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Trade Ledger Problems with Supplier...

Sorry if this post should not go in this section but not sure where to post x

Hi

I hope someone can help us with the legalities of this problem. I will try and give as much information as possible but pls ask if you need more.

Right... lol... me and my brother run an online business. Our goods are sourced from another online company and we are kind of the middle-man making commission.

We set up a trade ledger account with this company so that all purchases could be done either using Paypal or using their trade ledger. The account is in my brothers name.

Basic procedure for us was that customer purchases item and pays using Paypal, we order from online supplier using Trade Ledger account and the item gets delivered direct to the customer.

The supplier had an online trade ledger account display so that we could always see a break down of purchases and payments but also at the top of the screen was a summary. It gave us the balance owed and it was always up to the second in accuracy. We used to pay the balance every couple of weeks or so as we had to wait for the money to come from Paypal to our bank acct and then pay RBS (they were who my brother had the trade acct with).

Problems started 6 months down the line. We always paid the exact money we owed that was displayed at the top which showed balance owing. Little did we know that the supplier actually duplicated amounts in the ledger. For example if we paid £347.17 (balance owing), that would show on the trade ledger and then another amount something like £342.14. I remember asking a couple of times but was told that what we were seeing was not what they were seeing and it was OK. But it got to the point 6 months down the line when all of a sudden on the trade ledger they put a big amount on around £3000. When we spoke to them apparently because we did not pay the exact invoice amounts off for each of the items ordered they had to match up and for some reason the amounts went on double.

OK, we owe the money so they stopped us using the ledger and we had to stick to just using Paypal. All our commission was going to paying it off, in total around £4,500

We were doing OK in paying them £100 a week until a television/dvd player that was under warranty became faulty within the 1 year warranty. The supplier picked up the tv/dvd. Because it was faulty they would have sent out another one but they decided that they would keep the money and if we wanted another one sending out we would have to pay for it. Well it was for a customer so as it was originally purchased on the ledger we scraped the money together and paid for a new one. It was paid for on my Maestro card (NatWest).

Right this is now the problem I have that I need help with. Sorry for all the information above but I feel you need to know the history!!!

That tv/dvd that went back to the customer also was faulty so the supplier picked up again. Also we had another 32" tv that was faulty that they picked up. So they had 2 televisions one paid for using my Maestro card and one purchased using Paypal (neither purchased using the trade ledger). They are both faulty so the trade ledger is now showing these 2 amounts on but they will not use that money and send out 2 others. They say they are keeping the money to pay towards the debt and if we want 2 more we have to purchase them again. We do not have over £600 to purchase 2 more.

I am annoyed because they always said they would help by allowing us to continue purchasing using Paypal and our commission was been used to pay them back £100 a week. Well we stopped paying them as soon as this happened as they wont even let us trade now so how is that helping us.

They also sent me emails asking for my permission to use the money so it seems they cannot use the money to put towards the debt without my permission. I told them no way was I gonna let them have the money.

I opened up a dispute with Paypal (as one of the items was purchased using Paypal) but after 3 weeks they basically told me they cannot help as it is not part of their agreement that I agreed to!!

The other item which was purchased using my Maestro card (NatWest) I cannot see getting any help from them as the trade ledger account with the supplier is through RBS and dont NatWest own RBS now!!!

We are having to negotiate with the customers and pay them back a little very week as we cannot afford to pay them back all at once but we are annoyed.

We know that the problem with the trade ledger is 50% our fault as maybe we should have monitored the ins and outs of money but we utilised the balance owing. We even told them that but feel we have been let down.

More out of principal now I dont want them to get that money to put towards the trade ledger account so is there anyway we can approach this.

Looking forward to your replies. Sorry for it been so long but I have tried to give you as much facts as possible.

Comments

  • ILW
    ILW Posts: 18,333 Forumite
    I run a small business and I think you have been caught out by your own lack of experience and knowledge. We would never pay anybody purely on their statements and would always match our purchase ledger against any supplier figures. Any discrepencies would be queried and payment withheld. I think you need to look very closely at your books and then talk to your supplier. Also paying fess tp Paypal seems to be crazy as it will probably write off most of your margin. Do you use accountancy software such as Sage etc? Have you looked into your cashflow and profitability? You need up to date figures at any time on a nearly daily basis or you could find yourself in big trouble. I would soeak to your accountant ASAP.
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