Non-paying clients are never fun to deal with, but it can be especially hard to deal with a non-paying client who “plays dead”: simply never responds to your phone calls, e-mails or letters. As a freelancer, what’s the best course of action when faced with a client who owes you money and practices nonviolent noncooperation? Here are a few thoughts.
First, bulletproof the financial arrangements from the start. Never, never, ever (did I mention never??) work for an agency without checking their history on Payment Practices or a similar translation client rating service. Never, never, ever (did I mention really never??) work for a direct client without following Judy Jenner’s advice that the best protection against non-payment is preparing a very detailed quote and having the client sign it before you start work. I also require anyone who is not an established business to pay in full in advance; for example when I translate official documents for individuals. These three steps can go a long way toward preventing non-payment situations to start out with. In my experience, if the non-paying client is an individual, there is simply not much you can do. Legally you might be able to take the individual to small claims court, but again, if he or she simply doesn’t show up, it’s unlikely that the judge will issue a bench warrant for someone who owes you $50.
But let’s assume that it’s too late for that…you’re already in the non-payment trenches and you need to decide on a course of action. First, assess the amount in question. Although it’s always painful to have worked for free, I would not sink a great deal of time into chasing after a small amount of money. Define “small amount”? Well, I’d say $100 or less. At that level, you’re almost certainly better off putting that client on your “never again” list and just chalking it up to experience rather than devoting hours of your time to the collections process. If you’re talking about a significant amount, keep reading.
“Playing dead” is one of the most maddening things that a non-paying client can do; I once dealt with a client who not only ignored my e-mails and phone calls, but refused to sign for a certified letter (“No one here by that name”). So, you have to get a little creative, with steps that might include:
- Threatening some sort of public recourse. For example, “If this invoice is not paid by xxx, I will be forced to post a report of this transaction on translation industry payment rating services” or “I will be forced to refer this invoice to the American Translators Association’s partner collections agency for further action.”
- Having a colleague act as your collections representative. I think that this can be very effective; all you need is a colleague with an assertive manner who calls the client and either speaks to them or leaves a message to the effect of “This is Corinne McKay’s collections representative, calling in reference to invoice xxx which is now seriously overdue. To avoid further action on our part, please contact me to arrange payment as soon as possible.”
- Try to make a deal. Again, this isn’t going to suit everyone, but my hope is just to put some ideas out there for you to choose from. You could potentially contact the client and say that they clearly don’t intend to pay the amount that they owe you, and while that is extremely disappointing, you would like to arrange a payment plan or partial payment plan so that you can be compensated for some of what they owe you. Likewise, in my experience it can help to offer a non-paying client as many payment options as possible. I once worked for a startup agency in Europe who left me on the hook for 2,000 euros…not an amount I was going to give up on without a fight. They finally paid by credit card via PayPal which resulted in a hefty fee for me, but it was much better than not being paid at all.
- If you’re positive that the client is not dangerous or unstable, you could go to their office in person or send someone else. Again, this could be your “collections representative,” popping by to check on the invoice status and ready to accept a check right then.
Other thoughts?
Hehe, I like option #2, and it does work. A few years ago, another asshole translator (not even a peanuts agency – a regular colleague!) didn’t play dead but tried to delay payment forever. After my initial reminder and his stubborn responses, I mentioned legal steps and added a friend of mine with a very formally looking email address to the cc field in my mail to him. He immediately changed his mind and paid the next day. 😀
By the way, a similar tip (for clients in the US) I read elsewhere suggests mentioning that you will send the IRS after the non-payer and report them for tax fraud. Apparently, the fear of an IRS investigation has already turned some non-payers into very eager payers.
This is why I love reading Blogs! I never thought of having a colleague act as your collections representative. We don’t have this problem often, but it does come up from time to time and can be very frustrating. I look forward to testing it out next time and seeing how it goes.
Thanks Jeff! Yes, it’s a simple but effective step! I think that someone with an assertive phone manner is critical. Let us know how it goes!
