328 MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY PLANTS 



will be sent through his bank. Such a footnote may be placed 

 by using a rubber stamp and may be worded as follows: "If 



remittance is not received before then we take it for 



granted that you prefer to have us draw on you for the amount." 

 If remittance does not follow, a sight draft should be made 

 out at the time specified. This is turned in to the bank for col- 

 lection. It is preferable that a sight draft be made out through 

 the bank at which the debtor has his deposit, as the debtor wiU 

 be less liable to give an evasive answer. If a sight draft is not 

 honored, a good heart-to-heart letter will often bring about the 

 desired result, but if not, it may be necessary to resort to other 

 means for making the collection. Possibly a local attorney or 

 some collecting agency may be most successful in bringing 

 about a speedy settleirient. 



V. Collecting Agencies. — Collecting agencies are estab- 

 lished in some cities for the purpose of collecting accounts. 

 Such agencies are mostly employed by the retail dealers. Some 

 are organized in connection with their associations such as have 

 been mentioned in connection with Retail Men's Credit Asso- 

 ciation. Others are private concerns. Some retail merchants 

 will turn all their accounts over to such agencies for collection. 

 The claims made in favor of collecting agencies are that they 

 make the collections at less cost than is possible if made by the 

 individual merchants, and that they are better trained as col- 

 lectors and as a result less money is lost due to bad accounts. 

 Arguments against this system of collecting may be based on the 

 ground that if he adopts it then he will not be in as close touch 

 with his customers and that the collector is not working directly 

 under the merchant for whom he collects and may therefore 

 adopt means for collecting which would not be approved by 

 the seller. Furthermore some customers are opposed to having 

 a collector employed by a collecting ag6.icy call, as such are 

 often known to be employed for collecting bad debts. 



For collecting bad accounts a locail collecting agency will 

 often prove to be very efficient. Local attorneys may also be 

 employed to advantage. They are usually willing to collect on 

 a percentage basis. 



