My client has disappeared

[Mountain Goat]

It's really hard to go with your instincts when it (seems to be) solid work.

[smalex]

I guess she's not obliged to acknowledge your work at all (as incredibly rude and unusual as that is), so I'd agree about waiting until the invoice is actually late (and possibly you'd sent a reminder and been ignored) before you involved someone else. The omens obviously suck, but at the moment I guess she hasn't done anything wrong, contractually, yet.

[nineseven]

Then I will burn her house down. :reasonable:

[Topcat]

Yes. Wait until then and we shall skin her with a spoon.

[smalex]

Then I will burn her house down. :reasonable:

Fair.

[Hamm]

I suppose so at a stretch, but it's really not how it's ever done in my industry. You don't email Next to say thank you for a new top, but you do email an individual creative professional you've hired to say thanks, I have got it, or, please can you make it sound snazzier etc

Well, no. And she might not be aware or just rude. She might be seeing your emails etc as as “please leave feedback” in a online review/eBay way thinking it’s automatic/unnecessary as she has what she needs.

[nineseven]

Update: I tried to call her yesterday and she had blatantly blocked my number, so I left a message with her office manager who said her number was working fine. Our contact also left a message for her.

However this morning I had a brainwave and called from my spare mobile and she picked up! She seemed surprised but regained her composure quickly, the snake. She loves my copy and is uploading it to the site today - some of it is actually up there now. She apologised for going AWOL for SIX WEEKS as she has "been travelling a lot".

We agreed that she would pay 50% of the invoice today and I said I would invoice her for the balance once I have received and submitted any amends, or after 14 days, whichever is sooner.

I hate her.

[emma_p]

What a cow! I’m glad you caught up with her but honestly. What a way to conduct business.

[Luna]

Sneaky bitch. I hate people like that. And you've got to be nice to her until you get your money. Grrrr

[Cerise]

She was already using material she hadn’t paid for? That’s bad!

[Dáire]

I hope the work acquaintance who introduced you is aware of all this too, she should know her reputation's on the line recommending her.

[Hamm]

She was already using material she hadn’t paid for? That’s bad!

Well, no. She's been rude, not acknowledged receipt, given feedback or followed protocol. But to utilise something before the invoice date is not unusual. It's how we pay bills, builders merchants, any employer operates. She's not late to pay or using something she's not entitled to until she's late to pay. But she is a massive do not touch again stress flake.

[nineseven]

I hope the work acquaintance who introduced you is aware of all this too, she should know her reputation's on the line recommending her.

Yes. She's a bit of a dick too so I won't be contacting her again. She put in a call but said as she'd already been paid her commission she wasn't very interested.

I have since sorted out some even more watertight T&Cs.

[Figaro]

Has she paid the 50% yet?

[nineseven]

no.

She’s in contact and has finally sent me something to add into the copy (promised at the end of March) but I’m not lifting a finger until she pays me.

[nineseven]

Oh my god I just checked again and she has paid it!!!!

[Ella77]

Thank god. What a fucking cow.

[nineseven]

I had actually written it out of my cashflow calculations.

[nineseven]

Update: having reappeared and paid me 50%, we went through two rounds of amends which were covered by my original quote. Her marketing team said my copy is "very high quality". However, after I submitted the second amends they advised her that a certain element needed more info - info she never briefed me to write about and has never provided me with information for. (She had refused to give me a written brief and insisted on doing it over the phone, which fortunately I recorded.)

I've pushed back and said this is out of scope, we have completed the work I quoted for and any further work would have to be quoted for separately. She replied saying she wanted a copy of the recording of the briefing session, which I have sent via WeTransfer on Friday but she has not downloaded.

Fortunately she says explicitly on the recording that the section that she now things needs much more detail should be a "brief overview".

I have invoiced her the balance but fuck knows if she'll ever pay it. She is a fucking twat.

[Derek Nimmo]

She is rather - good thing you were canny enough to record her!