KX-UNIT TOP 100 SMES

KX-Unit is humbly and extremely delighted to accept the invitation of Singapore Awards Association for accepting the Awards of TOP 100 SME for “Singapore Elite’s Enterprise 2015 – 2016”. It has been a rigorous year ever since KX-Unit started in 2015, our staff have been striving very hard to create an utmost professional service standards in the industry.
Every small step of effort being strive, leads to bigger benefits for the public.

We are thankful for the nomination, but most important this serve as a big motivation to all the staffs in KX-Unit to maintain the best of our efficiency and professionalism. And in such we would like to say a very big

THANK YOU

for all the support. Your interest is our wholehearted priority. If you do require a professional opinion on your own situation, or if you do know someone that may have such a need, feel free to contact KX-Unit at +65 8112 7790 or drop us a mail at enquiries@KX-Unit.com if you have any queries on this case or our services, and we will be most willing to advise. Alternatively, you may visit our website at http://www.KX-Unit.com/

SCAM CASE SERIES – THE MOOKATA SCAM:

Part 2 – “Unravelled of Astonishing facts”
As mentioned previously, Part 2 of the article will highlight the more complex aspects of the case. As such, we will talk about how the case has been systematically identified by KX-Unit’s Anti-Scam Assessment rubrics as a scam.
The role of Investor A (scammer’s friend) and the current Mookata owner will be highlighted. KX-unit’s engagement with the case also meant that we started off with intensive preliminary findings and sourced for details regarding the parties involved. Our research and analysis showed that the scammer is not a bankrupt (an initial fear of our client) and we managed to find out that he has been in and out of businesses for the past decade.

Under the scammer’s name, he had 6 current business entities and all of them were Private Limited and registered to the same address. This raises some concern because if his businesses were indeed legitimate, the nature of their business operations would not have permitted them all to be at one small central space. In fact, none of these 6 businesses had any online business profiles and trail, they all operated under the same modus operandi. Additionally, we also did more financial and business background assessment on him to ascertain if he had the ability to pay off the debt.

This is where we found out that he has had multiple businesses that were started and terminated within a span of 1 to 2 years, another sign that these businesses were empty shells for shady dealings. Businesses usually seek to have a sustainable and longer duration in order to have the impression of reliability. But this was not the case with the scammer.
These findings coincided with what our client shared with regards to Investor A, someone that the scammer brought in supposedly to be an investor, but was really in cahoots. Various telltale signs attest to that. Investor A was supposed to have invested $125,000 into the venture, just as our client did. But when the venture failed (because the Mookata owner “ran away”), we would expect that Investor A be anxious, worried and devastated. But that was not to be.

When Investor A saw our client outside, he asked our client out for tea. But instead of talking about how they could recover the money back, Investor A appeared to have no qualms about “losing” his part of the money ($125,000). He is a pilot with one of the airline carriers in Singapore, but even so, $125,000 is not a small sum.
Their conversation slowly shifted to Investor A convincing our client that it would be “pointless” to sue and make the scammer bankrupt because then the scammer would not be able to pay him anyway. Instead of showing concern, he felt that investor A was out to convince our client not to take any action against the scammer, which points to his culpability and that perhaps the scammer and investor A are in cahoots.

One thing was sure, Investor A did not speak as though he was a victim like he was supposed to be, rather, he spoke like an accomplice to the scammer.
By then, the scammer has delayed payments for close to 6 months – using tactics like empty cheques to distract our client. But our client decided not to sue him first because he still saw the scammer as a friend. What did the scammer do in return? He evaded.

When we went to see him to hand him the letter of demand and simply ask for negotiation, the scammer evaded us. He promised us 3 appointments over the course, but he always switched off his phone during the actual day of appointment. He would tell us to email him to set new appointments again and again.
When we did timely and tactical impromptu visits to him, he was caught off guard and maintained that he does not want to see us, even when he knew that our client has entrusted us to represent him in discussions. He evaded all possible constructive dialogues with us. In addition, the scammer even went on to call our client and told him not to pay us (debt collectors) but instead use the money to give him a “discount” on his debt. It was clear that the scammer is highly manipulative, cunning, and insincere. Not to mention, unreliable.

