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I Wasn't Paid

iwasntpaid.com

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Re: I Wasn't Paid

#51

Post by singular »

gavingmiller wrote: post #38

Ultimately it's your fault as a contractor if you don't get paid. And a site like this does nothing to teach developers, freelances, designers, and the like how to avoid these pitfalls which is why I'll never use it. Why is it your fault? Because as a professional you've not taken the time/money to have a contract created to cover your ass. Contracts exist to protect both parties from each other. And it is your profe…

Didn't he have a contract which he used to successfully sue the client with? It didn't seem to make any difference.

At the same time I am uneasy with this sort of one-sided public exposure, doesn't feel very professional even if true, and of course without knowing the facts of the matter we don't know whether it is in fact true.

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#52

Post by regularfry »

shareme wrote: post #45
stevoski wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

illegal where? Perhaps in some juridictions - which one are you referring to?

The difference will be whether its stated as factual and is factual or stated as opinion.. As I understand it if its factual stated and grossly wrong the poster can be charged civilly

Whether truth is a defence against libel also depends on the jurisdiction.

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#53

Post by crag »

One dangerous thing that stands out is this "kill switch". VERY bad idea. Now you are liable for damages.

The way to handle this is: When you get the judgement against your "client", slap a lean on his properties equal to the amount owed (and throw in your court costs). That inclues his accounts. All you need is an order from the judge. That's it.

That's about all you can do really. Is to go after his assets. Also I'd let the BBB and your local Chamber know. You'd be surprised how effective both these organizations can be.

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#54

Post by cbr »

gk1 wrote: post #20
ljf wrote: post #14

What if this happens: I work with a difficult dev/designer for a couple of months trying to bootstap a product. In the end it's not working, we agree to go our own ways, but I keep the name of the product. For what ever reason they get shitty with me, and a month or two down the line when I'm working with someone else they post about me on 'iwasntpaid' - not just once, loads of times - they know a lot about me so the…

FYI: http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/blog3 leads to a giant ad for some Canadian pill site.

With FF10 on OSX 10.6 I see the ad too: http://i.imgur.com/FdGJ6.png

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#55

Post by kahawe »

rglover wrote: post #6

Not the best route to handle this. Make sure you have a decent lawyer on hand (and a good contrct) when dealing with delinquent clients. Something like this will guarantee that you'll never get paid.

The sad truth is that there are customers doing that on purpose not just to protect their own liquidity and cash flow but they hope that by not paying and making you wait they will literally dry you out into bankruptcy and ultimately they hope they won't have to pay then.

Government contracts, at least in certain countries here in Euroland, are NOTORIOUS for doing that to small and mid-sized companies. So make sure you always protect your interests, if possible get some money up-front, a part after a significant milestone and the rest upon completion. And ideally work at having a good standing and connection to the instance who can actually sign off on and pay what they owe you.

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#56

Post by cgh »

gavingmiller wrote: post #38

Ultimately it's your fault as a contractor if you don't get paid. And a site like this does nothing to teach developers, freelances, designers, and the like how to avoid these pitfalls which is why I'll never use it. Why is it your fault? Because as a professional you've not taken the time/money to have a contract created to cover your ass. Contracts exist to protect both parties from each other. And it is your profe…

It seems that contracts are assumed. These are truly delinquent clients that attempt to weasel out of the contract any way they can.

One time, we had a client stiff us for $50,000, contract and all. We delivered a bunch of back-end work and he disappeared. We've never been able to find him.

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#57

Post by patio11 »

This is not a way forward.

1). Work with better clients. You can have invoice collection problems at $50k, too, but they're much less likely than at $500 and you have much better options for... escalation methods at that point.

2). If you're not a bank, stop taking on so much credit risk. Businesses can deal with substantially sterner payment terms than you'd think to offer. If your clients balk, see #1. (Thomas has some suggestions here, too, many of which reduce to "Work for Thomas' clients and charge enough that dealing with their purchasing processes is worth your headaches rather than chasing deadbeats for Snickers money.")

3). Showing up on iamachumpconsultant.com will not enhance your professional reputation, bill rate, or client pool.

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#58

Post by mgkimsal »

Similar situation, but closer to $9k. Filed a lawsuit in court - still waiting 3.5 years later (NYC). I suspect it'll take a long to collect even after a judgement.

Yes, don't extend so much credit - lesson learned (the hard way).

I consulted with a number of people debating whether or not to blog about this situation with the person's name. In the end I chose not to at that time, but realized later that this person had another non-payment suit pending which had been filed the day before I started working with him. Had I researched a bit more, I might have found that (but then again, I might not have - you often don't think to do court record searches on potential clients). I ended up not disclosing his name in my blog, but did disclose the location I filed a suit. Anyone wanting to know can go check the public records and find out for themselves. Felt like a decent middle ground, and it's not irrevocably commiting myself to having been the "name and shamer". But without more naming and shaming, this behaviour by some people will continue. I found out later that this guy had also stiffed multiple other parties, who were then coming to me for advice about how to collect. "File a NY lawsuit" was the only answer I had.

Perhaps some public naming and shaming would either correct this person's behaviour or at least ward off others from working with him in the future. one person complaining about no payment can be written off as a crank. 5 devs in a 5 month period, all from different areas, would be harder to dismiss.

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#59

Post by mikecaron »

I have started to put a clause in my own contracts that's paraphrased like so: I do some work for you and submit it to you for verification. You have x days to verify it. If you fail to verify it or tell me a scheduled date for verification by that date, it goes on github for the world to see and use for free. I.E. "F* U, Pay Me."

Re: I Wasn't Paid

#60

Post by gk1 »

darkmethod wrote: post #49
gk1 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on a highly secured military network. While it's not impossible that there's malware on my computer, I think it's more likely that something's up with the website. Edit: There's no choice of browsers on this network. It's IE 7 or nothing.

May I suggest that you refrain from surfing the Internet using IE7 while on a secured military network.

Unfortunately there is no other option. You use the software you're given, and that's it.
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