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Topic: Need advice - collecting payment from a client
| Author | Message |
| jazspin | Posted – 11/13/2007 12:45:32 AM | show profile Hi all - I figured that smart, experienced people of this board might be able to help me out here. So I worked for this client from May to August of the past year, and I am still owed a substantial sum (over $1500) for my work. While they keep promising that they will pay soon, they have used every excuse in the book. In addition, I feel that the company misrepresented themselves from the beginning - led me to believe that they were much more stable and able to pay me than they are. Hell, they even gave me a higher hourly rate than I originally asked for! Anyways, according to the terms of the contract they are over 90 days past due. I have made every reasonable effort to set up an installment plan and figure out what it going on with them, but they refuse to give me an answer beyond "we mean to pay you eventually. In addition to their caginess, they published the work I did and are still using it on their website, and running ads on it. Now, the company is still operating and they show no signs of declaring bankruptcy or anything like that, so I'm not really sure what is going on. My problem is this: I reported them to the BBB and now they are going nuts - sending me abusive emails, harassing me, accusing me of defamation, etc. I have consulted a lawyer, so I'm covered there, but is there anything I can do beyond small claims court? Yes, I told them that I would be happy to amend my complaints once they paid me and/or set up a payment plan, but that doesn't seem to matter to them. Every time I try to deal with them in a professional, reasonable, manner, they insult my intelligence and attempt to intimidate me into silence. After all, it's not like it is illegal to report a deadbeat client! How else would writers manage to defend themselves otherwise! |
| Cyrus | Posted – 11/13/2007 1:23:51 AM | show profile What did your lawyer advise you to do? Besides small claims court, you can retain an arbitrator or mediator. Hopefully, your contract specifies that if you are ever forced to take that step for non-payment, the client must pay any associated fees. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| jazspin | Posted – 11/13/2007 12:58:12 PM | show profile My lawyer has advised me to take things to the courts if it comes to that, and to block all contact with the former client, because well, nothing is going to come of it and I don't need to read multiple emails a day calling me stupid (funny, because while I was working for them they had nothing but praise for me!). |
| yesvirginia | Posted – 11/13/2007 3:40:02 PM | show profile Live and learn This is a horrible situation. My advice for the future is this: Set up an agreement before you start work. That's what I always do with my freelance PR work. I spell into the agreemetn that if payment is not made within 10 days of the invoice, I stop work until check arrives and clears. You are running a business here and you need to protect yourself. It's sad that it comes to this, but I would do all I can in the future to cover my butt. As for getting what's owed to you, here's a thought: Why not contact one of the consumer reporters at a local TV news station and see if he/she would be willing to go to bat for you. Those stories used to only focus on consumers who were having problems with contractors, etc, but lately, I have seen several of the reporters helping freelance workers, artists, etc, get the monies owed to them. I hope you get what is owed to you. |
| Cyrus | Posted – 11/13/2007 4:36:40 PM | show profile In addition to the other comments, I would always urge you to collect money in advance. I always bill one month ahead; IOW, if I'm starting with a new client, they give me the first month's money before anything begins. That way, worse comes to worse, in a situation such as yours, I'm only screwed on future anticipated revenue, not any money actually owed. Believe me, I know it's easy to find yourself in these situations; hopefully, this advice will help you avoid them in the future. Another way to deal with clients that appear suspicious from the beginning is to alter your contracts so that you get a credit card number from them and include a form they will sign authorizing you to charge their CC for what they owe either automatically each month or once they don't pay you within X days of invoicing. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| ellen11 | Posted – 11/13/2007 6:09:52 PM | show profile Cyrus is correct. I was recently advised by a very experienced, very successful pr consultant to, in addition to having a short-to-the point contract, always "get paid upfront" before you start working. Never do any work until you've gotten atleast a retainer. If your client asks why they haven't seen any work yet, tell them you don't start work until you've received the money. If they don't pay you atleast a retainer it usually means they have no intention of paying you anything. Additionally I have been advised, going to small claims court is generally not a great idea. It's time consuming and costs money. Also word does get around. And yes, I have done work without being paid. So you live and hopefully learn. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 11/13/2007 7:05:07 PM | show profile What I don't understand is why you are quick to report them to the BBB and contact a lawyer, but slow to take them to small claims court. --My problem is this: I reported them to the BBB and now they are going nuts - sending me abusive emails, harassing me, accusing me of defamation, etc. I have consulted a lawyer, so I'm covered there, but is there anything I can do beyond small claims court? -- |
| jazspin | Posted – 11/13/2007 8:23:57 PM | show profile I reported them after they were 60 days past on the invoice, dribbledrive - and they refused to set up a payment plan or anything, just kept offering excuse after excuse. And it's easy for me to seek to the advice of a lawyer on such matters - there are lots of them in my family. The reason I hesitate to take them to small claims court is that CEO of the company seems to be a serious bully - sending me emails calling me stupid, telling me that I'm a horrible person, etc. It's definitely unprofessional, and he is impossible to deal with (literally - he responds to everything with "you're stupid and don't know anything"). They are located in a different state, however, so I doubt they would actually show up in court. Thanks to some google-sleuthing, I've found that he seems to have a pattern of such behavior (bullying, threatening to sue). Anyways, thanks to everyone about the contract advice - after that whole debacle, I learned real quickly to put such things in the contract. However, it might not have helped in this situation because they haven't honored other terms of the contracts anyways. |
| Stanley_Milgram | Posted – 11/14/2007 9:11:15 AM | show profile I have taken a deadbeat magazine to small claims court and was successful. They paid up as soon as they got the summons. (for some reason, losing a claim in small claims court wrecks their credit rating, so they are loathe to let that happen). Anyway, as for them being out of state, it's not a question of them not showing up (if that happens, you automatically win by default) but whether you will show up. You have to sue them in their state. In my case, I was in L.A. and the magazine was in N.Y. I had someone there file the papers on my behalf and was ready to get on a plane, if need be. You must be ready to do the same. In all likelihood, though, once you demonstrate you're not fooling around, they will pay up and the trip will be unnecessary. Good luck. |