In our engagement, KX-Unit also contacted the real owner of the Mookata Restaurant and was able to communicate with him to establish one of the clearest evidence of the scam for our client. And this was rather distressing news for our client, because our client had sincerely hoped that first he was not scammed and that his money could be recovered. Knowing the truth through KX-Unit was a distressing ordeal for him.
Nonetheless, we asked the Mookata owner a few questions over the phone. We started by asking if he knew the scammer, to which he replied: yes. We asked him if he knew that the scammer was running an investment on his restaurant, he said: yes. When we finally asked him whether the scammer could have been running any shady dealings, he replied: “He is definitely a scammer. A rotten scam”.

We asked if he would be able to meet us and our client to clarify certain issues and he readily agreed. During the rather solemn meeting, we found out that the scammer had also duped the owner of the Mookata restaurant. The scammer approached him to ask if he could buy over his business, and through it all maintained a very generous and sincere personality.
For example, he gave the owner a $10,000 cheque on the first meeting as a form of goodwill deposit that he will be buying over the business. He later handed the owner another cheque for $10,000 when the owner asked if he was going to do the business acquisition, to signal his “genuine” interest – and at this point, the owner really felt convinced that he could start preparing the company for handover. The scammer then asked for “about 2 months” to get the “investors” together.
The most surprising of all was that this actually parallels to what the scammer told our client on the other hand. Within the same time frame, the scammer also told our client that he needed 2 months to set up the Cashiering and Order systems, and also finalize the contractual agreements.

When our client heard this and pieced together the entire picture, he broke down. He was hoping against hope that it would not be a scam. But the same way the scammer scammed him; the scammer also scammed the Mookata restaurant owner. The amount of manipulation needed to pull this off is tremendous.

The scammer betrayed both sides and played both our client and the mookata owner against each other. The scammer stopped contacting the Mookata owner after awhile and it soon became clear that the acquisition was not going to happen. The owner had to frustratingly put the pieces together once again and try to get back his workers and equipment to re-run his business again.
Our client, however, was not as lucky. He had just found out that he has lost his $125,000 to a scam. And that the money has never been meant for investment in the first place. The staffs at KX-Unit provided our client the necessary support he needed. It is not easy having to deal with the guilt that one’s own shortcoming and mistake has led to a greater price at the end of the day.
One of our services also include helping our client to escalate the matter to the Commercial Affairs Department so that IMMEDIATE action to probe can be done to safeguard the interest of our client. To aid in the expedience of the process, all details of the point of contacts in the whole chain of events has been systematically collated for the relevant authorities on behalf of our client.

We live by our creed: Never Falter Never Capitulate. And we will give our all to help our client. As the case is on going case, we remain alert and active in trying to secure an amicable and feasible solution for our client. KX-Unit would still be assisting to see if there is any form of solution can be attained in this case.

We hope the Scam Case Series sharing has been informative to all. If there is any take away, it is that even in the most foolproof of cases and the most convincing of business plans; you would have failed if you fail to consider the intangibles (like an investor’s track record, past history, financial credibility, business portfolios, etc.) This information could have potentially averted painful losses for all parties.

If you ever need a professional advice and opinion on your business proposal, and you get the hunch that something is not correct, or if you allow yourself to be too comfortable with the rationality and logical accounts of the profit margins, we advise you to take a step back.

Look at the big picture and even get a professional opinion. After all, it will only be to your benefit. Should you need that professional opinion, KX-Unit has a systematic and customised Anti-Scam Assessment for your business needs. From character profiling to business backgrounds to financial credibility, we will be most willing to assist. If you have any other queries on the services we offer, please do feel free to contact KX-Unit at +65 8112 7790 or drop us a mail at enquiries@KX-Unit.com. You can also visit our website athttp://www.KX-Unit.com/

OPERATIONAL INSIGHTS – ELECTRONIC OPERATIONALIZATION

In this week’s Operational Insights, KX-Unit is proud to announce that our sustained efforts to go Electronic since the start of this year has been successful and rewarding, although making the Transformation has not been easy. We will be sharing some Benefits of being the first in the Debt Recovery industry to go full electronic (by replacing hardcopy legal paper documents to FULL ELECTRONIC SOFTCPY INTO TABLETS for on-site negotiations) – and highlight the positive implications of these for our clients, especially when we are now fully able to Integrate our electronic sources and synchronize our Administrative, Consultation, and Operation teams to work effectively and optimally as one.

