RE: A sticky contractor situation: no pay yet

["Lisa Wright" <liwright -at- earthlink -dot- net>]

Chuck,
First of all, don't react until you get home Monday and check the
mailbox. Then you need to be calm about approaching them. The first
thing to do is verify on Tuesday _with the accountant_ if the check was
really cut and if so, when it was mailed. The post office could be
holding things up. ("Hey, I haven't received my check and it was due
yesterday. Just wanted to make sure it had been cut.")

Unless the owner is the one actually cutting the checks, he may not
actually have a good handle on what's going on. Talk to the accountant,
explain the situation. Only if you don't get a satisfactory answer would
I escalate beyond the accountant to whomever you are reporting.

Others will have to address the issue of whether to go to the client if
payment doesn't appear, but my gut instinct says that's a VERY dangerous
thing to do. Your business relationship is with the contracting company.


Money issues always carry stress, especially since you need the money
now. It's understandable that you're annoyed after all your hard effort,
but approach this in a calm way and don't assume the worst--you'll only
make the other party defensive and create a hostile situation. That's
the last thing you want when you want to fulfill the contract and
hopefully create a good reference in the process.

Lisa 

-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Chuck Martin
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2003 10:31 PM
Subject: A sticky contractor situation: no pay yet

<snip>

Since getting laid off 11 months ago I've managed to snag a whopping 3
contracts. With the first 2, I had no problem getting checks--by asking
nicely, of course--within a week of submitting a time sheet or invoice.
But in my current situation, that's not happening. I am getting very
concerned, in large part because I simply need the cash.
<snip>

I turned in my first invoice 2 weeks ago; the 15th day is Monday. But
last week I was talking ever day with the owner, saying that I'd really
appreciate him cutting a check, and by mid-week, he was saying that a
check is in the mail and I should get it by the end of the week. I
returned home on Friday, no check. Not on Saturday either.
<snip>

One scenario I also envision is to call the client, who believes,
essentially, that I am more of an employee of this company. 
<snip>

The whole issue is compounded by the fact that, quite bluntly, I can't
afford to not get paid, and if I raise any sort of stink, I could very
well create additional delays that would create huge problems.

I'm also kinda pissed off--again bluntly--because they wanted someone to
come in and work some long hours to meet a short deadline, and I did
that--willingly, at the low rate--just because that's what I do. Is it
so wrong to be feeling slightly dumped on, even used, because I worked
so hard and am now seeing my reward delayed?
</snip>


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ANNOUNCING ROBOHELP STUDIO
Create professional Help systems that feature interactive tutorials and
demos with all new RoboHelp Studio. More at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l2

Mercer University's online MS Program in Technical Communication Management:
Preparing leaders of tomorrow's technical communication organizations today.
See www.mercer.edu/mstco or write George Hayhoe at hayhoe_g -at- mercer -dot- edu -dot- 

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.