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Moonsail Limited
Making Words Work For You |
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A short story about unpaid invoices
I’d presented a first draft of writing (brochure copy) back in January and was awaiting feedback from the customer. I chased it up periodically but after several months I realised that, since presenting the work, I’d had absolutely NO feedback from the customer whatsoever. Concerned that the project would simply tail off into nothing, I sent a polite letter along with an invoice for the time spent to date on the project.
Many unanswered emails, phone messages, and letters later I finally tracked the customer down. It was clear they had no intention of settling the invoice. Why? Because they weren’t ready to continue with the project just yet – it had been put on ‘hold’ and until they were ready to take the project forward, they weren’t prepared to pay for the work.
They pointed out I’d originally told them they wouldn’t need to pay until the job was 100% finished – which was true, I HAD told them this (it’s my usual policy). But I’d wrongly assumed that the project would be done and invoiced within a couple of weeks. I hadn’t reckoned on finding, months later, the project had stalled – through no fault of mine. I argued in vain that I should at least be paid for the time invested so far on the project, in the end settling for a vague promise that it would be picked up again at some point in the future.
The invoice was for a minimal amount so I decided to write the whole thing off – it simply wasn’t wasting any more time chasing it. Nonetheless, I was annoyed with myself for not being more insistent about this unpaid work. If you hire someone to provide a service, you should pay them for it – whether you plan to use the results today, next year, or even not at all. Time has been invested in producing the work, and that time should be recompensed.
Would you hire a decorator to wallpaper your spare bedroom then refuse to pay him until you have a guest stay over – because you haven’t actually ‘used’ the room until that point? Or take your classic car to the paintshop in December to have a scratch repaired then refuse to pay until the summer – because you only use the car to drive to shows on fine days?...
All part of the fun of being your own boss! As always, there's a lesson to be learned - it makes sense to spell out exactly what's expected of both parties in terms of timescales and fees BEFORE embarking on a project. Some simple Terms & Conditions will help you achieve this. If you need any help writing yours, please feel free to contact me.
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