In today’s digital age, information and knowledge is key. But more importantly, the speed at which we can access this information further enhances our position in the industry. The ability to leverage on the information at speeds can be critical to the negotiation process on-site; effectively deciding whether a debt or dispute can be resolved.

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The process of transition from using the typical paper sources to integrating our work with electronic sources has been successful. As the Future-Generation oriented Debt Recovery Agency, KX-Unit has been acquiring, operationalizing, and integrating electronic sources into our work. The need for the use of electronic systems was necessary because in our typical day of work, we deal with at least 12 different cases at different stages of recovery. These cases also feature various levels of complexity. What this means is that we had to carry files and stacks of document with us for discussions, dialogues, and even negotiations! Finding the documents can sometimes already be a difficulty in itself.

In fact, sometimes we need to identify a particular clause in a particular contract that our client and the debtor have signed in order to clarify a dispute. And going electronic with our tablets allow us to quickly search for them to get the upper hand – the clearer picture, and the fastest. Some of the documents that we have integrated include contracts, invoices, purchase orders, Warrant to Act, Letter of Demand, Proof of Debt, Debtor’s Details, and more. Ultimately, we do so to serve the best interest of our client. The Debt collection industry is saturated and while some may chose to rest on their laurels, KX-Unit works towards a more effective, efficient, and sustainable system for industry-leading service and growth, for our clients. By now, we have fine-tuned the conversion and use of paper to electronic sources like our own personal smartphone, our negotiator tablets, and even our body cameras!

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The benefits of going electronic may be obvious. But in the context of the Debt Collection industry, every added convenience and ease means more energy and bandwidth can be devoted and harnessed by our negotiators for dialogue and on-negotiation. The dynamism of the on-site negotiations may sometimes be overwhelming, but the use of electronic sources with multiple back-up sources, and even the original paper copy has provided added assurance for our negotiation. This enhances our effectiveness and accentuates our Professionalism.

Of course, with the use of technology like the tablets, we effectively have a walking computer with us. But sometimes, there is also the fear that the debtor may get violent and attempt to destroy our operational tools and kit. This is why all our negotiators wear a body camera – and not just any body camera, but one that is fully integrated with our tablet and dedicated server for real-time info ops (and evidence, if need be).

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With the help of technology, KX-Unit’s transmission of data has become almost instant; in fact, it is almost real-time. The nitty-gritty details needed for the upper hand in an on-site negotiation is also facilitated by KX-Unit’s ability to synchronize the entire operation using our body camera for intra-unit awareness. This is critical for moments when multiple parties are involved, or when a debtor happens to get evasive.

On a management level, KX-Unit has already found the most optimal way to administratively transfer documents to electronic source, and at the same time retaining the original documents in our cabinets. This presents a holistic framework for this:-
“Future-Ready Debt Recovery Agency”

We proudly call: KX-Unit.

KX-Unit has always pledged our commitment to service and quality. And the full operationalizing of our electronic capabilities re-affirms our commitment to the promise of quality. We do not rest on our laurels or be commitment, we value-add to the needs of our clients, and we rectify and reassure our client. In fact, our tablets and smartphones will also be able to access various framework and pre-used Courses of Action to make our strategizing and planning more interactive with our clients. This makes it easier for us to project various outcomes for our clients’ understanding and best interests.

At the end of the day, our development at KX-Unit is primarily for our client’s best interest. From character profiling to business backgrounds to financial credibility, we are well-placed to assist. If you have any other queries on the services we offer, please do feel free to contact KX-Unit at +65 8112 7790 or drop us a mail at enquiries@KX-Unit.com. You can also visit our website athttp://www.KX-Unit.com/

KX-DEDICATION (MAY 2016)

KX-Unit is happy to share with the joy of our client. We have successfully helped our client to resolve a case with the debt amount of $152,000.00 within a 3 installment repayment.

