was say that I'd be in the area (because of
blah blah), and that I might pop in then for a chat. I decided that it
was innocent looking enough that they were far more likely to just pay
up than bring in the cops - which could have got them into trouble for
making a frivolous complaint. But, of course, I wouldn't recommend
doing it if you haven't got the stomach for the risk of arrest.
Matt
Jim Lockhart
I agree with (what I think) Friede is saying: in Japanese, this looks
like a not-all-to-vieled threat that, these days, could get you into
some deep doo-doo.
The best way to deal with deadbeats here is to take a defensive stance
against them: don't work for private individuals, at least not without
seeing cash first, even if they are referred to you by a mutual friend;
don't accept work worth more that a couple-万 yen during any given
billing period until a new client builds a track record of on-time
payments with you; if you get a large job, insist on either an up-front
payment of a significant amount or milestone payments (some people will
try to convince you that this is not done in Japan; they are either
wrong or lying: it is both done and accepted practice).
I know this won't help Marc (or was it Loek?), but other avenues of debt
collection just aren't very effective.
--Jim Lockhart
Jim Lockhart
> I decided that it
> was innocent looking enough that they were far more likely to just pay
> up than bring in the cops - which could have got them into trouble for
> making a frivolous complaint. But, of course, I wouldn't recommend
> doing it if you haven't got the stomach for the risk of arrest.
That was not innocent-looking at all from a Japanese perspective. I
think you're the one who stood to get into trouble had they called the
police, especially if you were to actually show up with the boys from
the rugby team (if you showed up alone, you prolly could have talked
your way out of the situation).
My wife told me a long time ago to never say anything that someone could
even remotely interpret as a threat during the same conversation that
some sort of demand or request might be made. Even saying 「話し合うため
に]寄ろうか (though you did couple it with と思う) could set of alarm
bells in that sort of situation--she says some form of 寄らせていただく
(寄らせていただいてよろしいでしょうか).
(I remember once when our kids did something and the other kid's dad
said to me: 「話し合うため寄ろうか」 that my wife's and kid's faces went
chalk-white at the suggestion. They told me that was code for "put your
gloves on, pal; 'cause I'm comin' over [and I'm fightin' mad!]")
HTH,
--Jim Lockhart
Akebono Translation Service
> I know this won't help Marc (or was it Loek?), but other avenues of debt
> collection just aren't very effective.
Loek ;-)
Matt Stanton
now on.
Matt
On May 21, 4:53 pm, Jim Lockhart <jamesalockh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 21 May 2008 00:33:41 -0700 (PDT)
>
Akebono Translation Service
We have decided to call the client each and every day until he pays
up. Thank you for your advice!
Edward Lipsett /t
> We have decided to call the client each and every day until he pays
> up. Thank you for your advice!
About how much does each phone call cost you?
And how many days will it take until the amount spent reaches the amount
due?
Akebono Translation Service
> About how much does each phone call cost you?
> And how many days will it take until the amount spent reaches the amount
> due?
With Skype about 1 euro per hour ;-)
Edward Lipsett /t
> With Skype about 1 euro per hour ;-)
In that case it might be worth it!
David McGrogan
think of about the client on every translation site on the web. You
could do it here and on translatorscafe.com for starters.
Akebono Translation Service
As several people have requested the contact details of our defaulter,
I hereby give you all current data:
Name of client:
Ibai Ameztoy
Nakano-ku Hon-cho 4-34-11
164-0012 Tokyo
Japan
E-mail: ibai.a...@gmail.com
Cell phone: 080-2025-0557
Capacity:
Japanese - Spanish translator
Project:
Trial translation from Japanese to English on games
Invoice amount:
135.30 euro
Payment terms:
30 days net
Quote sent on February 29th 2008. Quote confirmed by client on March 1st 2008. Work was delivered on time and no complaints were received about quality.
Invoice sent on March 2nd. Receipt of invoice acknowledged by client on March 2nd.
First reminder sent on April 5th. No response received.
Second reminder sent on April 13th. Client responded on April 13th saying she would return to Japan "next Tuesday" and make the transfer "ASAP".
Third reminder sent on April 26th. Client responsed on April 26th by
CCing the reminder to an unknown *new* third party called Active Gaming Media (www.activegamingmedia.com). No further response was received.
Fourth reminder sent on May 4th in which name and address of debt collection agency were mentioned. No response received.
Blueboard entry made on Proz.com on May 10th.
Inquiry sent to Active Gaming Media on May 16th, to ask whether they are indeed willing to bear responsibility for payment of the invoice. So far, no response has been received. Client responded on same date claiming that Active Gaming Media was responsible for payment from the very beginning (though their name was never mentioned). Client also indicated that she will not pay the invoice. When asked for proof showing that Active Gaming Media was indeed responsible for payment from the very beginning, client claimed that all correspondence before May had been "processed already" (we interpret this as "lost").
May 22nd. Phone call made to Active Gaming Media. Person in charge not available.
To be continued...
friedem...@gmail.com
On May 22, 10:58 pm, Akebono Translation Service <i...@akebono.nl>
wrote:
> Trial translation from Japanese to English on games
cause for the
misunderstanding? That the whole thing was just a trial?
I also second what others said about not working for individals.
Sure,
companies can go under as well, but a well-established presence with
an office and employees is likely to vanish than a single individual.
The key to working with individuals is 前払い.
Friedemann Horn
Akebono Translation Service
> I realize that there are also paid trials, but maybe this was the
> cause for the
> misunderstanding? That the whole thing was just a trial?
No, the quote very clearly stated a price which the client agreed
with. Also, if the client did not know that the translation should be
paid for, she wouldn't have acknowledged receipt of the invoice.
IMHO, the real issue is that the client thinks its perfectly okay to
order from someone elses purse. Personally I blame this on total lack
of business experience.
Akebono Translation Service
It seems our phone calls did the trick. We just received an e-mail
from Active Gaming Media saying that they will indeed pay the invoice
near the end of July. By that time it will be almost 4 months old, but
this is already more than we ever expected, so I guess we'll have to
live with it.
Akebono Translation Service
> It seems our phone calls did the trick. We just received an e-mail
> from Active Gaming Media saying that they will indeed pay the invoice
> near the end of July. By that time it will be almost 4 months old, but
> this is already more than we ever expected, so I guess we'll have to
> live with it.
Sorry, that is supposed to read near the end of June.
Akebono Translation Service
> Dear all,
>
> > It seems our phone calls did the trick. We just received an e-mail
> > this is already more than we ever expected, so I guess we'll have to
> > live with it.