Thanks Simone! Non-paying *colleagues* may be worth a post in and of themselves; I think that’s actually more painful than not being paid by an agency or corporate client. Glad to hear that option 2 worked for you!
I once had a complicated situation. an “agency” that owed me money also owed money to other translators in the US, Argentina and Spain. I gathered all possible information and got in contact with the translators. Then we all posted our situation at a translator’s website. The “agency” happened to be a side business for a computer shop. The owner had someone who had sweet-talked him into this venture and this “PM” had kept all the earnings. I wrote a letter to the business owner and threatened to report his business to his chamber of commerce and to contact the local newspaper and TV news. I received my check within 48 hours and all of us had been paid within a week. Needless to say the “PM” lost his job and must be hiding somewhere else now. To add insult to injury I received an offer from the “PM” several months later. I asked for upfront payment, never heard of him again.
Wow, just when you think you’ve heard every way someone could think of to cheat you!! Thanks for that story and glad that you were eventually paid!
I once translated a long French patent for a startup in France. After 45 days, I sent the guy who placed the order and who owed me about four thousand dollars two polite e-mails asking about payment. He simply ignored me. I think that he was probably going to try to stiff me.
In the third e-mail I changed the tone completely. I said that if I did not get paid promptly, the first thing that potential clients would find about his company on the Internet would be the fact that he is a deadbeat.
I also told him that the new patent that he was going to file could be easily invalidated if it were based on theft of intellectual property (my translation). I just made it up, but it could be true.
This time he replied to my e-mail within minutes, and I received a check from his associate here in US, in a plain envelope with handwritten address, within a few days.
After I dodged the bullet this time, I started demanding 50% down before I start working for entities that are not patent law firms or major companies.
To “cc” a lawyer in the e-mail is a really good idea, although I hope I will not have to use it.
If they want to stiff you, you have to figure out where it would hurt them the most and then hit them with your threats. But there are many translation agencies who are in such a sorry state that they simply don’t care anymore because they are broke.
Nothing would work in such a case.
Thanks Steve, that is a great point about theft of intellectual property. I put on my invoices “Translator retains copyright to this translation until paid in full.” As you said, I’m not sure if that’s actually true, but I think it’s a good threat. Also opens up the door to contact the end client if your contact is an agency. I love your story about the patent, thanks!!
Not being paid is a common malady of all service providers, not just translators. There is no foolproof way to avoid this thorny problem. It helps if the service provider takes the following steps: (1) Get partial payment before starting work, (2) ask for complete prepayment if you don’t know the client, and (3) for long or big projects, bill by the month. A less obvious pain of not getting paid is the tremendous anger and resentment that gnaws at the service provider himself or herself. You feel cheated, outsmarted, and used. It affects your own self esteem. Learn to move on, and get wiser next time. There are good clients who pay what we ask for without haggling, pay promptly and respect us. Don’t ever forget this brighter side of a service provider’s life. The good balances off the bad.
Thanks James; that’s a great insight. I recently talked to a freelance writer (she works for magazines) who just accepts that once a year, she gets stiffed. Her take: “You have a store, you get shoplifted once in a while; you provide professional services, sometimes someone doesn’t pay you.” Very valuable tip about moving on and not letting the non-payer eat away at you forever!
I understand the point of letting go. We all need to have a sense of effort, gains and losses. And some losses go without a fight but there are other situations where one needs to put a reasonable effort, not only for oneself but to protect others of falling prey as well. In my case we were a total o six translators. I know that between my friend and I we were owed several thousands of dollars. I think it is healthy to take care of situations like this and to be upset about them . After that (resolved or not) I can be calm and move on. Another point is that it does not affect my self esteem, I have an idea of my value as a translator and as a professional. Someone not paying me is their issue professionally and emotionally and my issue economically, no more than that.