Although the case was not easy because of the debtor’s non-communication tendencies, KX-Unit is proud to say that we have retained our high level of professionalism. We carefully initiated and steered the dialogue and subsequently the negotiations to achieve our client’s best interest. At the end of the day, we are happy that our client is able to recover his rightful amount and also remain fair to the challenges of the debtor. KX-Unit is able to strike that artful balance between representing and achieving the best interest of our client while facilitating the process for the debtor. The staffs at KX-Unit take great pride in providing the value-added and quality service for our clients, as this picture testifies – we have done so, and will continue to do so.

Your interest is our wholehearted priority. If you do require a professional opinion on your own situation, or if you do know someone that may have such a need, feel free to contact KX-Unit at +65 9610 3425 (Jet Guo) or +65 81127790 or drop us a mail at enquiries@KX-Unit.com if you have any queries on this case or our services, and we will be most willing to advise. Alternatively,
you may visit our website at http://www.KX-Unit.com/

CLAIMS AND DISPUTE MANAGEMENT: “WORK 10%, CLAIM 90%”

In this month’s series on Claims and Dispute Management, KX-Unit will be contextualizing and sharing on a case involving our client and a supposedly reputable renovation company.

This is a renovation case involving a debt of $85, 000. The stated amount was supposed to be progressively paid, but the debtor has managed to draw 90% of the funds by presenting the semblance of progression in the renovation works. In reality, he only did about 10% of the work. Our client is a direct owner of a penthouse unit, which was new and required full furnishing. Our client thus engaged the debtor for his company’s renovation services.

But our client did not make the decision without first consulting renovation forums. When he saw that the debtor’s company repeatedly appeared online, including generally positive reviews of their services, our client decided to engage the debtor’s company last year. He would later be in for a shock.
The renovation works were supposed to start on January this year. As our client was busy planning for his wedding with his fiancé, they trusted the debtor to carry out the necessary renovation works and accordingly to the schedule, repeatedly reminding the debtor that he should raise any concerns about being unable to meet the deadline so they can be flexible about the options. This was because our client had intended to move in to his new house immediately after his wedding, and also because his until then rental agreement had already expired.

But the debtor instead, took the chance to ask for more money. The debtor first started by asking for money (another 40%) to buy the initial required raw materials like marble flooring, wooden beams, etc. for the renovation, when in fact the first 20% of the progression sum would have sufficiently paid for it. On subsequent occasions, the debtor got bolder and asked for an advance of another 30% of the sum in order to secure the “necessary labor” needed.

Our client did not think much about it, and neither did he go down to the penthouse to personally inspect the unit because the wedding preparations were already mounting and about to begin. Relatives over the world had to be coordinated with and the couple simply lacked the bandwidth to juggle them. That was also the reason why they tried so hard to find a reliable renovator. And to be fair, the debtor was such a person with a highly personable character and earnest disposition.

The debtor’s willingness and earnestness in calling for multiple meetings to supposedly discuss progress were – in hindsight – about extending another request for advance payment. And our client did not know until his in-laws decided to go down one day to check out the unit, which was by then – according to their Gantt chart and timeline was supposed to be fully completed.
But to their horror, the entire unit was left as it was 4 months ago! All the lightings, wooden beams, marble floorings, electrical wirings, etc. were simply left unopened in their packages and shifted to the middle of the unit. Even the cupboards and ceiling fans to be installed in the wall were left in the middle of the house. The condition was simply not livable.

And this caused great distress for our client and his wife, given that they just got married 1 day prior to their in-laws’ visit. The supposed plan of moving in immediately after their wedding failed to materialize, and in this case, what is more significant than the loss of money is literally the loss of place to stay.

Our client’s attempt to seek a lease extension from their previous tenant failed because they already had another tenant, effectively leaving the newly wed without a place to stay. When they were supposed to enjoy their honeymoon, the couple had to scramble for a new place to stay and shift their belongings temporarily. This also meant that their honeymoon trip had to be rescheduled because of the urgency of finding a place to stay.

Our client was doubly disappointed when they came back after their honeymoon, and the debtor refused to at least meet our client to talk about the issue. They were evasive and non-contactable, our client and his wife’s number were blocked, emails went unanswered, and the debtor was always “not around” when they visited their company.

Our client is willing to accept that the work was not on schedule, there was nothing much to do about it anyway. His initial plan of moving in after his wedding already failed, and so once they secured a temporary housing, they went for their honeymoon thinking that it will give all parties some time and space before engaging the issue again.

