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How you deal with clients who refuse to pay
Hi This is the story - I worked on catalog photoshoot for Kirstie Kelly Bridal and so far they didn't pay me in full. They are using images but to me they wrote " We are experiencing severe financial difficulties. At this time, we examining our options to determine the direction that we will be going in". I really need this money now but I don't know how to get them. Any advise? Aug 31 10 11:27 am Link do you have anything in writing about the full amount? Aug 31 10 11:31 am Link Have your lawyer say "oh, hai there!" while holding a copy of the contract? Aug 31 10 11:31 am Link Reply with: "Yeah so am I! Let me pick out 10 dresses and we'll call it even." Aug 31 10 11:32 am Link Sounds like you're screwed... paid in full before you do work next time? Also, you might not want to go flashing their name around... Aug 31 10 11:33 am Link That was agreement in words but I have the whole e-mail history going on for a year And yes full amount in invoice Aug 31 10 11:34 am Link Next time, don't work before they pay you >_< Works for me and they pay so mighty quick  *edited cos i just noticed you're a MUA  Aug 31 10 11:49 am Link What's done is done but what can I do now And I put they name so you guys wouldn't get hurt too This is huge company it's has to be some ways to get money from them Aug 31 10 12:12 pm Link Small claims court. Aug 31 10 12:45 pm Link Send Guieto. Aug 31 10 12:46 pm Link agree with working out an agreement with them. Ask if they're willing to give you some dresses in exchange. Sell the dresses. Aug 31 10 12:47 pm Link IF they are in financial trouble, you'd best work out something with them fast. If they go under you would be lucky, very lucky to get anything at all. Ask for at least a payment in thirds or something. If you get that you will at least recovered something. Hope for the best. Aug 31 10 12:51 pm Link It may seem aggressive, but at this point, they are experiencing financial difficulties and only paying creditors that appear necessary to pay. So the trick is making you 'necessary'. You want to get some of their last money before they file bankruptcy and there is no chance of seeing anything. If you don't already, establish a relationship with a collection agency. Hopefully your contract already has terms in it that the client assumes any/all collection costs in event of non-payment, to facilitate payment. If not put it in. Then send them a 72 hour notice that they must remit the amount due or their account will be place for outside collection. At the end of the 72 hours place their account and forget about it and let the Collection agency do their work. John Aug 31 10 12:53 pm Link Send them a letter demanding immediate payment, certified of course, insisting that you be paid immediately with interest or you will no other recourse then to name them in a small claims actions and to turn the amount due to a collections agency. Since they are a company any action with a collections firm will cause their Dunn & Bradstreet rating to fall which would be very damaging to their business. Personally I do not see this as resolving through the letter especially since it is over a year old. You may just want to forego the letter and go directly to small claims court http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ny … case.shtml Good luck Aug 31 10 12:53 pm Link When companies go under small businesses like yours are at the end of a very long queue to get paid.. well behind the IRS and the employees and anyone who has security.. I've had success in the past from trying to support these businesses through their difficult times, when/if they rebound, people remember your support. Call them and try and get a human contact going, explain your situation and even ask for part payment or a payment plan.. be calm be understanding (even if you're desperate inside!) There will be a lot of a**holes calling and making a huge fuss, remember the people there are fighting to keep their livelihoods intact, show understanding for their situation and it will often benefit your own.. Good luck! Aug 31 10 12:53 pm Link BTW if every creditor of every business immediately resorted to courts and collection agencies, the companies would inevitably go out of business and hence you have less outlets for your services.. Nobody wants to work for no pay but sometimes honey catches more flies. Aug 31 10 12:57 pm Link One word Mafia Aug 31 10 01:01 pm Link Charge interest. It's what I've done on one occasion and they paid up fast. Aug 31 10 01:09 pm Link Big question is...do you have the up front $$ to hire a lawyer and if you do will there be anything left after those fees if you do collect the $$. Now if the money owed you fits the small claims court model, you could go there. But again, a judgment is no guarantee of payment. Been there done both of those. Got beaten out of the money BOTH times. Aug 31 10 01:25 pm Link