Cyprus-Forum.com

[connor]

Have noticed on this forum and some others i've visited that some Brits are planning to come to Cyprus with a view to starting a business on a self employed basis.

Well a word of caution to you...Cypriots are renowned for not paying up.

I speak from 20 years experience in running a business here and several business associates will bear out my comments.

Am in the automotive trade....99% of my customers are Brits and I rarely have a problem with them settling an acount. Friends of mine who are in the same trade are the opposite...their customers are 99% Cypriot. They are always having problems with customers not paying and seem to spend half their time chasing them for settlement of accounts.

So if you are planning to start up over here for yourself....just be very cautious as to whom you extend credit facilities to...and rubber cheques in Cyprus seem to be a national past time.

I asked my bank manager why cheque guarantee cards are not available here as they are in the UK....His reply..which was accompanied by a laugh was..."We cannot trust our customers with such a facility."

So just be cautious folks.

[Svetlana]

I appreciate that the above post is contentious and may raise emotions; may I remind members in advance, to address issues and not pass opinion on other Forum members, we have had enough of that already this week.

Lana

[purdey]

I too have had businesses in Cyprus for a number of years, and in all honesty I would not survive or make money if people did not pay on time. I have had to chase a few but in the main I have had no real problems.
I find the UK to be more of a problem where rubber cheques are concerned, and have now stopped accepting this form of payment.

[Nikitas]

ALthough a Cypriot I have not done business in Cyprus, but in Greece there are ready made drawings you can buy and hang on your premises. One shows a bedraggled, haggard businessman, a picture of total misery, the caption reads "the man who offers credit", the other drawing is of a healthy, prosperous man, and the caption reads "the man who sells for cash".

Apparently there is a market for such drawings and that says a lot.

Or to put it in the words of a Cypriot friend who is in business in Cyprus: "there is nothing like cash".

[Oracle]

I was given a size-able sum as a cheque yesterday by a Cypriot and when I took it to the bank this morning, I thought I would have to wait the 5 to 10 days as is customary from UK Bank practices .... but I was given the option of having the whole lot in cash.

Apparently Cypriot cheques can be cashed and are as good as money.

Now I feel guilty because the chap who paid me is not going to get his goods (already paid for now!) ..... until tomorrow.

Oh my bad British habits

[Oracle]

I appreciate that the above post is contentious and may raise emotions; may I remind members in advance, to address issues and not pass opinion on other Forum members, we have had enough of that already this week.

Lana

... what a big thumbs down for content and accuracy

[Svetlana]

...you are suggesting that this post might not raise emotions? Good-o, no need for me to put in my advance claim for overtime....


Lana

[connor]

Oracle....am pleased that your cheque cashed ok.

However i beg to differ with your comment...."Cypriot cheques are as good as cash."

If the funds were not in the account then surely the cash would not have been forthcoming.

It was not my intention to be contentious with my original post...if anyone is in any way offended by it then i do apologise. However i was stating facts from my personal experience and that of other business people i am acquainted with.

[Oracle]

...you are suggesting that this post might not raise emotions? Good-o, no need for me to put in my advance claim for overtime....


Lana

Well no one can argue with your superior insight and if the contents of the thread are deemed disputable as judged by your all-knowing eye ... then it frees the rest of us from having to prove the contents as invalid.

To save time, effort and emotion, would you in future, appraise all threads in this manner.

..... so we can concentrate on fun things instead ... now where's a fun thread

[CBBB]

I am afraid that having had similar experiences to connor since 1980, I have to agree with him entirely.

Although I have found that companies (even very big ones) are worse than individuals when it comes to paying up.

A number of years ago the largest supermarket chain on the island took the dairy product producers to court because they had agreed amongst themselves that if he didn't pay all of them on time, no one would supply him with goods. We are not talking about short payment delays, they were 6 months absolute minimum. The court ruled the produsers were in the wrong for creating a cartel!

The Government are bloody awful for paying up, but you normally get your money eventually.