Recourse for nonpayment

give me her address and ill make sure it never happens again.

 

Do you know if this client recieved the invoice, and refused to pay, or if its possible there was some kind of miscommunication along the way?

 

RR
While I sense you are trying to be a "nice guy" about this, the fact is you are out the time and work. Even if you enjoy it. It is still work or they wouldnt pay you to do it. Working in a legal environment has hardened me a bit but I would give her a little more time (since she has always paid in the past). If nothing after that, I would get a lawyer or have DiSeAsEd MoNkEy pay her a evening visit
I have been in situations like this before (building computers) in my side business where someone orders something then wants to shaft you. If you keep letting it go you will end up with nothing but headaches and empty pockets.
Good Luck. I hope you get the money you deserve.

 

Can you still get "into" the web page?

 

Racoon,

First thing is to send your invoices, letters, phone calls, etc. Sounds like you've exhausted that option.

My next step would be getting an attorney to send a letter for you. Just a simple demand letter, "reminding" them of the debt. People will usually take a letter from an attorney alot more seriously, because it is more formal and there's the (unstated) threat of going to court.

I agree with Mr. Scary that you shouldn't let them walk over you, even if you don't need the money that badly.

 

i agree with sam...if this is a contract, you'll win your attorneys' fees in court in addition to the amount you're owed (assuming that you can actually collect from the person). But in order to get those attorneys' fees, you need to send out a demand letter through an attorney...

 

<B>The project was to develope a corporate ID and a web page for one of her clients. The project is complete</B>

Two things to consider. First, what kind of client is this? I gather she is some type of intermediary for a 3rd company? If so, have you considered contacting the third company directly just to notify them that one of the companies they work with may be committing fraud? I did that once with a company who refused payment with us and it got a payment within weeks. They did not appreciate us hurting their reputation, but it was the truth, so we did nothing wrong.

Second case, how big is this client? We worked with a company a couple of years ago who refused payment on about $100,000 in ad sales. We sued & got a default judgement, but they basically disappeared and shut down. I had already spent several thousand on the lawsuit, and it didn't appear there were any assets worth going after, so we never pursued it (it would have cost more money). They were a startup and probably ran their company with the intent to commit fraud. At least we got them to shut down, but it still sucked and pursuing it was a waste of money on my part.

It's something to consider -- is this a long-established company? If not, it could be a waste of time. If it is, though, at least the threat of a lawsuit might work (this is what I had originally hoped for in our case) -- it only costs a few hundred dollars and might force the payment. I don't know how small claims court works, but it might be even cheaper to go this route. Regardless, Sam's idea is something you should definitely do. If you want, follow it up with serving a lawsuit (you don't have to follow up if you don't want to) and see if that helps.

 

My guess is that when Pole asked if you could get into the web site, he was inferring that you could change the site until your client paid up.

Prior to getting an attorney, you ought to send one last reminder which says, "My next step is to get an attorney to persue this..." and mention that the $1500.00 will increase with the legal fees. Hopefully, this would spur her to pay and you won;t be out any attorney fees.

Good Luck.

 

WHY you did not ask sooner?!?! YOU KNOW at this site you have axess to TWO OF THE WORLD'S LEGAL GREAT MINDS and you know who.

Huh?

RIGHT.

MINE, and the little man in side my PANTS!!!!

FIRST you should SUE SUE SUE her BUTT BUTT BUTT!!! Show her you mean BUISNESS by filingk a law-suit for:

* Miscongregation of practices
* Alappropriateion of fundages both legal and extra-cricular
* Violation of the Mann Act
* Improper lack of paper filing
* Theivery
* Interdecent exposure
* Failure to dis close the rat of HABEUS CORPUS (whooooooo scary!!!)

THESE is just the ones DUKE DUKE DUKE could thingk of, JUST WAIT TIL I ASK Pink Pete what he thinks!!!!!

 

Pink Pete.....that's worth 1500 bucks right there.

 

Disable the web-site and tell that goofy beyotch that you're about to start levying some pretty steep late charges.

 

raccoon -- chances are you have an oral agreement...even still, you can collect attorneys fees for services provided under Civil Practices and Remedies Code 38.001. i'd be happy to draft the letter for you!! email me if you wish...

 

I'd do it, Raccoon, but I'm working for the court, so I'm not technically supposed to represent clients while I'm here. Especially in Corpus (I've helped friends out from time to time in Houston). So I'm glad to see Max offer.

As for screwing with the web site, which I've seen a few people mention... don't do it. You really don't want to give them cause to sue you for consequential damages.

 

how soon do you need me dude?

 

You might also want to consider Small Claims Court, or whatever is your equivalent down there. You don't need the deal to be in writing for it to be a contract. You need to have: offer (to do work for a person), acceptance (of that offer), consideration ($$), capacity (i.e. not dunk, insane or a minor) and intent to form a contract (i.e. not a joking or accidental acceptance). It sounds to me that you have a contract and that you have a paper trail to prove that you do. You could take this to small claims court and get a judgement, I suspect. The trouble with involving lawyers, and I'm sure my lawyer friends here will agree , is that they are expensive. The $1500 will be quickly surpassed by legal fees if this lasts very long, and if she's broke or about to go bankrupt, you won't get anything from her and you'll still owe your lawyer. It only really makes sense to sue if the amount in question is at least several thousand dollars and you are confident that the other party has the money to pay. You could also talk to her about smaller payments spread out over a longer period of time or some other way to make good on what she owes you.