Well, for the first time in 5+ years of business I made the mistake of giving a client their photos before they were paid for. That was 3 weeks ago and since then the client has ignored 2 of my emails and I'm pretty sure she's not planning ob paying her $300 balance.
Backstory:
I shot the client's senior photos. She was a referral from one of my senior reps and my rep came along for her session. A few weeks later I had the clients prints ready for pick up. The day after her prints came in, I was scheduled to shoot my senior reps last session. My client came along with her friend (she lives about 45 minutes away from my studio) and said "My mom said I can go ahead and pick up the photos and then she'll send you a check, she just needs your address."
I know I should have said I can't give her the photos before receiving payment. I've never given out photos that weren't paid for before. But with my rep sitting there and with the girl seeming to be so honest, I just couldn't bring myself to say no. So I gave her the photos and sent her a message that night with my address.
That was nearly 3 weeks ago. I sent her another message 1 week ago reminding her of her balance due. No response to either.
I'm pretty sure I'm screwed, but was wondering if anyone had any great ideas on how I could possibly get my money. I know it's not a lot, but it's just annoying to realize that people don't seem to have any reservations about outright stealing.
A certified letter mentioning the possibility of legal action should about cover it. On a lawyer's letterhead is a plus. Don't play outright hardball in the note: give them the opportunity to play it off like they'd "forgotten."
Evan Baines wrote:
A certified letter mentioning the possibility of legal action should about cover it. On a lawyer's letterhead is a plus.
Or, you can send them a cake basket - it's like a fruit basket, but with cakes! Delicately explain to her that you have another client who has paid, and that surely she must have overlooked your payment as she is too busy donating to the various charitable organizations in your neighborhood. A little customer service will go a long way, chaps, you would do well to remember that. Cake baskets for all!
It's only been 3 weeks. Remember most payments from an accounting standpoint aren't really considered "past due" 'til 30 days.
....and, you're communicating with the kid? What about the parents? High school seniors don't exactly have a lot in the way of bills to pay, this communication should be getting in the hands of her parents. If you don't have a direct phone or email to them, send a bill to their address. The attorney's letter shouldn't come into play until we are 60/90 days late - but, you definitely have that card if Jeremy's approach doesn't work.
even though you contracted with the student, i'd still be inclined to send a letter now (why wait?) and CC the parents. even if you don't know their names just address it, "To the parents of:"
as evan indicated, it doesn't have to be threatening, just ""i understand senior year can be hectic and after several unsuccessful attempts to reach you by phone and email on x,y,z date... i wanted to give you every opportunity to remit your payment before pursuing legal action."
Man, that stinks! But it is a lesson indeed. Thanks for saving us the lesson as well.
On a side note, what's her personality like? Do you feel like you are being pulled along for the ride? Or that she was being honest and they have forgotten? I have a bride who kept forgetting to send stuff in to us. But she's 100% legit and, other than it being a slight inconvenience to us, she really is forgetful and one of our favorite brides. A simple email to her about how much we were looking forward to her wedding and how disappointed we were that we needed XYZ before we could go on got the ball rolling and allowed her to save face (because I honestly knew she wasn't trying to pull us along)
On the other hand, there are people that will just take advantage of you. And you have to be really hard with those.
I think Evan's advice, esp. with reference to a kind note, will work in this situation.
At this point, I feel like she's not planning to pay. Both messages I sent her were on Facebook and I see her on there a dozen times a day, so the fact that she didn't reply to either indicates she's trying to dodge me.
I guess I'll wait until the 30 days are up and then have my lawyer draft a letter. I'm sure that won't win me any favor with her/her clique of friends, but if her associates are are free to steal - I mean forget to pay - as she is, I don't really want to work with them anyway.
Why resort to FB? Do you have her phone number and address? It could be that when she sees the FB messages that she takes them as reminders instead of an actual bill with a due date. Maybe she's mentioned it to mom, or has been meaning to.
Make the phone call and then send a bill, showing past due for delivered items. Have a $25/50 late fee on it if paid after a certain date. Give them the benefit of the doubt in the wording, but put a limit and ask for the money now. If they cannot make the full payment, set up weekly payments. If they're struggling to pay the bill now, it'll only be worse after the holidays.
With the first bill, and before the attorney's letter, I'd put it in with a Thank You card welcoming their business. It could very well be miscommunication between the daughter and her parents.
Like Linda said, send a formalized invoice with a due date. You didn't mention whether or not you've given them an invoice already, but I'm guessing not. I'd go that route (via certified mail) and then do the letter option if it fails. I'd strongly suggest getting get all handled before 2009 ends instead of waiting until after Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years.
One question, Jerm.......do your contracts have stipulations wherein the cost of said cake baskets are passed along to the client in the event a cake basket is necessary?
