Late Invoice and Refund

[aphperspective]

I thought I would put this up having a recent back and forth with Alamy. To be fair customer relations were always quick in response.

I had an invoice overdue by more than 4 months invoice date 26 Feb 2024, asked  them to chase it up. Asked them again after nearly 5 months, it came in as a refund yesterday. My question to A was how can an invoice be allowed to run for so long and then come back as a refund over 5 months later.

Reply

 

"We like to be as transparent as possible and so report sales to you as they happen, rather than when the sale has cleared; but the downside to this is sales occasionally get refunded. 

When we say “refunded” technically this term’s not accurate as very rarely does money actually change hands.  Most common refund reasons are: incorrect invoice, customer’s price agreement not factored in or occasionally a customer’s project cancelled.

               

In the vast majority of these cases the image will not have been used but if it has, then you’ll see the sale re-entered with the correct invoice details.

 

If you need more help on how to read your balance of account page please check this link here."

 

Andy.

[mwakeling]

I had the same response for a refund for a sale that originated in Dec. 2021. I had contacted Alamy about the lack of clearance for the sale. The account under which the sale was made had been closed, and another reopened, resulting in the loss of account records. The sale was refunded. Much later, the sale was rebilled at a higher amount when I showed that the image was used and is still archived on the buyer's website.  After many months of back and forth, the sale was refunded in August 2023, a year and a half after the initial sale and usage, which resulted in my dropping to Silver. Given the time passage and the resultant loss of earnings because the sale had been reposted and refunded, it was very disappointing. I believe that the longer timeline for chasing payment, and the onus on the contributer for alerting Alamy to unpaid sales creates issues such as this.

 

Basically, it means that Alamy could not collect for the sale if it was indeed used. You may wish to see if you can find where the image was used and if you can demonstrate that it was published, contact Infringements. Otherwise, you may be out of luck. I am sorry that this happened to you.

[aphperspective]

I have a feeling that whatever I find Alamy's response is basically take it or leave it, if a usage cannot be found.

Thanks for the reply.

Andy.

[Steve F]

On 06/08/2024 at 09:34, aphperspective said:

I thought I would put this up having a recent back and forth with Alamy. To be fair customer relations were always quick in response.

I had an invoice overdue by more than 4 months invoice date 26 Feb 2024, asked  them to chase it up. Asked them again after nearly 5 months, it came in as a refund yesterday. My question to A was how can an invoice be allowed to run for so long and then come back as a refund over 5 months later.

Reply

 

"We like to be as transparent as possible and so report sales to you as they happen, rather than when the sale has cleared; but the downside to this is sales occasionally get refunded. 

When we say “refunded” technically this term’s not accurate as very rarely does money actually change hands.  Most common refund reasons are: incorrect invoice, customer’s price agreement not factored in or occasionally a customer’s project cancelled.

               

In the vast majority of these cases the image will not have been used but if it has, then you’ll see the sale re-entered with the correct invoice details.

 

If you need more help on how to read your balance of account page please check this link here."

 

Andy.

 

Thanks for posting.