I'm sure quite a lot of the members have run in to this problem over the past couple of months.

I have a client that had an outstanding invoice to the sum of e120.00 from January 11th
There was a lot of effort on my part to get this invoice settled but it was like flogging a dead horse.
Due to the lack of response from the customer every time contact was made and the endless "That will be pad Friday" response, I decided to add interest and account administration charges to the account in the attempt of getting this bill settled.

This went on for quite some time. Then 2 weeks ago the client paid the bill. When I checked the transfer they had only paid the original e120.00 and completely ignored the interest and charges. This company is a semi state body so the whole bill should have been paid in full.

So here is my question:
How would you deal with this situation??????

Because of there shear arrogance I am considering suspending all services until the bill has been paid in full. This would include domain and hosting. I know it seems a bit harsh but I feel if you let this behaviour continue it just gets out of control.

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Alan (Neweb Ireland)
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The one thing we all have in common is that we are all different!

Hand it over to your solicitor tbh

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I would but the value outstanding is only e43.00

Then drop it.

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if you got the big part of it than as blacknight said, forget about it and drop it...

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Agreed I did get the main invoice paid but the arrogance of these people to just assume they can pay what and when they like.

The good thing is, there domain name is due up in two months. If I don't get paid within 30 days for this one then I will drop them like a hot potato.

I know it sounds petty but I show no mercy to arrogont assholes like this.
They want you to bend over backwards to get them sorted asap. It all changes when the invoice is issued.

make sure you mention it in the invoice and send it out 30 days in advance...

All my domain and hosting invoices state that the domain will be automatically suspended in 30 days if payment has not been made as it is assumed you no longer require the domain.

They also get the same reminder 20 days in telling them they have 10 days to renew there domain. After that its no longer my problem.

Over the past 6 months its like pulling teeth trying to get paid.
I've heard this from quite a few people.

It's principle over effect if you ask me.

The fact that you have now collected all of the original debt though, probably means a solicitor is OTT to be honest.

What you should do however is write a letter/email (not a long one) expressing how you feel, because one hand that will help you vent your frustrations, and on another hand, will make sure that they know who the guilty party is in the future and they'll make sure they play their part from now on.

Unless, of course, they are cold-hearted, and if so, drop them.

I see this kind of thing time and time again.

I feel there is more of a need nowadays to have a rock solid contract and spec drawn up, agreed upon and signed by both parties.

This should include clauses for late payments that state what penalties will apply payments are late.

At least that way you have a leg to stand on if you need to set the dogs (solicitors!) on them.

Granted if the work is only for around €150 it may not seem worthwhile, but when you get a letter threatening legal action which may result in them having to pay the original fee plus legal costs, the client should change their tune fairly lively!

If I owed my phone company or broadband company money, and I didn't pay, they wouldn't be long cutting me off and then also not restore service until payment has been made.

I'm sick of developers/designers/seo'ers being walked on like this.

On the flip-side, I'm kind of half afraid to mention contracts to prospective clients during the initial handshake for fear of scaring them away!

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