We were referred by our best client who told us Justice wanted to order their own work. When I asked if they pay, they said "sure, like we do." Because they came from a good-paying, reputable client, we mistakenly didn't grill them about their pay philosophy.
They still owe us from orders in February & March & April, thousands of dollars. When I asked for the third time from the owner (Brad) when to expect payment, he told me they "usually" have an "agreement" with their vendors that they pay upon closing and that 15-20% of their deals don't close and did we have such an agreement. Needless to say, I advised had we known this, we would have made arrangements to charge them more to cover this or preferably would have declined working with them. I told him WE already paid for the work done on these and would like the same - we don't have the option not to pay for work that was done. He WENT OFF on me, screaming in all caps calling me unprofessional and a slew of other things (he left out "young lady" which would have been fitting in his tirade). I gave him a day to cool off then kindly informed him we had no agreement, our invoices clearly state they are due in 30 days and that he had many opportunities to request other arrangements. He ignored my emails.
Finally the owner stepped in and nicely said he thinks we'd all agree that involving an attorney would be a hassle and to please pay up. Brad at Justice has blown us off continually, saying he'd refer the matter to his bookkeeper (in other words, screw you guys).
They advertise at the bottom of their reports that they'll beat any competition by 10% in fees. I'd been giving them a break here and there to help them honor this. Silly me. Had I known in order to beat the competition by 10% you don't pay 15-20% of the bills you owe - you still turn a healthy profit for yourself and the hell with those doing the work for you.
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