Client not paying. What do you suggest?

Did you do a website for him?

If you'd rather not mention the service product, send me an email, okay?

Did you have a written contract/agreement with him?

If it was me and it was a website, I'd take it down.

I would continue to call him and let him know that I understand these are difficult economic times but I would be more than willing to set up a payment plan. I'd go that route for a while and see what happens.

You're absolutely right about not going the legal route. I've learned there's usually one big winner in that scenario: the lawyer.

I do suggest it to as the best idea. I advice you to ensure getting paid before the Project ends. It is always a good practice to retain loyal customers.

Absolutely agree with you iAMnameless! I dont like to mention this in business but some of clients have no belief and behave rule and unfair.

I did a website for him but I am not hosting it. Just revamped his existing site and added some additional functionality.

Thanks guys, will pop in later to read properly.

Just swamped at the moment

From my experience, getting a lawyer involved that believes in you and your business is definitely the way to go. Often times when it goes to court, they will also be paying your legal fees.

I agree with wilder1047....If you can, stop into their place of business. Sometimes, they are just really too busy to make time to sit down and write a check. Nevertheless, they won't want to make a scene in their place of business, so a friendly pop-in will probably do the trick. Maybe even bring in a $7 plate of cookies from the local bakery to really play it up. It would be hard for them to not pay you what they owe you after you bring in a tasty treat. :-) A $7 plate of cookies is a lot less costly than having to hire an attorney. If they don't have a check on them, just ask them what time you can stop in tomorrow. Gotta love the disarming power of cookies! :-)

-Terry

-Do you have control of anything? Do you have any contracts or agreements in place for leverage? Is this client local to you - and are you currently in S Africa? If so, I do not know the local laws where you are at.

Regarding your problem with non-paying client...I think you will be able to answer your question better than anyone else at the moment.

Hi Di,

Good luck with your pop-in visit tomorrow. I hope it goes well for you! Let us know how it turns out! :-)

-Terry

Ouch, that is frustrating.

I have had things like this happen, and believe it or not one thing that has SOMETIMES been effective has been to offer ANOTHER service.

Not a big service, but something they want/need.

Maybe this works because it gets them back into a buying mood.

So, for example, you did SEO.

But their Facebook page doesn't exist, or isn't updated, or they don't have a G+ page. Or they need a places page.

It's good if it's something THEY think is urgent.

An unclaimed places page, bad reviews (or no reviews), that kind of thing.

Offer a deal to get it done for them fast.

Then, of course, tell them that you need to settle that last invoice so you can get started immediately.

This only works if they are not jerks, and/or having real cashflow crunch.

Also, obviously, you need prepayment on the new little task.

True story: One client got really mad when I said this last requirement. "You're not going to work on this new project till the last invoice gets paid? We're a 400-million dollar company!"

I still laugh at that reply, it's irrational like an unsolveable zen koan. (ps that invoice got paid quickly.)

Weird option number two: Offer something with high perceived value, but which is REALLY simple to do, as a thank-you for settling this. Something that you could get from fiverr, for instance.

I understand the temptation to get mad, but I also know that sometimes you need to make payroll. (Payroll is especially urgent if you are the sole employee!)

To help prevent this in the future: if you don't already do so, see about taking debit/credit cards.

This helps greatly, especially when you have email record that says "I am running 50% payment now, and the other half 30 days from today."

That 400-million-dollar company paid by check, which is not acceptable anymore. There is no need for us here to be anyone's banker.

Paypal has a handy virtual terminal, if this is usable where you are.

(In my experience it works nicely with every card but Amex, which regularly requires card owner to make a phone call to Amex authorizing you to run the card via virtual terminal. Once they call, however, you can run payments thereafter on the card.)

Please post here when the issue is resolved.

Sean

If you don't want to have to take the website, in the future, simply put a blank index.html on the website which effectively stops any potential customers

Good to hear that you got paid Diana.

The thread brings up some important points about doing business in this niche. Getting paid is only the beginning. The question of ownership, legalities, etc... may be the light bulb in this thread.

Some of us don't like "contracts", some view it like having a pre-nup. It could ruin the romance. But a written agreement is important so that both sides know in advance when payments need to be made and what would happen if they are not. I am not an attorney and I don't know the laws where you live but I do think it is important to walk through some scenarios.

In a case like Diana's where you've done work on an existing site and you don't control anything it could have been hard to do much about a non payer. Some of the suggested remedies could hurt you in the long or short run.

Even if you were to control everything the damage to your reputation in town may cause problems down the line. For instance, a domain which includes a business name may need to be handled differently than a generic name. I would think an existing site vs a new site would also need differing agreements.

Do not use any revenge tactics whatsoever. The people advising you to put up negative messages about the company you're dealing with are immature. You may live to regret action like that. Resolve it like an adult and you can count on their patronage again or maybe even get referrals because of them.

When I have trouble getting paid, I email them with a "Content removal notice".

I make it look like an automated email generated from some kind of CRM software I use. Of course, it is written manually by myself but it is made to look like it came from my "system" because of non payment.

If and when the customer gets in touch with their apology (and payment) I can downplay the email and tell them to just ignore it, and that it was sent without me realising.

Whatever situation you get into with non payments, do not go out of your way to make the other guy look bad. That sort of nonsense hurts their ego and can backfire on you. If anything, by helping the none paying customer save face you will learn their respect because they know you used tact in raising the point about not being paid.

If you insist on playing games and having an eye for an eye, at least exhaust the reasonable options first.