February 22, 2023
Distributor Sues Twitter, Alleging Unpaid Invoices Worth Nearly $400K
California-based Canary Marketing says that, since September, the social media platform stopped paying for branded merch provided by the distributor.
Canary Marketing (asi/156455), a promotional products distributor with offices in Northern California and Oregon, is suing Twitter, alleging that the social media platform has failed to pay $392,239 in invoices owed for branded merchandise.
In documents filed in the Superior Court of California, Canary Marketing says it provided Twitter with more than $10 million worth of Twitter-branded merch between 2013 and August 2022. There was never a problem with payment during that period, the filing says.
However, from September 2022 on, Twitter stopped paying its bills, Canary Marketing alleges.
Lauren Borelli, a vice president at Canary Marketing according to court documents, says that Twitter has broken the terms of a master services agreement that calls for the social media entity to pay for goods and services Canary provides within 60 days of an invoice.
“Canary fully performed all of the obligations it agreed to perform in the purchase orders,” Borelli says in the court filing. “No one at Twitter has communicated to me any complaints with Canary’s services on the unpaid invoices, and I am not aware of anyone at Canary having heard any complaints from Twitter about our services.”
A list of invoices that Canary Marketing submitted in support of its case suggests that Twitter purchased some pricey items.
They include a late September 2022 invoice of $6,783 for a “swag gift box” that court records and media reports indicate was for Twitter owner Elon Musk. Items included a $689 bottle of Nikka Whisky with a one-location sandblasted logo and a $585 cheese board with one-location engraving. Perhaps given Musk’s love of space, there was also a rocket cocktail shaker and a $148 moon ice mold with full-color belly band wrap, an invoice showed.
Other invoices detailed orders that included a wellness kit with items such as water bottles and a custom sticker sheet. Additional orders featured products like vegan soap, long-sleeve T-shirts, hoodies, tees related to Cybersecurity Awareness Month, candles and socks.
A judge gave Twitter until March 17 to respond to the suit.
“Canary’s complaint raises a number of factual allegations regarding purported transactions and deliveries going to back to approximately September 2022,” Twitter attorney Jon Hawk wrote in a court filing. “Twitter requires time to investigate those factual allegations and assess the associated causes of action asserted against it in Canary’s complaint.”
Musk, a billionaire business magnate and investor whose titles include founder/CEO of space exploration corporation SpaceX and CEO of electric automobile maker Tesla, purchased Twitter in October 2022.
Business Insider and other media outlets have reported that Musk has been trying to cut Twitter’s costs since taking over. The company has faced other lawsuits in recent months over accusations of unpaid fees or rent and from its own staff.
Canary Marketing’s website indicates that it has offices in San Ramon, CA, San Francisco and Portland, OR. Netflix, Google, Sephora, Fitbit, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Slack have been among the company’s clients.