Freelance - Non Payment

Dollywagon said:

Hi, not been on the boards in a long, long, time but was wondering if anyone out there could give me an idea of who to contact regards non payment for freelance work?
The company who contracted the work is based in the US and the work was done by a French artisan.
Any help to give the non-payer a bit of a nudge would be a great help. Thanks!

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This may sound obvious but did you contact the company itself (is it a larger corporate entity, a subsidiary of one, a smaller concern)? How long has it been since you sent the first invoice? Have you sent follow-ups?

If you're beyond a reasonable window with a follow-up invoice and you've contacted them to no avail, have you tried a strongly-worded letter? If that fails, do you have a friend who's a lawyer? Their strongly-worded letters can be helpful in many situations.

Failing that, depending on how much you're talking about, you can file in small claims court.

Dollywagon said:

Hi and thanks for the quick response.
It's not actually my invoice but the matter has been on-going for some time with no response whatsoever. I can check out what type of company it is to see if that will affect the types of encouragement that can be used but employing a lawyer to sort out the problem between countries will outweigh the gains.
I seem to remember on this board (in the distant past) someone giving the name of organisations that you could threaten to take non paying companies to in the US - which did seem to have the desired effect....

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I wasn't suggesting hiring a lawyer - that would likely at least severely cut into any gains yes. Just some people happen to have friends or close family who are lawyers who will toss out the occasional threatening letter or phone call in exchange for beer or what have you. If you do, it can be handy.

Oh, it just occurred to me you may have meant this as well if you're not in the U.S. - filing in small claims court in the U.S. doesn't require a lawyer at all. It's a small filing fee (like $15-level small, depending on the municipality) and you fill out the complaint yourself and then go explain to the judge and the other party can show up and explain their side and the judge issues a judgement. It's a non-lawyer-required process specifically to settle disputes over smaller funds (usually a few thousand is the cap to be able to file there). If the person isn't ever in the U.S. but the company is probably wouldn't work but if are here sometimes...

Dunno the organization, sorry. Someone will probably be along shortly who does.

I think the organization that was meant is probably the Better Business Bureau. You can report companies to them for all kinds of shady practices (not paying, crappy customer service, false advertising). The BBB will give them a nice chunk of bad press for you.

NinjaFingers said:

I think the organization that was meant is probably the Better Business Bureau. You can report companies to them for all kinds of shady practices (not paying, crappy customer service, false advertising). The BBB will give them a nice chunk of bad press for you.

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I know this is an old thread, but in the chance that the OP is still here, the Better Business Bureau only exists for the United States and Canada. It won't affect a French company.

Dollywagon ... are you from the U.S. originally? When I had collections issues, I had great luck with the Small Business Development Association in my hometown. Through them, I even got an hour-long pro bono consult with a lawyer, who was able to explain my options.

If you have a permanent address in the U.S., you might be able to use their services by phone or email without being physically present.

If you're not from the U.S., maybe your home country has a similar service for small businesses?