“This did not 'happen' to iBill,” Cybersocket President Morgan Sommer told XBiz. “This is something iBill caused to happen.”
Cybersocket was the first to sue beleaguered iBill, Sommer said, after months of bills that were not paid, phone calls that were not returned and promises that were not kept. As the result of two separate small claims filings, Cybersocket was paid $10,000 to settle the case.
Sommer referred to the small claims suit as a “token,” not because the amount was small – iBill allegedly owes its clients millions of dollars – but because people were apathetic.
“A sad fact of this industry is that some people think [not being paid] comes with the territory,” he said.
Now the Score Group, producer of “Leg World” and Chi Chi LaRue, owner of Rascal and CCLR Internet, are also suing iBill. The Score Group’s David Uwate confirmed his company was in litigation with iBill, but was prevented from naming specifics. LaRue was unavailable for comment.
Numerous calls from XBiz to iBill’s offices in Florida were not returned.
Sommer stressed that, while iBill’s actions have removed millions of dollars from the industry, “this is not a billing company problem; this is iBill’s problem.”
He added that friendly, personal relationships where they answer the phone make for good business with IPSPs like CCBill and PayCom. For the past five years, Sommer said, his relationships with iBill’s executives were less personal.
“I used to have [iBill account executive] Bert [Metcalf] on IM, and then he just disappeared,” Sommer said.
Whether iBill’s difficulties stem from the cancellation of its merchant account by First Data Bank back in September, its troubled acquisition and subsequent dumping by a consortium of companies that included Penthouse, or its recent purchase by Deerfield Beach neighbor Interactive Brand Development, one thing is clear: it has not paid its bills and its putative financial rehabilitation – whether one that results in a bankruptcy filing or a turnaround – will do little to revive its reputation among members of the adult industry.
“Google iBill,” a staffer for Chi Chi LaRue told XBiz, “and you’ll find AdSense listings that say ‘iBill Problems?’ that lead you to lawyers and alternate billing options. iBill’s screw-up is part of the industry’s culture now.”
Corporate Revitalization Partners was awarded the Turnaround Management Association’s “Turnaround of the Year” award last year for its work with a New Jersey industrial sensor company.