My Client Will Not Pay My Final Invoice

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Gordon Goodfellow

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Mar 11, 2019
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  • #1
    Hello,

    After engaging with a long term project which I was told would last several years (writing the entire contents of a large ecommerce website) I suddenly got an email from the client to say that all the money had run out.

    The client had always paid on time but he is not paying for the final invoice (I sent him invoices for the previous week's work).

    It is now nearly three weeks overdue. What do people recommend I do in this case?

    Thanks.
     
    G

    Gordon Goodfellow

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    Mar 11, 2019
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  • #5
    WaveJumper said:
    Being a long term contract you must have built up some form of relationship have you actually picked the phone up an tried to have a conversation with client to discuss
    Click to expand...
    We spoke several times on the phone. But he talks incredibly fast and with an accent I'm not familiar with. I understand about 40% of what he says. I prefer to put things in writing so that everything is plain and clear in black & white, but he doesn't read that much. I've sent dozens of recommendations to him and I don't think he reads them because I rarely get a response.

    Don't misunderstand me - I believe he's a good man and a reasonable man - but I also believe he's easily led by people around him. He wanted me on the scene because of my knowledge of SEO, and I tried to explain things in layman's terms (I know it can sometimes be a difficult subject to anyone) but I always got the impression he was being steered by other people.

    I wanted to make this website a good success and it had been part of my life for 16 months but then the sudden firing by email and everything stopped - and now he won't pay. I'd like to phone him, but I'm not sure I'd understand what he was saying.

    However pathetic that sounds, it's a fact.
     
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    Gordon Goodfellow

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    Mar 11, 2019
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  • #8
    I suspect they are a limited company but I'm not sure. They are registered for VAT (but so am I, and I trade as a freelancer, but I was obliged to register a few years ago when my turnover was better than it is now).

    I've searched for my ex-client's name in the Companies House website and it seems plausible that it is him who is registered under an alternative name to the one I know him by, which is the name of the website I was working on.

    I do know that he has a number of businesses going on at the same time. I get the impression that he may have been trying to keep too many plates spinning in the air at the same time. Also I'm inclined to believe he has been badly advised.

    I think they're still trading. His other businesses will be turning over revenue, possibly quite healthily - I just don't know. But I think he went into the website area without good advice (he hosted his website with GoDaddy!). I'm very glad that I was able to contribute to this site, and I worked on it solidly for 16 months, but from the domain name onwards it was not looking good.
     
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    Gordon Goodfellow

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    Mar 11, 2019
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  • #11
    Newchodge said:
    You have been working for a client for 16 months and you don't KNOW THEIR NAME? Who are you going to sue?
    Click to expand...
    Yes, I know his name. I don't want to advertise it here (would you?) because I think he is being misled by other people and therefore his decisions are misguided. I seek guidance here; I'm hoping it doesn't come to legal process. I'm seeking genuine advice here.
     
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    Bob Morgan

    Bob Morgan

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    Apr 15, 2018
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  • #18
    estwig said:
    Do yourself a big favour, rather than waste good time, energy and worry on this, spend that time finding new clients instead.

    Clear your head, learn, move forward!
    Click to expand...
    THIS ^^^^^
    DO NOT GET SIDETRACKED WITH THE DISAPPOINTMENT - MOVE-ON!

    At the same time go through the niceties of the Letter Before Claim, and the County Court process. You might be successful in Obtaining Judgment. However, enforcing it is something different - It becomes something of a 'Pyrrhic Victory!'

    Although, I do know a little man in Fulham . . .
     
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    MBE2017

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    • Feb 16, 2017
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  • #19
    Gordon Goodfellow said:
    My engagement was through a site called Upwork. He then disengaged from Upwork and so did I because we both did not like paying the fees Upwork charged. So we both worked on trust, which is why this makes it particularly galling.
    Click to expand...

    That was your first mistake. I agree with estwig, get new clients and actually be sure of who you are working for, an individual, a company, the correct contact details etc.

    Much as you might not like it, you might not even know who to sue and waste months on this in the meantime. Did you have a proper contract drawn up? One where you can sue if required? Or have you just worked off an email request?
     
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    Financial-Modeller

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    Jul 3, 2012
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  • #20
    Given that you have had 65ish weekly invoices paid in full on time, and 1 is unpaid, put it down to experience, move on with the development of your business and smarten up your terms in future assignments.


    Solve My Problem said:
    A letter before action, giving them 14 days, then straight to small claims court.
    Click to expand...