I have very strong opinion on this point, actually. I see myself as an independent business, rather than a service provider for other agencies or companies. I set the rules. Especially bigger companies like to force their own payment scheme on you, but what if you don’t just say “yes”. Admittedly, it doesn’t always work, but in 75% of the cases I have my clients pay me right on delivery. I send them an email saying that their translation is ready, and with that I send my bank account no. and a Paypal link, to pay by credit card. I tell them that as soon as they pay, they will get the text. At this stage, they have no choice. And I’ve only made good experiences with this. While companies might be shocked at first, they soon learn to like the system. After all, once the translation is sent, it’s all sorted out. Fast, and efficient. I am thinking of writing a blog post about the detailed procedure soon. If we can all implement a similar system, blog posts about non-paying clients could be a thing of the past pretty soon… What do you think?
#GB Translation — It sounds very neat at first glance but there are three points which make this rigorous technique rather questionable.
The first one is 75% of clients submitting to your demands. What about the remaining 25%? What if just one of those 25% owes you more than the rest combined?
The second one is a scenario where the translation has been completed, you notify the client but, for some reason, they state that it is their corporate policy to pay 30 days net — take it or leave it. Now, you’re sitting on your translation with no work from this client in the future.
The third one is your assertion “what if you don’t just say “yes””. In 99% of cases your client will simply turn his back on you and find someone else. In today’s market, it’s a sad reality.
Some of my fellow translators use the same technique, albeit sweetened by the fact that they send a translation file protected by the password to the client and release the password to the client once money comes in to their account. Again, this trick is quite similar but its persuasive power and psychological effect are much greater.
Hi Gary,
about the remaining 25%: This is mostly due to the second scenario you mentioned. When I send a quote per email, I always add a paragraph saying that payment is to be immediate upon receipt of the translation. Without going into too many details, it is all said there. If at this stage there is no comment from the client about payment terms, it is understood that they accept mine. I’ve never been left to sit on the finished translation; after all, THEY NEED IT and deadlines are always tight, it’s more a case of “take it or leave it” for the client, not for me. Either they pay immediately or… well, what’s the alternative? Look for ANOTHER translator, with an even tighter deadline? Knowing that they will have some kind of legal problems with me? The logical reaction is to pay and forget about the translation. Now, if you then establish a long-term cooperation, it is only logical that you start talking about monthly invoices, instead of having to pay every single text right on delivery. But by that point there is mutual trust so it’s not a problem.
Of course, 25% of clients will answer to the initial quote stating some kind of corporate policy. If they do, that’s already something, too. It means that they have thought about payment and talked to their respective departments and by the tone of their answer, you can usually tell if they are serious or not. If course, among these 25%, there might be a non-payer. But you’ve just reduced the risk by 75%, know what I mean. At least the system does one thing. It automatically identifies clients who WILL pay you.
Just a couple comments: If you engage a third party to act as a collections representative in the US, you _may_ be running afoul of collections laws in the United States. I would not recommend that approach, unless you hire an actual collections agency (such as through the ATA).
Cc’ing a friend who is a lawyer, or having that friend write a letter regarding a late payment on legal stationery, would be effective.
It is not that expensive to file a small claims action and to pay a sheriff or bailiff to serve notice on a nonpayer: for unpaid larger amounts, this approach will likely result in a settlement as long as you communicate clearly with the nonpayer at each step what you are going to do. This may also protect you in case of nonpayer bankruptcy.
I think it’s a terrific and indeed essential idea to have quotes signed and prepaid in advance. In situations where you don’t or can’t have a job prepaid in full, it is also a terrific idea to specify clearly on any contract and on any invoice that the translator retains full copyright to the translation until it has been paid for in full. Although heavy-handed, in the case of nonpayment past due by more than 90 days, the issue of copyright infringement can and should be raised in reminders. If the nonpayer is an agency, then remind the agency that the end client of an unpaid translation is therefore also infringing on your copyright as well; that will likely also get attention.