Finally, about 2 weeks ago, our client received a call. The debtor finally – long after the project deadline – told our client that he has no means to complete and fulfill the contract, and this was something that our client already accepted. The most insincere thing, however, was that the debtor said he would pay off the entire $85,000 in 7 and a half years. This did not make sense as a matter of principle because even after failing to meet the deadline, they wanted to extend the deadline so casually to 7 and half years, which is almost a decade!

Our client simply wants to settle the outstanding sum and get move on. But there is no closure to this entire fiasco until the debtor can commit to something more reasonable and sincere. As of now, negotiations about the engagement of another contractor and the division of goods and labour are underway for the claims and dispute details to be finalized.

Should you have any queries on what we do and the Claims and Dispute services we offer, please do feel free to contact KX-Unit at +65 8112 7790 or drop us a mail at enquiries@KX-Unit.com. If you are unsure of the exact case category of your situation, do not hesitate to contact us – we will be most willing to advise. You can also visit our website athttp://www.KX-Unit.com/

SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

DEBTOR’S SPOTLIGHT – IDENTITY DENIAL, THE “I-AM-NOT-ME” DEBTOR

OPERATIONAL INSIGHTS: KX-NEGOTIATIONS

In this week’s Operational Insights, we will discuss some of the less discussed methodology in KX-Unit’s negotiation tactics. We will talk about the nature of different negotiations, the things we consider before and during these negotiations, and how KX-Unit actually serves our client’s best interest while being fair to our debtors. It will be divided into three parts.

Part 1: Assessment of Debtor’s Personality

There is a Chinese saying “知己知彼，百战百胜” that roughly translates to: If you know yourself, and know your enemy, even if you do fight 100 battles, you can be sure to secure all 100 wins. Having a clear picture of our debtor’s personality and temperament helps us to better achieve our client’s best interest. Understanding the debtor is like doing your groundwork before entering a project – much like any corporate entity, KX-Unit does our homework first to help our clients optimize their resources in recovering the debt.

There are three types of debtors. For the Evasive ones, with a proven track record of unreliability and elusiveness, we adopt a firmer stand in our negotiation tactics when we do encounter them. But by a case basis, we will ensure ultimately that a dialogue is ongoing so that both parties can have an amicable settlement.

As for the Hardened debtors – those who are stubborn, aggressive and more volatile – we have successfully adopted a more intellectual approach. Various negotiation tactics including in-depth rationalizing and perspective rationalizing (more empathetic in approach) helps the debtors recognize that our dialogue with them is about helping them to save time, effort, and resources. It is useful for the debtor to recognize that despite our role in recovering a debt, we are not against them – but that ultimately our professional duty to our client is paramount. Based on experience, eradicating this zero-sum perception helps to facilitate the negotiation process.

Last, the Artful debtors – those with the tendency to use all creative means to avoid repaying. Some of their tactics includes calling for law enforcement entities as a way to delay the process. These are the group of debtors who are inclined to use law enforcement to raise distraction and de-rail the negotiation process. For them, we adopt the soft approach and continue reasoning with them – highlighting that they do not want to be embarrassed by their own actions, and that we are willing to give them a leeway to have a private discussion. Letting them know that we recognize their tendency to use loopholes to exploit others further is critical in making them think twice about prolonging the dialogue.

Ultimately, having a good grasp of the personality type of debtors facilitate the negotiation process for the staffs at KX-Unit.

Part 2: Multiple Processes of Negotiations

That said it is key to keep in mind that negotiating is a highly dynamic process. There are no hard and fast rules to it. But accordingly, we have accumulated a few key pointers on negotiation tactics that structures our overall approach. This demonstrates to our client that we have a strategy – and sometimes the strategy itself requires flexibility.
For example, KX-Unit adopts a negotiation rule such that we will engage the debtor every two to three days to keep communications alive, relevant and pertinent for the debtor. This is a simple way of demonstrating to the debtor that the staffs at KX-Unit are serious and firm about having a dialogue and working towards a solution for our client’s best interest. This usually also translate into a sense of urgency for the debtor to resolve the outstanding dispute, claim, or debt, or all of the three.

