Another one bites the dust

[ancona]

Well, for the third time in less than a year, a Prime contractor we are working for is in deep financial shit. We're 300 large out the door on a contract we have already finished, yet have only been paid 34K out of 336K owed. These guys have lied, obfuscated and come up with everything under the sun except the money.

Well, on Thursday last week I wrote an e-mail to his contracting officer [who happens to be a friend of mine] and asked politely for a copy of their performance and payment bond so that I could preserve my rights to claim against it in the event of non-payment.

She e-mailed me back with an incredulous response, telling me that they had filled out their certification of prompt payment to ALL sub-contractors, which included us. That means they have been committing fraud since January, which was my first and only draw paid to date.:flail:

We shall see how this one goes, but with the CO now holding all remaining funds until we are made whole, it's looking better than the last company that did this to us.:judge:

Wish us luck!

 

[pmbug]

I'm hoping for the best for you brother, but if they've had the money since January and made concerted efforts to avoid paying you to now, I'm guessing that money went down a hole somewhere.

 

[DoChenRollingBearing]

...

GEEZIS, Brother Mark!

Green shoots my A$$! Things look like they keep going down (oh, except for the stock market).

Maybe with all the problems and lack of .gov funding (deficits, sequestration, etc.), all "non-essential" business with them is at risk. Not to mention the wildly inept people you have to work with, I guess it is not just a few individuals, more like MOST of them... "Good enough for government work" seems to attract parasites who are not good at what they do...

My very limited experience (two cases) of companies shafting ME (a crook in one case, and a bankruptcy that sounds like the guys you are dealing with now) leads me to think that if there have been several months of no payment, then you are cooked or nearly so.

Does that performance bond / CO business you referred to give you any rights to money if they try to wriggle out?

:judge: :judge:

:judge: :judge:

Good luck!

 

[Jay]

...

"Good enough for government work" seems to attract parasites who are not good at what they do...

I'm driving back to work after lunch yesterday, going perhaps 25-30 MPH in my little Saab my wife scored for almost nothing. The fat ass fireman down the street, who is sitting on the porch with his fat assed girlfriend/wife screamed at me "slow down" but wouldn't look me in the eye. It occurred to me that everyone in this little town wants a job with great benefits where you don't have to do anything but can flaunt your importance. All the public sector workers (cops, firemen, EMS) are 300 pounds plus. I don't know how they pass the physical to get hired.

 

[ancona]

I'm hoping for the best for you brother, but if they've had the money since January and made concerted efforts to avoid paying you to now, I'm guessing that money went down a hole somewhere.

No Bug, the government still has around 19% of their total funds, and now they [the Prime] have to show NASA how we will be paid before any money is released. This could mean two party checks, direct deposit of the money to our account by GAO or another arranged set-up. The government is not in the business of allowing the large contractors to kill off the small ones, so since we complained early enough, there is still money.

 

[mmerlinn]

It is beginning to look more and more like having any connection to government funds is like tying a noose around your neck. Not that the government is trying to screw anyone rotflmbo directly, but their policies attract and/or even encourage the undisciplined and unqualified to become government contractors. Swimming in a lake of swill like that would discourage any reputable contractor from even trying for government work.

In general, my observation is that the government attracts people NOT QUALIFIED TO WORK FOR ANYONE ELSE, not even themselves. The following quote, to a large degree, also applies to people that contract to the government.

"The best minds are not in government. If they were, business would hire them away." - Ronald Reagan