Poll: Have you ever had trouble getting someone to pay you after you completed a project? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever had trouble getting someone to pay you after you completed a project?".
This poll was originally submitted by Elina Niero. View the poll results »
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I haven’t had any problems in a long time. I have been working mainly with the same faithful client base and over the years I developed a sixth sense for these things. The last reminder I had to send was a few years back. In over 30 years, I faced 2 serious non-payment issues (in both instances I had to hire a lawyer)...
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Once I was owed $9,000 by a well-known international organization. The problem affected many freelance translators. It took two years and appeals to the head of the organization until the payments were finally issued.
Another time, I was late sending my invoice for a large job and the agency went out of business in the interim. Would they have paid if I had invoiced on time? I will never know.
But hey, these were only two incidents in a career spanning more than 50 year... See more Once I was owed $9,000 by a well-known international organization. The problem affected many freelance translators. It took two years and appeals to the head of the organization until the payments were finally issued.
Another time, I was late sending my invoice for a large job and the agency went out of business in the interim. Would they have paid if I had invoiced on time? I will never know.
But hey, these were only two incidents in a career spanning more than 50 years. ▲ Collapse
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This rarely happened to me more than twice during my career as a freelance translator in the first one I used the service of a debt collection agency and managed to get my payment from him,he was an individual, in the second instance I threatened them that I would use the service of a debt collection agency, they paid me in full.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 20:03
Spanish to English
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Not recently. I suppose something like that must have happened back in the day, but I don't recall anything that really stands out.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:03
Member (2008)
Italian to English
People occasionally try not to pay me. None of them has ever succeeded. I have always convinced them that if they don't pay, things will happen that they might not like. When they realise I mean it, they always pay.
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 20:03
Member (2020)
English to German
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| REGULARLY with one of my clients | Oct 25, 2021 |
One of my existing clients used to issue payments on their due date, so they would be credited to my account 1-2 business days later. I have never minded this, even though they have a 60-day payment term, which in itself is unacceptable and, by all intents, apparently even illegal.
However, this year, they appear to have massive issues in their accounting department and I have been sending payment reminders on a regular basis. They always end up paying at the end, but this is slowly becomi... See more One of my existing clients used to issue payments on their due date, so they would be credited to my account 1-2 business days later. I have never minded this, even though they have a 60-day payment term, which in itself is unacceptable and, by all intents, apparently even illegal.
However, this year, they appear to have massive issues in their accounting department and I have been sending payment reminders on a regular basis. They always end up paying at the end, but this is slowly becoming more tedious than what their jobs are worth. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton 
United States
Local time: 14:03
German to English
One time an engineer from a local company commissioned a translation. When I was halfway through the project I was informed that the company had filed bankruptcy and that I should immediately stop translating the document. The man who had requested the translation was very apologetic and claimed he was unaware of his company's financial condition. His loss was even greater – he and several colleagues lost their jobs when the company went into receivership. I filed a proof of claim with the cou... See more One time an engineer from a local company commissioned a translation. When I was halfway through the project I was informed that the company had filed bankruptcy and that I should immediately stop translating the document. The man who had requested the translation was very apologetic and claimed he was unaware of his company's financial condition. His loss was even greater – he and several colleagues lost their jobs when the company went into receivership. I filed a proof of claim with the court, but as an unsecured creditor I was out of luck.
On a second occasion I was asked by a local resident to translate a lease from German to English. I delivered the translation by e-mail along with my invoice. When no payment was forthcoming I went to his physical address and learned from a roommate that he had left town and in all likelihood had moved to Germany. There was no response to the nasty letter I sent to the German address on the lease.
The third time I was owed a considerable sum by a small agency. Repeated phone calls and e-mails received no response, so I hired a collection agency. The fees amounted to about a third of what the agency owed. The owner of the agency wasn't a crook, just an incompetent businessman.
The irony is that all three clients were more or less local – or at least within driving distance. I've never had a serious problem with distant clients. I've been lucky. ▲ Collapse
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Inga Petkelyte
Portugal
Local time: 19:03
Lithuanian to Portuguese
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I don't swear, except when driving , but there is one b*st*rd in Vigo that didn't pay me over 1000 euros. That was more than 10 years ago, the real value of money was higher than it is now. I don't know how such people walk on the earth and sometimes, when remembering him, I would like to wish him what he deserves - yet, am I the great judge here? Let Him decide what to do about this one.
All the other stories where settled... See more I don't swear, except when driving, but there is one b*st*rd in Vigo that didn't pay me over 1000 euros. That was more than 10 years ago, the real value of money was higher than it is now. I don't know how such people walk on the earth and sometimes, when remembering him, I would like to wish him what he deserves - yet, am I the great judge here? Let Him decide what to do about this one.
All the other stories where settled one or another way. What I observe lately, and hope it is happening only to me for whatever reason, is that whenever a service commissioner makes a mistake they try to push the loss on my plate. I need to explain the obvious then, and not everyone likes it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 20:03
French to English
One company who sent me lots of work, paid up all the big bills, but somehow didn't pay the three minimum charge bills. Now, normally I would add little bits on to the big bills, but they insisted it was for a different project so couldn't be tacked on. And since the little bits were all things I had to do very quickly (one was sent at 10pm for delivery next day at 10am... and I had an appointment the other side of Paris at 9am that same day) I wasn't going to do them for free. Then the accounta... See more One company who sent me lots of work, paid up all the big bills, but somehow didn't pay the three minimum charge bills. Now, normally I would add little bits on to the big bills, but they insisted it was for a different project so couldn't be tacked on. And since the little bits were all things I had to do very quickly (one was sent at 10pm for delivery next day at 10am... and I had an appointment the other side of Paris at 9am that same day) I wasn't going to do them for free. Then the accountant vanished and I was starting to get worried, but they did pay all the biggies. That was early 2020, and I'm not sure they are even still in business now. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 15:03
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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Most of them end up paying when you mention you will make an entry in the Blue Board with one star. Others pay when ProZ intervenes.
In one case, I had to file a lawsuit against an ex-client. It was more than 2000 USD. They paid, but I had to pay the lawyer (25%).
And in two cases, I actually never got paid, but they were both low value jobs (less than 30 bucks), and one of them was banned from ProZ.
[Edited at 2021-10-26 00:11 GMT]
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