Getting paid

Arisa81 · Sep 30, 2009

Okay, I need a little help here. I have been doing a little proofreading for a woman for a few years now. Until this year things have been good. We are in contact via IM. She IM's me something she needs proofread (usually requiring a lot of changing on my end). I IM her back. We even got to be friendly, she was a super sweet lady. As I type this I have IM'ed her hoping for an answer.

February-August (this year) I did off and on editing for her, always keeping edits I did for her in a file, dated. The monthly bills are often super-small so I don't even send them until a few months go by. Well, now we're up to a bill that goes from Feb-Aug and it's a small, small bill, like seriously. I've sent her an invoice a few times and she's ignoring me completely.

I'm usually a very patient person and I hate someone make me go after them for such a small amount like this, but I'm at a loss because I know I am being ignored.

What do you think I should do?

Words Are My Life · Sep 30, 2009

How are you billing her??

I usually bill my private clients with FreshBooks. It sends out a really professional looking invoice. I usually send out all invoices as soon as projects are complete (all conversations about any edits are over and we have a finished project. It doesn't matter if it's a $25 invoice or a $300 one. The only exception I make is if I am done with a $100 project...and for the same client I have a $25 project that I will finished with in a few days, then I may wait and send it all together.

If you do anything for her in the future, I would send bills as you go even if it is for a small amount. If months pass, even with records, it's hard to keep track of what she really owes you and she could start challenging things.

For now, do you have her phone number? Or any other way to contact her? Maybe try sending an additional email besides the invoice. Good luck!

Arisa81 · Sep 30, 2009

I could probably get her mailing address from the pay pal emails and send her a paper invoice.

I usually just send her an email as an invoice, outlining everything, all the months etc.
In the 3 or 4 years I've been proofreading for her it's never been an issue until now, now I'm just being ignored. I won't be doing any more work for her though until she pays for the previous months, but I don't see her coming to me anyway, she's completely ignoring me.

I will look into FreshBooks, though, thanks for the suggestion.

NewKidOldKid · Sep 30, 2009

Arisa81 said:
I could probably get her mailing address from the pay pal emails and send her a paper invoice.

I usually just send her an email as an invoice, outlining everything, all the months etc.
In the 3 or 4 years I've been proofreading for her it's never been an issue until now, now I'm just being ignored. I won't be doing any more work for her though until she pays for the previous months, but I don't see her coming to me anyway, she's completely ignoring me.

I will look into FreshBooks, though, thanks for the suggestion.

How long has she been ignoring you? Any chance she could be having some serious family/personal issue? If it's been only a week or even two, I wouldn't dispair just yet. If it's been a while, then yeah. And I would definitively send her an invoice through FreshBooks. Since it looks different, it may catch her attention and get her to respond.

Arisa81 · Oct 1, 2009

It's been over a month now. The thing is she's been online, I can see her as usual. She's just not responding. It's always been our routine that when I come online, I let her know I'm there so that if she needs any work done, she knows. And she always responded, acknowledging the fact that I was there. That's not happening anymore either. Nothing negative happened between us or anything.
As I said I am a pretty patient person, but I am obviously being ignored, which I hate. I'll continue to be patient and maybe she'll get in touch. I'll just keep letting her know I'm around anyway, as I've always done.

Pat~ · Oct 1, 2009

I wonder if it only appears she's online? For example, on many sites I often forget to officially sign out (esp. if I use them frequently). Is it possible that she's had a health issue, and her computer is still logged on, but she's out of pocket somehow in RL?

I'd agree with the advice to try other addresses or avenues of getting in touch with her; good luck!

Arisa81 · Oct 3, 2009

Pat,
I've thought of that too, but it changes, when she's at work she's logged on normally and when she's not she's logged on mobile-y. So, I'm quite sure she's actually there.
I've taken the caring "I hope you're okay," approach and now I'm just getting ticked at being ignored lol. It's so sad when someone you got along with well stops responding. But I need to think of this professionally first, and I have to be paid eventually.

Unimportant · Oct 3, 2009

It may be an email glitch. My ISP sometimes has issues and my emails to one or two individuals will get lost for weeks on end while all the rest go through just fine. Do you have another email address you can use to contact her, or does she have another email address you can ping her at?

Arisa81 · Oct 3, 2009

Yep, she has more than one address and I've emailed them both. She knows about the bill though, cuz back when she wasn't ignoring me, she told me she'd pay it when she got back to the office (this was months ago though). She at least knows about half the bill, you know.

Arisa81 · Oct 11, 2009

So, an update.

The lady has finally answered one of my IM's. Unfortunately still waiting to be paid, but I am feeling less annoyed by the whole thing since she talked to me and told me she'd pay last Fri. She told me herself to keep reminding her about it, lol. I'll do that.

I'm relieved that her attitude toward me doesn't seem to have changed. I really have liked working with her. She just seems to take paying for work done in a laid back fashion.

mathewferguson · Oct 11, 2009

Arisa81 said:
So, an update.

The lady has finally answered one of my IM's. Unfortunately still waiting to be paid, but I am feeling less annoyed by the whole thing since she talked to me and told me she'd pay last Fri. She told me herself to keep reminding her about it, lol. I'll do that.

I'm relieved that her attitude toward me doesn't seem to have changed. I really have liked working with her. She just seems to take paying for work done in a laid back fashion.

I've had this happen before and I put it down to "you cannot truly know the mind of another".

In my case they vanished from the world but I did eventually get paid. I found out about a year later that they had bought out their partners and then failed terribly. It had nothing to do with me and everything to do with a foolish business move.

So long as you invoice regularly, when it comes to outstanding amounts they should hopefully be low.

