[thechat] Stiffed :(

[William Anderson]

Fred Jones wrote:
> They seemed like such a nice, normal couple--I felt comfortable trusting 
> them and just working, based on their understanding of my hourly rate. 
> We emailed back and forth several times and they even took a month off 
> (before I ever started working) to work on their designs and specs etc. 
> so as to nail everything down as clearly as possible.
> 
> I then did the job, 90% done and my bill is about $2000 and suddenly, 
> cyber-silence. I didn't even send the final bill yet. Yes, at the end, 
> they were not happy that it was going slow (I have been very busy with 
> several clients) but they didn't seem THAT unhappy.
> 
> A week now and just cyber-silence. They changed all the passwords (FTP, 
> control panel, CMS) and no email no nothing. I don't know what happened.

Threaten litigation under contract breach.  That's usually enough to 
make small businesses suddenly respond and answer your emails / letters 
/ demands for payments.

-n