Dear Client: (part 2) August 26, 2011
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices.trackback
Dear Translator:
Due to some major problems that we can not handle, we are sorry to inform you that payment will be delayed.
We will be working hard to get it resolved by next week.
I hope this situation will not affect the quality of our business partnership.
We really appreciate your outstanding work, we enjoy working with you and we would like it to keep it this way.
Thank you for your kind understanding and support.
Regards,
Accounting Department
ECOLE GLOBAL SOLUTIONS CORP.
Houston, TX
Dear Client:
Seeing as the payment is 137 days overdue and the amount is only $59.08 I can’t wait to see how long this payment will be delayed. And seeing as you are having difficulty paying a $59.08 invoice, I might I add I am VERY happy that I decided back when the payment was only 60 days overdue never to accept another job from you and then did not accept the 800 word job in July.
Sincerely,
Jill
P.S. Take the $59.08 check and shove it.
Musings from an overworked translator 
Just for clarification: I didn’t include the P.S. in my reply to the client (but I thought it!).
LIKE.
Nowadays I generally threaten to contact the end client and sell the invoice to collectors… long before 137 days…
Dear Janis
Is that legal? I have though about this a few times, but most agencies have a clause in the contracts, saying that You are NOT allowed to have direct contact with the client, at least the ones I have signed.
Still, good attitude 🙂
Well, didn’t they violate the contract by not paying? I guess there is the Salvatorische Klause but nevertheless…THEY STARTED IT, LOL
Good for you!
Tacky, petty, contemptible, cheap. Did I mention unprofessional? Grrr.
You send 4 reminders and keep getting either no response at all or the run-around for a $59.08 bill and tell me how professional you will respond.
I didn’t express myself clearly enough, sorry. I meant the company not paying it’s bill – not the overworked translator!
Phew! I thought you were criticizing me 😉 I know my reply was somewhat unprofessional, but they’ve gotten on my last nerve.
Crazy. I mean, I would get it if it was a huge bill of some kind and the payment was a few days late, but such a small amount? For such a long time? I have no words!
137 days, wow!
They ended up never paying, and I wrote it off my taxes as a business loss.