Donât you have some DAâs or something you can withhold?
Iâd love to say everyone in this industry works with integrity, because it really is people industry and things like this travel, but like every industry there are bad people.
Never even knew they existed. Sorry to hear. There are, literally, 3 or 4 reputable small guys to deal with, the rest I wouldnât even talk to. For obvious reasons, as you can see. Lack of money is not the only issue, its access to accounts.
We got stiffed a couple of times, same as OP. Once in MA, another one in Kansas. Took a bit, but Kansas guy finally paid up (thanks to the board member ITB who helped out). MA one, roughly $25K owed, never paid.
Forget distributors, shops/bars in CA at times abuse the small guys. One shop in Pleasant Hill was notorious, seems they finally closed doors a few years ago (too bad I learned only too late, and I was the only one to report them to ABC, others were playing the âhopeâ game, crazy). Oakville Grocery, stiffed a good number of people, we were in for ~$2.5K at the time before most figured out whatâs going on. Bar wine in Danville, CA, manager used his prior connections to stock up, all snorted up his nose, literally. Another uncollectable ~1.5K down the drain, or, rather more accurately, nose. Eventual text message with a âSorry, man, didnât mean to do to this to you, I have a drug problemâ.