Next, negotiation processes are multi-layered. Many things can come in unexpectedly. As mentioned above, the more artful debtors tend to call in law enforcement entities as a way of delaying their own civil liabilities. But they should know that KX-Unit is a legal debt collection agency, and we not only abide by the law but we also fully recognize and respect that law enforcement entities have a role to maintain law and order. As such, we comply with all general orders of law enforcement entities as per directed, and in doing so continue with our rightful purpose of engaging a dialogue with the debtor. This is the mark of our professionalism and dedication to our client’s best interest. The presence of law enforcement entities do not hinder our role, they exemplify our professionalism for our client, contrary to most debtor’s expectation.

Debtors also use other distractions to complicate the negotiation process. They may try to cause our negotiators to lose focus, but we have precisely trained and nurtured outstanding negotiators who are able to isolate and itemize all the issues at hand, issues relevant to the debt. Our negotiators are trained to have a clear mind to be coherent regardless of the new issues the debtors bring in, and indeed, it is good to have these claims and issues because it requires a re-assessment which also imply that in the negotiation dynamics, the debtor has already agreed somewhat to be engaged. And fundamentally, keeping the dialogue relevant and alive is critical.

In some situation, debtors may say that they are unable to repay because they lack the finances or because they are going to cease business. For them, we will verify these claims via legal means. If found to be untrue, we will rebuke them because it is their liability to repay. Regardless, there is no excuse not to pay a debt even if their company is going to close down because either way the debtor will need to work to survive, and working means having an income. At the very least, there should be a commitment to repay. If extraordinary conditions like health (bedridden) come into the picture, we will discuss with our clients again on the approach of engagement. Our client’s interest remains our priority.

Part 3: Finalizing agreement

Finally, wrapping up the case itself requires different approach and considerations. As a rule of thumb, unless the sum is repaid to our client, we should not and will not rest on our laurels.
We close loose ends by using various methods. For example, using a commitment date, giving the debtor from a few days to one and half months, according to their credibility as assessed prior. This commitment date should be reasonable to both our client and the debtor, according to the debtor’s financial situation. We want ultimately to be fair to a debtor in genuine dire straits and help both parties resolve the outstanding debt amount. As a civil matter, only when both parties are agreeable will we proceed to finalize the matter.

We also allow installment payments for debtors that genuinely require it. The installment timeframe differs, although we recommend ten installments as a rule of thumb. If there is a need to exceed ten installments, our clients will have to be re-consulted. Additionally, we will keep a downpayment from the debtor to first and foremost secure our client’s interest and peace of mind.

Determining the installment duration is part of our process of financial assessment. We will use it to gauge the debtor’s actual ability to pay. Financial records will be scrutinized with the debtor and through this seemingly simply exercise expose those who are can actually afford to re-pay faster and those who genuinely need the extra time. Usually, those who are trying to drag repayment with this installment scheme will not want to show their financial records and will eventually commit to a shorter installment period (meaning re-paying in larger chunks and in a shorter time).

After which, the various settlement contracts like settlement agreement and installment agreement, with the requisite penalty structures will be inducted. KX-Unit works with a level of escalation to ensure that the penalties are not too harsh for the debtor, especially if it is a case where they may be struggling in that particular month financially and hence defaulted on the installments. Repeating this defaults, however, will see them facing a steeper level of escalation in penalties. We always work to give the debtors a fair chance, without compromising our client’s interest.

In the end, there will and there should be a method and structure in the negotiation process. But the fact that negotiation is a very dynamic and ever changing process cannot be overlooked and sidelined. Therefore, regardless of the negotiation dynamics, we are confident enough to say that KX-Unit have a group of negotiators who has gone through rigorous selection and training. The debt collection industry has changed quite a bit and our focus on quality staff and negotiators ensure that our dedication, commitment, and quality service will serve our clients best interest with distinction.

If you have any queries on what we do, please do feel free to contact KX-Unit at +65 8112 7790 or drop us a mail at enquiries@KX-Unit.com. Alternatively, you can visit our website at http://www.KX-Unit.com/

CLAIMS AND DISPUTE ASSESSMENT: PART 2 – THE CORPORATE BULLY?

KX-DEDICATION