No one likes bad debt, and that certainly includes me. However, zero bad debt is probably not a good, nor realistic, goal either. If credit terms are too strict then opportunities have likely been lost along the way.
As for collections I do what’s reasonably possible to get paid, including some of the things mentioned in the blog. If it’s not successful then at some point it’s probably better to move on to the next opportunity and not get stuck on the loss.
Recently one of our translation clients declared bankruptcy and we’ll never get paid for those projects. We’re working for them again now under the reorganized and better financed operation. As a result we’ll likely recover all that was lost and more. If we’d refused to work for them again the losses would have been permanent.
I am actually in that kind of situation right know with a client that is here on proz.com.
I translated 17k words for him in two to three days ( very short time) and the wordrate was also not the highest as he knows i am not a professional technical translator.. Anyway, because i really need the funds i accepted the job, so he send me an email with the details of his PO and asked me to confirm per email as per the agreement ( some sort of the contract)
I have actually seen then after agreeing that the file was actually 21k words instead of 17k so i was already underpaid for the work. Anyway i went on and worked almost two days straight to get it done on time.( which i did at the end, and slightly before the deadline) Now that deadbeat of a guy said that his client told him that my translation is totally crap.. + started to shout etc etc etc…
I told him that i can acknowledge that there are some mistakes on it as i am not a technical translator and i am willing to take a penalty.. After him shouting again ( so basicailly he is just someone taking the commission) told me that his client refused the work and is not going to pay me a cent.. Since that ( like two weeks already) he has been not replying to any emails. Even threats do not work. he just does not reply.
The total amouint owed for this is 680 euro and i gave him a big discount of 180 euro so now the invoice is at 500 euro and he still does not reply.
I do not have the funds to actually go to court but i dont want that amount to slip away just because of a deadbeat that doesnt want to pay!!
Any good help for me please? I want to say out loud who it is but dont want to do that as per now. I could explain more in private message if anybody wants to help me in this.
Many thanks
Bart
Stories like yours are the reason why I am leaving freelance translation and moving on to another profession. You basically worked for $0.03 (Canadian $) (or .02 Euros) per word. As a professional translator with over 10 years experience, I charge $0.18/word and had plenty of work to keep me busy full time. But in the past 2-3 years, I have lost several contracts because I will not work for ridiculously low fees. Unfortunately, the translation field seems to be heading that way, with translators willing to work for what sometimes amounts to minimum wage – even though we are college/university educated and professionals. That’s really too bad.
do you know any smart idea when the client disappaered after finishing the translation to him? Cancelled the email address and website?
Well, hopefully you asked for full contact information including physical address before you did the translation. Otherwise, I’m not sure there’s much you can do other than look up the registration information for their domain name (try whois.net) and send a certified letter to that address.
This (having problems with getting clients to pay) is really unfortunate and seems to be something that happens to all translators and other professionals at least once during their professional careers. I had the misfortune recently of being assigned a project from a new translation agency that I had not dealt with before. The company issues me a PO and so I began the translation but then a few days in to the project when I had just 6 pages left to complete out of the total 33, the company cancelled the project. The company has not answered any of my messages and has even deleted me as a Skype contact without giving me any answers. Does anybody have any advice as to what to do now and where I stand on this matter?
I have had this happen to me a couple of times. Normally, after 2-3 increasingly less friendly reminders, the money was transacted. However, I recently had a lot of hassle with a US agency (I am a European freelancer); they hadn’t been paying an overdue invoice for more than 1300 USD, using delaying tactics for more than a month (“problems with the new accounting system” etc.). Yesterday, I wrote this nice little e-mail:
Dear xxx,
please get my invoice cleared by the end of this week. I am not in the mood for further delays.
I would like to point out that as long as the translation hasn’t been paid, I consider it my intellectual property. I have the contact details of the client for whom this was translated (they were on forwarded e-mails concerning the project) and I am considering taking legal steps if there is more hassle.
Greetings,
Six hours later the invoice had been paid via PayPal. Worked wonders for me 🙂