1. "I was dealing with one of our resellers who always had an excuse as to why he couldn't pay. This one time I had been calling him for several days and when I finally got a hold of him, he said he hadn't been able to pay because the roof blew off his office and his past due invoice from my company and his check book seems to have blown out of the roof!!! Submitted by: Cheryl Kluczynski of Pacific Corporate & Title Services, Sacramento, CA

2. Bill Ellinger of Riley Sales Inc. told us recently, "I had a customer go for a couple of weeks without returning any calls. He stopped into the office to make a small payment on his account and I asked him why he doesn't return calls. He said the zero on his cell is broken and since we are in area code 610, he cannot return a call unless he is near a pay phone. He said this is the reason his business is slow and why he didn't have monies to pay on the account. This customer has since been placed with DAL."

3. Perhaps this customer of John Prather of Diamond Comics can’t handle the truth? Prather writes, “Our client was shocked to hear that his check came back to us as an NSF! He said he still had checks left in his checkbook."

4. Debtor sent in an arm and a leg of a Barbie Doll stating he could not give us cah right now, but "Here is payment since you are charging an arm and a leg." Submitted by Robert Rowe of The Reybold Group, Bear, DE

5. And so God decided...Sande Fisher of Tyco Electronics Corporation's collection efforts are apparently in the hands of God. If you listen to these debtors, God decides whether you get paid or not!  Fisher writes, "I called a customer in Utah about a delinquency and he told me he could not pay because God told him not to. He said if Tyco wants the payment, they should pray for it!!" .......and Fisher writes again, "...from a customer in Colorado. He said he couldn't pay the $500 he owed Tyco because God told him not to pay. He was to give the money to charity instead of us. We never did get the money. I later received a letter from a homeless shelter saying the gentleman contributed the money in our name!"

6. Bill Hawkins, Credit Manager of United Refrigeration, Inc. heard this one, “I wont be able to pay you for a while. My wife gave all of our money to a religious cult. Then she ran away and joined it."

7. "I can't make my payment this month because I have a boil on my #*|^*# (behind) and can't drive."
(Submitted by Linda Bryson, Collection Manager of Quality Car & Truck Leasing Inc.

8. A salesperson was attempting to pick-up a check from a customer. While standing outdoors at the customer's facility, the individual who writes the checks told the salesperson he would have to wait for payment because they have a fear of writing checks in public. (Submitted by Victor Terranova, Jr. of L.R. McCoy & Co., Worchester, MA who also wrote, "I wonder what the medical term is for that? Checkopohia?)

9. "I used the money to buy my wife a new car. I would rather be cut off by you than by her." (Submitted by Gordon Long, Corporate Credit Manager, National Home Centers, Inc.)

10. Note received from a delinquent customer on the back of a form from a correctional facility, “I cannot pay my bill at this time because I am incarcerated. Could you put my account on hold for 2 to 4 years?” - Submitted by Denise Rice of M. A. Bruder & Sons, Inc.