    This is great advice, but if you can't identify your client, it suggests successful recovery may be unlikely.
     
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    Mark T Jones

    Mark T Jones

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  • #21
    OK I will retract my former advice.

    You have been unbelievably naive and getting to the bottom of this will take more time and effort than its worth.

    Before you move on, learn the lesson. Absolute basic rule is to know who your customer is.

    Not the person you communicate with, but the entity with which you are contracting - TBH it hadn't even occurred to me that you wouldn't know this after 18 months.

    If you plan to run a business, learn to be businesslike
     
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    Paul Kelly ICHYB

    Paul Kelly ICHYB

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    • Jan 21, 2008
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  • #23
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    Ryan Paul

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    Mar 9, 2021
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  • #24
    WaveJumper said:
    Being a long term contract you must have built up some form of relationship have you actually picked the phone up an tried to have a conversation with client to discuss
    Click to expand...
    This.
    "I prefer to put things in writing", is such a cop out.
    Deal with the issue face to face or over the phone. Give your client an opportunity to pay in installments. If he accepts then make it clear that should he not keep to the agreement then you'll take further action.
     
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    pentel

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    • Mar 12, 2011
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  • #25
    From the information you have provided you don't know who you have been working for so who are you going to make a claim against?

    There doesn't seem to be any contract so how are you going to prove that anything is owed?

    You don't know where they are based (but you do know the bookkeepers email address) so what address are you going to put on the claim?

    This is a lost cause, time to move on.
     
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    U

    UkAppCoder

  • #27
    estwig said:
    The burning questions is......................How much are you owed?

    £50.00.........£5k, what is it, perhaps more importantly, how much time have you lost!
    Click to expand...

    I've been at the latter end of this range once, and near the beginning of it a few times. It's so infuriating and frustrating.

    Prevention is better than cure, and my advice to @pentel and anyone else working in this way would be that when working online with unknown people:

    * Always divide projects and sub-projects into small chunks. I aim for task sets which will take me about a week.

    * Take a deposit for half of the task set, and don't start work until its cleared.

    * Complete the full task set, then invoice for the other half.

    * Don't start work on the next task set until you've been fully paid up, and you have the deposit for the next task set.

    If they don't agree to your conditions, then walk away.

    Working in this way, you only ever risk half a week's wages (or whater time period you choose). :)
     
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    Mark T Jones

    Mark T Jones

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  • #29
    UkAppCoder said:
    I've been at the latter end of this range once, and near the beginning of it a few times. It's so infuriating and frustrating.

    Prevention is better than cure, and my advice to @pentel and anyone else working in this way would be that when working online with unknown people:

    * Always divide projects and sub-projects into small chunks. I aim for task sets which will take me about a week.

    * Take a deposit for half of the task set, and don't start work until its cleared.

    * Complete the full task set, then invoice for the other half.

    * Don't start work on the next task set until you've been fully paid up, and you have the deposit for the next task set.

    If they don't agree to your conditions, then walk away.

    Working in this way, you only ever risk half a week's wages (or whater time period you choose). :)
    Click to expand...
    All valid points.

    But prior to this - know who your customer is!
     
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    IanSuth

    IanSuth

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  • #30
    Mark T Jones said:
    All valid points.

    But prior to this - know who your customer is!
    Click to expand...
    When i first started in recruitment we used to provide accounts with what was called a "placement sheet" it was for us to document who we had placed in a role where and for how mush - next to client it said IN BLOCK ITALIC CAPITALS "For legal reasons this must be 100% correct and as per where terms of business were sent"

    I think that may have been one of the most important sentences I ever read
     
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    U

    UkAppCoder

  • #31
    Mark T Jones said:
    All valid points.

    But prior to this - know who your customer is!
    Click to expand...

    Usually impossible when working online where customers could be anywhere in the world.

    And anyway, even after sixteen months, you would think @pentel would know a fair bit about this customer, but look what's happened!

    I think the most important thing to do is minimise the risk for every project, and do what you can to research the customer.
     
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    K

    Karimbo

    Free Member
    • Nov 5, 2011
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  • #35
    Cut your losses. If you invoiced them month by month. The you got 15 months wages and you're out by 1 I presume?

    I would give letter before action and then small claims court. But not be too invested I it and get working on other projects.

    It sounds like the venture didn't succeed after 16 months of SEO. Its tough time for ecommece now.
     
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