<p >A few months ago I received a request for an estimate to photograph two buildings in the Arab Gulf . The architects who contacted me are based in Singapore. I submitted my offer and heard nothing from them for a month or two when I happened to be in Singapore on assignment. I called their office and asked if I could pass by for a short meeting, thinking in fact that the job I had bid for was already taken by someone else. Very nice, obviously successful office where I met two very agreeable people including one of the studio's principals. We chatted for a while and they informed that the job I had bid on was still open. I asked what I needed to do to clinch the work and they told me it was mine. A few days later I sent my standard work agreement form with a clause for 35% advance, etc,etc. Waited a week or more and heard nothing. I had also requested that they send me a letter of introduction (by email of course) to forward to the management of the two properties to be photographed in order to gain permission to do the work. I also asked for any particular comments on what they were looking for. Waited a few more days and heard nothing. I had been emailing only the principal I had met with. After this long wait I then copied all correspondence to the other architect who was in on our meeting. Within a day I received a signed copy of the agreement form but was told that my advance could not be paid until later in the month as the person responsible for payments was out of the country (that always sounds fishy to me when I hear it).<br />In the meantime I have traveled to the location where I had other work during which time I put in about a day of doing exteriors of their projects for which I did not need permissions which still had not been forthcoming.<br /><br />So, it has now been almost two weeks since the payment should have come through to my bank account and nothing has been sent. Also, no reply to any of my several of my emails.<br /><br />I have been in business for over forty years and have never had to deal with something quite like this.<br /><br />What would you do? (I have not tried phone calls as I figure they will not take my calls if they are not answering my emails. Also, to be honest, I would find it humiliating!)</p>