Avoid this non payer

novena · 3 Jun 2014, 10:09

Hi guys,
after several months that I completed a freelance job for a developer based in Oxford UK and surprise surprise he has not paid the invoice.
the developer (client) and the architect seemed quite happy with the work when it was delivered early january.
I have been constantly emailing him (he is not answering my phone calls) and I received just promises like 'tomorrow/next week payment will be settled', but the invoice is still unpaid, so now the pay debt collection agency is taking over...

make yourselves a favour and avoid this people:

[mod=:2t7cbt7b]EDIT: Name and Address removed by Mike Lucey.
Please see comment below.[/mod:2t7cbt7b]

thanks,
best
V

Hieru · 3 Jun 2014, 11:09

It's always a pain when this sort of thing happens, so thanks for the heads up.

I hope your contract made it clear that the client will have to pay any fees associated with recovering late/non payment.

novena · 8 Jun 2014, 20:20

thanks Hieru,
yes it is a pain loosing about 2 months work this way...
about the fees, I think that the collection company will charge 10%, but honestly I dont want that those visuals are going to be for free to these people...
best
V

olishea · 8 Jun 2014, 20:26

For my first encounter with new clients I send them preview images at a resolution they can not use. Sometimes I will even send a drawing or image with watermarks all over it.

When they have paid the whole money, I send the complete work or the full resolution images. By sending very low resolution stuff you are proving you have done the work without just giving it away. It seems ludicrous to have to do this, but I don't trust anybody until we've worked on at least a few jobs together.

Sorry to hear about your problem and thanks for the "name and shame".

Hey how about I give them a call, get them to do some feasibility studies for me and I never call them back? In fact I'll call them tomorrow if you like and ask where your payment is, they won't be expecting someone from the UK to start asking too.

Krisidious · 8 Jun 2014, 20:41

I work on a pay to play basis... They pay and I play. I require people to pay in phases. Sketch, Preliminary and the Construction docs. They pay at the beginning of each phase. It might seem harder to get work that way, but people who are not willing to pay up front are not serious enough for your time.

Hieru · 8 Jun 2014, 20:58

@krisidious said:

I require people to pay in phases. Sketch, Preliminary and the Construction docs. They pay at the beginning of each phase.

That sounds like a good approach - I think I'll have to give it a go some time. Normally I rely on a rock-solid contract and a 50% deposit (if they won't pay that then it's usually a good indicator that you'll have trouble collecting your fees at the end of a project).

Rich O Brien · 8 Jun 2014, 21:10

Use this....

Docracy - Learn More

Open legal documents, provided and trusted by people like you. Find or upload a document, sign it for free.

(www.docracy.com)

...or a variant of the offer both the client and you protection.

Usually sorts out con-artists from the beginning.

Krisidious · 8 Jun 2014, 21:23

In the U.S. most states have what's called a mechanics lien, if you perform work on property, you can file a lien against said property if there is no payment on work proben to have been performed. If the property is wholly owned by the client and has no mortgage or other liens, you'll have to wait until the property is sold to get your money, but you will get it eventually.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanic%27s_lien

novena · 8 Jun 2014, 21:35

@olishea said:

For my first encounter with new clients I send them preview images at a resolution they can not use. Sometimes I will even send a drawing or image with watermarks all over it.

When they have paid the whole money, I send the complete work or the full resolution images. By sending very low resolution stuff you are proving you have done the work without just giving it away. It seems ludicrous to have to do this, but I don't trust anybody until we've worked on at least a few jobs together.

Sorry to hear about your problem and thanks for the "name and shame".

Hey how about I give them a call, get them to do some feasibility studies for me and I never call them back? In fact I'll call them tomorrow if you like and ask where your payment is, they won't be expecting someone from the UK to start asking too.

thanks Olishea for the offer, I am waiting for an answer from the collection agency, and then I will see what to do...
my mistake was trusting in McDermott and not asking for money in advance
anyway I really appreciate your offer to call them

@krisidious said:

I work on a pay to play basis... They pay and I play. I require people to pay in phases. Sketch, Preliminary and the Construction docs. They pay at the beginning of each phase. It might seem harder to get work that way, but people who are not willing to pay up front are not serious enough for your time.

thanks Krisidious for the advice, I also read about people asking for 30-30-40 percentages for Jobs

@rich o brien said:

Use this....

Docracy - Learn More

Open legal documents, provided and trusted by people like you. Find or upload a document, sign it for free.

(www.docracy.com)

...or a variant of the offer both the client and you protection.

Usually sorts out con-artists from the beginning.

Thanks Rich for the heads up to the agreements link, I should think on a variant of the offer adapted because Im based in Sweden.

my mistake not asking for money in advance, Im a 'salary slave' and this was my first 'online' freelance job, I used to freelance quite often but always with people face-to-face and never had a problem

thanks guys
best
V

Hieru · 8 Jun 2014, 21:37

That looks like a really comprehensive contract template Rich . I'll have to go through it and check to see if there is anything missing from my own contracts.

Rich O Brien · 8 Jun 2014, 22:27

AIGA has the best I find.

Mike Lucey · 8 Jun 2014, 23:32

Hi V,

I can understand your actions and frustrations at not receiving your fees however having the name and address of the non paying client listed on SketchUcation could leave us open to litigation. I hope you understand our situation.

Mike

novena · 9 Jun 2014, 07:21

Hi Mike,
no problem, I understand it can generate a problem to SketchUcation...

best
V

holmes1977 · 15 Jun 2014, 08:50

@hieru said:

@krisidious said:

I require people to pay in phases. Sketch, Preliminary and the Construction docs. They pay at the beginning of each phase.

That sounds like a good approach - I think I'll have to give it a go some time. Normally I rely on a rock-solid contract and a 50% deposit (if they won't pay that then it's usually a good indicator that you'll have trouble collecting your fees at the end of a project).

Same process here. Worked well for the last 10yrs