In the present financial situation it is unlikely to be unusual to discover customers of organisations that needed to return or exchange items, quite legally, to find themselves having to chase. If the supplier had been put into this position then it may be that exchange of items may not be an option as the stock may have been sold off so the customer would be left to add their claim to the rest of the claimants, which begins with the banks and the Inland Revenue & Customs. A private customer would be most unlikely to be confident in Debt Collection techniques and even have seen Debt Collection Letters and Debt Collection Software that could be used. It may possibly be that they would consult a solicitor in the first instance, and pay for the advice, or better still go to the Citizens Advice Bureau, where good advice is freely given. They may possibly be told that they are placed on the end of a long list of creditors and are unlikely to be paid much of the debt, if anything at all. Their next steps may possibly be set out as; a solicitor, a Debt Collection agency or maybe, if the advisor is aware of it, the DIY approach by using Debt Collection Software.

Hopefully they will be told about the likely fees of each option and this alone may well push the customer towards the DIY approach, as this option may possibly easily be within £100 to £200 and could be under £100 to get hold of with additionally postage charges on top of that. The Debt Collection agency may possibly cost from £1000 plus, while the solicitor may possibly charge initial fees in the £100s range, but if they recommend taking the supplier to court, then this path may possibly see the costs rise dramatically and may possibly easily end in the £10,000s and beyond.

It is well worth attempting the DIY approach to Debt Collection as a first step, not only because of the low price, but also because a good package of Debt Collection Software that includes Debt Collection Letters should be built on the best tenets of ethical and professional Debt Collection. This should take the customer along the correct route and at the same time record the activity and give the choice for this to be printed in a presentable way that is acceptable to the legal profession, should it come to that. It is important that the Debt Collection Letters are formatted in the proper manner and to make it easier the Debt Collection Software should permit a user to enter the least amount of information, typically details of the supplier and the goods, and then create the appropriate Debt Collection Letters as needed in order. The customer will then have to handle the postage so they will have to pay costs for printing, envelopes and postage. They should also be able to enter information, such as if a letter is received from anyone concerned or if a meeting is held and the summary of what happened needs to be recorded. Debt Collection Letters should have the date when they were printed recorded, but allow the user to also add a date of posting.

The idea is for the customer to be able to get their claim up to the level that they receive in excess of the bare minimum and if they are fortunate, the full amount.