Thank you all I'm going to small claims court tomorrow we'll see how it'll go I'll keep you posted Aug 31 10 01:45 pm Link ok, what?? they are experiencing financial difficulties??? and its your fault ?? so you've done the work and not getting paid ??? WHAT??? YES take them to small claims court, dont give up on this... Another reason why clear precise detailed contracts are soooo important. I really hope that it all works out for you and wish you the best... I've had to take 2 clients to small claims court, its a little bit of work but in the end I won both times and I have a feeling you will too... bring EVERYthing you have all -mails phone records and any agreements you have, also if you can get something written from the models you worked on thats basically stating that yes you did do their makeup for the shoot .. it can be really simple, the model is like your witness... heck if you made a good contact with the model they might even want to be there to back you up.. it never hurts to ask... anyhoo good luck to you hun.. and please do keep us posted. Aug 31 10 01:54 pm Link Do they have a Facebook account? There was a bride on the Mpix forum who got screwed by a huge bridal company and they refused to listen to her. She took her problem to the members of Mpix and they bombarded the companies Facebook page. Very embarrasing for the company. The issue was settled within an hour. The Mpix folks, because of this incident, now call themselves the Mpix Mafia and even have t-shirts designed with that. I say become their friend then start something on your facebook page which will filter to theirs and you will get paid. -Koa- Aug 31 10 02:02 pm Link I agree! If you have some sort of contract or signed invoice then I would take them to small claims court. Their financial issues are not your problem. You were hired to do a job, you did the work, now they need to pay you! Aug 31 10 02:12 pm Link -Koa- wrote: They refused my friend request Aug 31 10 02:17 pm Link Kate Iniakina-Romanoff wrote: Oh, my! You got the brush off! Aug 31 10 07:37 pm Link Neil Snape wrote: This is the best advise so far. Aug 31 10 07:43 pm Link Neil Snape wrote: +1 Aug 31 10 07:44 pm Link Jordan Liberty wrote: It's what I think I've been nice for almost a YEAR!!! Aug 31 10 07:56 pm Link Kate Iniakina-Romanoff wrote: Just out of interest do they have a pr company that they work with? That might be the next person to contact, saying politely that you don't want to file in small claims court but that you will. They will know that that suit is something that could be picked up by the AP and want to keep it out of the news. Sep 01 10 11:59 am Link Let me put it to you this way. "They" have customers that owe them money. "They" will NOT sit on their hands hoping that customer pays. They are stalling. I have no idea how much money they owe you but it is doubtful that it is even a sliver of their total debt. My suggestion is to send them a bill with late fees and interest. If they go under you probably won't get paid anyway. If you act like a sheep you definitely won't get paid. Good will works both ways. They are paying some bills. Why not yours? Do not be patient. Sep 01 10 12:04 pm Link the short way is to get paid in goods, the long way is legal action with hight cost and very uncertain outcome....get goods for the full amount and firesale them, that's how i do it. it's hard not to get too emotional about this, it's so unfair. Sep 01 10 12:26 pm Link Oh, my! You got the brush off! That's not good. Something is obviously up. As a minimum, you now know they do not expect to hire you for anything ever again! -Koa- Do you think I'm dying to work for them again? Sep 02 10 12:42 am Link PhotoEclat wrote: Like I have nothing else to do but resell their dresses... we agreed on money and I'm trying to get my money Sep 02 10 12:46 am Link GD Whalen wrote: Thank you , it's what I'm thinking but they simply ignoring me like I'm not existing... Sep 02 10 12:48 am Link Heather J M wrote: This may be a waste of what ever fee your state charges as they might just be broke. If you feel like they have money and are just screwing you then small claims court. Sep 02 10 11:33 am Link Artemis Bare wrote: hahaha nice Sep 02 10 11:37 am Link Kate Iniakina-Romanoff wrote: Sorry, I didn't read this. Sep 02 10 11:42 am Link Tell them to cease and desist from using your images until they can pay you. If they are using them in their catalog, then they must stop distributing them until you are paid. Have a lawyer notify them . . . . don't contact them yourself anymore. Sounds like they are moments away from going out of business . . . but that is no excuse for using your images without paying. KM Sep 02 10 11:45 am Link File a notice in the small claims court, and serve this on them. Simple to do, you don't even need a lawyer and usually the filing fee is not very much. EDIT: You can find details here. Sep 02 10 11:47 am Link Always get 50% up front !! Sep 02 10 11:48 am Link |