Nancy · Oct 12, 2009

You are right that things happen that contribute to us not getting paid. BUT, why is it acceptable to drag this process out indefinitely? I know of few other industries where you essentially work on spec, hoping that payment comes through.

Sorry, this is the single most frustrating aspect of this biz - I did the work, now pay me!

mathewferguson · Oct 12, 2009

Nancy said:
You are right that things happen that contribute to us not getting paid. BUT, why is it acceptable to drag this process out indefinitely? I know of few other industries where you essentially work on spec, hoping that payment comes through.

Sorry, this is the single most frustrating aspect of this biz - I did the work, now pay me!

Rejecting working on spec was the best thing I ever did. In my first five months of freelancing I was busy busy busy! But it wasn't paid work - it was do a sample, do this on spec, do this for free and I'll definitely give you paid work later on ...

I did a piece of work for free and a promise of future paying work but then when they called again it was with a sob-story of tough times ... could I do this little eensy weeny tiny piece for free and for sure 100% we'll pay you next time. I caved and did it. Then they called again ... tough times ... yeah, we'll tough!

Imagine telling a plumber, "Hey come around and fix the toilet for free and in the future I'll definitely have paying plumber work".

Arisa81 · Oct 12, 2009

Exactly my thoughts, I did the work, just pay. I'll soon get tired of hearing "How much do I owe again?" Even though I've sent enough invoices and makes me wonder if she just deletes them or doesn't read them. And I'll get tired of being told to remind her. She can ask that of me enough, just pay.

Yeah, definitely wouldn't get away with telling the plumber we'll pay "whenever." It doesn't fly with other jobs, it shouldn't fly with us.

Nancy · Oct 13, 2009

I probably need to clarify. When I said working on "spec," I was using a more general term. You do the work, deliver a product, then bill for it and wait on payment (30, 60 days after publication, etc.)

In my case, I'm referring to assigned article work - work that was ordered and contracted for (I also worked as an artist and it's a similar deal - get orders, do the work, deliver the work and then wait to get paid).

But the plumber analogy works in either case. Imagine asking a plumber if he is OK with waiting 60 days after the work is completed to be paid. NOT.

samcollie · Oct 13, 2009

If you do keep working for this woman once this is resolved, I would start billing her more frequently. Even though you say the amount is small - you might have better luck getting her to pay you small amounts more frequently.
Another approach is to mention a late fee - that usually gets things moving.
Good luck.

Arisa81 · Oct 14, 2009

I was actually wondering about late fees. I'm not sure how much one should charge for that. Is there a certain % of the bill owed I would use? Never had to do that before.

Nancy · Oct 15, 2009

1.5% is common. I don't mean to sound harsh, but what makes you think this woman would pay you a late fee? She's ignoring your invoices. If it were me, I'd drop her (after you get paid or cut your losses) like a hot potato and find new/different work.

Arisa81 · Oct 15, 2009

I don't know that she would pay it. But she's not ignoring me anymore and I sent her another email yesterday. Maybe just mentioning a late fee would make her act a little quicker. I can't know anything, but I've got to try something different obviously.

Arisa81 · Oct 25, 2009

Got paid today

She attempted to play it off that I'd only sent her the bill to her secondary email address and only JUST checked that address. Obviously a fib, but right now just happy I got paid!

Don't know if she'll be needing proofreading from me anytime soon or if I'll bother. Will decide when the time comes. But I'll definitely be billing monthly if I work for her again.

livinitup0 · Oct 29, 2009

When you guys say you invoice monthly... is this because the client requests it or is this standard with a lot of markets? Even my return clients still get billed immediately after a project is done or at least weekly if its on-going. However i do mostly SEO work so the clientelle is quite a bit.... different.

michellek · Nov 4, 2009

Arisa81 said:
Okay, I need a little help here. I have been doing a little proofreading for a woman for a few years now. Until this year things have been good. We are in contact via IM. She IM's me something she needs proofread (usually requiring a lot of changing on my end). I IM her back. We even got to be friendly, she was a super sweet lady. As I type this I have IM'ed her hoping for an answer.

February-August (this year) I did off and on editing for her, always keeping edits I did for her in a file, dated. The monthly bills are often super-small so I don't even send them until a few months go by. Well, now we're up to a bill that goes from Feb-Aug and it's a small, small bill, like seriously. I've sent her an invoice a few times and she's ignoring me completely.

I'm usually a very patient person and I hate someone make me go after them for such a small amount like this, but I'm at a loss because I know I am being ignored.

What do you think I should do?

It could be due to the economy. I think most people are afraid to admit when they are low on cash. It could be the reason why she ignores you. She may feel like a complete failure if she told you the truth if that is her situation at the moment.

You might want to ask for at least half of the amount. If you get paid then you got paid for it somewhat.

I am dealing with the same situation. A lady owes me some money too. She still hasn't paid me for the last amount of work that I did for her. I think the economy is hurting everyone.

Don't shoot me in the foot for saying this cause it isn't my intention to be mean or anything, but I honestly think that we should be grateful for every penny that we can get our hands on.

She can't pay you back in money then perhaps she can do a trade deal with you. Does she have any skils that you could use somehow?

Getting paid

Arisa81

Words Are My Life

Arisa81

NewKidOldKid

diplomat

Arisa81

Pat~

Luftmensch Emeritus, A.D.D.

Arisa81

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.

Arisa81

Arisa81

mathewferguson

Nancy

Masquerading as normal...

mathewferguson

Arisa81

Nancy

Masquerading as normal...

samcollie

Arisa81

Nancy

Masquerading as normal...

Arisa81

Arisa81

livinitup0

michellek