Agency silence about payment... Thread poster: sjmdcl (X)
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sjmdcl (X)
Local time: 17:11
English to Spanish
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Okay. I translated a huge number of words for this agency and I've been waiting for payment (60 days). It is supposed that today is the big day. However, I previously sent them some emails to check that everything was OK (word-count, feedback about my job, etc.). None of those emails have been replied yet. How long do you think should I wait until trying some means of pressure? One day or two of delay don't affect me too much, but their silence is a little odd.
[Edited at 2015-03-27 19:1... See more Okay. I translated a huge number of words for this agency and I've been waiting for payment (60 days). It is supposed that today is the big day. However, I previously sent them some emails to check that everything was OK (word-count, feedback about my job, etc.). None of those emails have been replied yet. How long do you think should I wait until trying some means of pressure? One day or two of delay don't affect me too much, but their silence is a little odd.
[Edited at 2015-03-27 19:10 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Don't wait too long | Mar 27, 2015 |
I would suggest you only wait a reasonable number of days for the funds in transit to reach your account if they paid today, then send a nice reminder that 60 days have elapsed and your invoice is now past due. Ask them to confirm receipt of your notice and let you know when they are going to pay. If they respond and promise to pay very shortly, wait until the promised date + reasonable number of days for funds in transit, and if still no money, post negative feedback to Blue Board and wr... See more I would suggest you only wait a reasonable number of days for the funds in transit to reach your account if they paid today, then send a nice reminder that 60 days have elapsed and your invoice is now past due. Ask them to confirm receipt of your notice and let you know when they are going to pay. If they respond and promise to pay very shortly, wait until the promised date + reasonable number of days for funds in transit, and if still no money, post negative feedback to Blue Board and write a more stern reminder, mentioning that their business reputation is at stake. If they still don't pay, or if they fail to respond to the very first reminder, decide what you want to do: write this off as a bad debt, hire a collection agency, or go to court. The relative merits of these three options may vary depending on where in the world they are. In the last two cases, write them an official notice of action you are going to pursue unless they respond and pay immediately (like 48 hours). Again, depending on the jurisdiction, you may want to send a copy of the same notice by registered letter with advice of delivery. ▲ Collapse
| | | | sjmdcl (X)
Local time: 17:11
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Anton Konashenok wrote:
I would suggest you only wait a reasonable number of days for the funds in transit to reach your account if they paid today, then send a nice reminder that 60 days have elapsed and your invoice is now past due. Ask them to confirm receipt of your notice and let you know when they are going to pay. If they respond and promise to pay very shortly, wait until the promised date + reasonable number of days for funds in transit, and if still no money, post negative feedback to Blue Board and write a more stern reminder, mentioning that their business reputation is at stake. If they still don't pay, or if they fail to respond to the very first reminder, decide what you want to do: write this off as a bad debt, hire a collection agency, or go to court. The relative merits of these three options may vary depending on where in the world they are. In the last two cases, write them an official notice of action you are going to pursue unless they respond and pay immediately (like 48 hours). Again, depending on the jurisdiction, you may want to send a copy of the same notice by registered letter with advice of delivery.
Thanks. I hope their silence doesn't mean "I won't pay you".
| | | | Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 22:11
Member (2007)
English
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| What is their record like? | Mar 27, 2015 |
They have been regular payers in the past, have they? If so, maybe they have cash-flow problems. No excuse for not communicating, of course, but hopefully soon over.
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sjmdcl (X)
Local time: 17:11
English to Spanish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | It is my first job with them | Mar 27, 2015 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
They have been regular payers in the past, have they? If so, maybe they have cash-flow problems. No excuse for not communicating, of course, but hopefully soon over.
It seems reputable. It has webpage, address, phone number, etc. I'll give them some days. I hope they can contact me soon.
| | | | | Wait until Monday for a response, and if they do not respond try taking them to court. | Mar 28, 2015 |
It does not matter that their website looks reputable—it is not any kind of proof of anything.
Silence, in 99% of the cases means "I won't pay you" and "get lost", to put it mildly.
[Edited at 2015-03-28 10:02 GMT]
| | | | | Pick up the phone | Mar 28, 2015 |
As they haven't replied to your emails, why not telephone them? I see no reason why you shouldn't. Have all the details of the job at your fingertips before you pick up the phone. It might give you some reassurance about their existence - or confirm your fears about their disappearance!
Best of luck.
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 22:11
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Have you done further checks? | Mar 28, 2015 |
sjmdcl wrote:
It seems reputable. It has webpage, address, phone number, etc. I'll give them some days. I hope they can contact me soon.
This is beginning to give some very bad vibes, I have to say - hopefully my fears will turn out to be groundless. Working with a new client always brings with it a certain amount of risk, unless you ask for payment in advance, which is not normal B2B practice. No problem: who would be a freelancer if they couldn't handle a calculated risk ? But the calculation here doesn't look good: "a huge number of words", to be paid for at "60 days", no sooner. And all you know about them is what's in the quote above. Have you checked out the address? Do you know if the company actually exists? What about their record on the Blue Board here, or in other similar listings? Are they known to be reliable partners normally?
It's certainly rather too soon to be talking of legal action - one non-working day late is hardly the time for that. Picking up the phone would be a much better idea. If you know for sure who and where they are, then you know you will have a chance of recovering your debt.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:11
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Anton Konashenok wrote:
......post negative feedback to Blue Board ....
- and don't change it if they then pay you. The main purpose of the BB is to let other users know who the bad payers are.
| | | | | Agency silence about payment... | Mar 30, 2015 |
From all I've read here and experienced myself, I think you're being scammed. I was in a same situation and if you give them time and do nothing about it, it's only gonna get worse. Also, any fool can buy a cheap domain and hire someone to make them a website.
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 17:11
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Here's a novel idea: | Apr 6, 2015 |
Call them on the phone. Or send a registered letter to their physical address. You should have both of these things before you even started. If you don't, you can probably kiss your money goodbye.
One of the things I miss about the pre-Internet days is the friendly and intelligent conversations we used to have on the telephone with project managers.
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