Can I cancel a credit note after I've issued one

Mistral001

The OP made a lot of mistakes as they probably know. It is damage limitation time it would seem. Seek legal advice and then learn from the experience. If you can learn from it then it will probably be worth as much as year at Harvard business school (and that does not come cheap).

I suspect the legal advice will say that if you wanted to give them a credit note without admitting that your product/service in any way merited charging less than you agreed originally, then you should have given the credit note with a disclaimer describing that it was a good will gesture (in other words not admitting any fault). Afterall that is all it was.

I should have thought you cannot put a disclaimer on the credit note now of course as it is issued, but certainly I should think you are due the £2000-200 =£1800.

Buzby

You could not unreasonably curtail the use of a CN, however, what I'm not clear is if they have value - were they redeemed at any point? If not, nothing prevents you stipulating that CN's must be used within a set period 6/12 months from issue.

You could also force the issue by offsetting the amounts already on the CN assuming the payments have still to be made. Whilst this means you are having to give the value already agreed, it gets them voided quite quickly, and you can move on whilst still being 'reasonable'.

Aquamania

Mistral001 wrote: »

... but certainly I should think you are due the £2000-200 =£1800.

Why only £1800?
Why not the full £2000?

Aquamania

Buzby wrote: »

You could not unreasonably curtail the use of a CN, however, what I'm not clear is if they have value - were they redeemed at any point? If not, nothing prevents you stipulating that CN's must be used within a set period 6/12 months from issue.

You could also force the issue by offsetting the amounts already on the CN assuming the payments have still to be made. Whilst this means you are having to give the value already agreed, it gets them voided quite quickly, and you can move on whilst still being 'reasonable'.

I don't think you understand.

The OP issued a credit note, not a credit voucher.

You seem to be referring to a credit voucher. e.g. something you may be given if you take an article back to a shop because after you bought it you decided you didn't really want it.

A credit note is a formal financial document used in accounting. It's issue confirms that the amount stated has been credited to the recipient's account.
It's often issued, for example, to correct an invoice issued in error or as in this case to allow a discount on a previously invoiced value; you can't just say forget about it ... it all has to be accounted for.
There is nothing to redeem or use.

Mistral001

Aquamania wrote: »

Why only £1800?
Why not the full £2000?

Why did they issue the credit note in the first place? That is from a legal point of view and not from what they think they were issuing it for. It appears that the Op thought they were issuing it as a sort of sweetener so that they would not lose their business. It looks like they did not make it clear that is was not a an admission of fault but a no-fault payment.

The Op needs good legal advice. In fact the worst case scenario is that the OP's customer has refused to accept the credit note and will claim that they actually are owed more.

I wish the OP all the best. I know what it is like to lose out because of these sort things. Even the best legal advice is often not enough but is a help to us making a decision. We have to accept that hard work and trying to be reasonable (in our view) is not enough to deal with some people who have been in business a long time and know their onions so to speak.

Buzby

Whilst you may feel it useful to explain your understanding of a credit note vs a credit voucher, I can assure you, I issue the former (having been in business for 30-odd years) and the method used depends on whether the customer has a credit or cash account. I do not issue 'vouchers' (and indeed due to tax implications, these usually have a minuscule value).

Based on the fact the OP has not clarified which, then I'm afraid your explanation doesn't help until this is clarified.

cavework

colinairey wrote: »

Thanks for your advice.

The reason I wanted to reissue the invoices that we had credited them back was obviously because i feel very bitter towards the way are being treated.
We only gave the credits to secure future work so now thats all gone i thought of trying to get it back. I will have a chat with a solicitor about this but it might be best treating it as a bad experience.

Thanks again.

TBH .. as a legitimate business , once you issue credit notes to a client you really cannot then revoke them..
1st rule of business is , if you deliver the service your client has asked for then expect payment..
A client who constantly argues the invoice after work has been completed is not worth keeping , no matter how much further work they promise..
and as this client stills owes you money I would take them to the small claims court ASAP for what you have left that is owed!
No messing , no promises from them and no more work for them!
Good luck
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