Non-Payment

Trying to get some follow on work seems to be the easiest way of keeping in touch as well, and as long as you dont come across to her as "I'm only after the money" she will hopefully trust you and be more inclined to pay both ammounts,

 

although suggesting a "good will - payment plan" might be the way to go.

 

My only other advice is to ask for a small deposit before the day, and then ask for further payment before you need to meet any further costs.

 

seeming flexible to clients is great, but some will take the P...

But asking for small ammounts at booking, pre-big day, pre-printing etc, will cover you for costs, and with the right ammount still make it so its not a complete waste of time if things do turn for the worst.

I've been in a business (restaurant supply) where I had to collect money by being extremely persistent.

 

You have to realize that there are chiselers out there and people who won't pay unless forced to.

 

In this case I think small claims court would be justified because the customer has received goods/services and not paid.

 

One more reminder with a comment about further measures.

 

In business, you also need to have the reputation of being someone who can't be screwed.

Hi Jay,

 

I responded yesterday with a short "listen to Tim" comments because I was too tired to get into it.

 

I just wanted to add one thing to this discussion ... this woman has just had a baby ... I realize this is not an excuse for non payment but I remember very well that after having my son I was so completely overwhelmed that even thinking of bills just put me over the top. I would have said anything and everything to get people off my back when it came to practical things like paying the hospital, credit card bills, ... Obviously I payed everything when things settled down, but I racked up quite a bit of late fees in those first couple of months.

 

I think if you would give this woman some space, keep in touch but not be aggressive about it she will more than likely come around and pay without much ado in a few months. Hounding her and threatening her is probably just making her shut down and in the process I'm assuming she's even getting rather angry with you. Don't underestimate the power of those post baby hormones combined with lack of sleep :) I can just imagine her, in tears, a crying baby in her arms, trying to deal with being a mom and telling all her friends and family about that big mean videographer who is bugging her all the time. And they will remember and tell their friends, and so on and so forth.

 

I just wanted to give you the perspective of someone's who's been the new mom and being hounded by creditors, it sucks. But after a while I was able to deal with things again, and I'm pretty sure she will too.

 

Good luck,

Catherine

Just something to throw out .. there are programs for slideshows that set limits as to the number of times you can view a DVD or a cut off date, after which the DVD will not play. You may want to do something like that if you are going to continue to give a sample DVD out. I use Pro Show. I'm sure there are other software that do the same.

Jay,

 

It's always nice if you can get 100% up front, but depending on whether or not you're so busy that you can pick and

choose your jobs then this isn't always possible. My experience - with a few up-front precautions - is that the vast

majority of customers are fair and reasonable people who respond in a fair and reasonable manner when treated in a

manner that they (not you) deem to be fair and reasonable. Sure, some will rip you off, but by and large if you can

accept that this will happen from time to time you'll be streets ahead if you invest a little faith and goodwill in your

customers. I choose the word "invest" deliberately - a customer treated with respect will return the investment many

times over with referral business; the degree to which the customer raves about you is directly proportional to the

degree to which you exceed their expectations. Which brings me to your non-payment ...

 

... In situations like this - right or wrong - you're going to lose if you adopt the heavy approach. A far better approach

("investment") when you heard about her baby would have been to say "Fantastic! congratulations! How's everything

going? ... with regards to the $300 - it would be great to get it sometime, but I appreciate that you're going to have a

thousand things going on all at once right now - so how about I give you a call in a month or two?" ... what's she

going to think? I'll tell you: "wow - what a nice guy" - and you have every chance that she won't let you down. With

your approach to date you run the serious risk of her thinking along the lines of "he doesn't give a stuff about my

situation (which is a very tough time for her) - all he cares about is his money - what an a***hole - stuff him, he can

wait for his money".

 

At the end of the day, yes, she owes you $300 - it's also odds on she doesn't have it right now - and she also has

many other higher-priorities right now. You can turn this situation into a win/win or you can turn it into a lose/lose

solely in the way that you handle it - at the end of the day, she's a human being with thoughts, feelings, and

emotions - who (just like all of us) gets tired - makes mistakes - and will in all likely hood react to the law of

psychological reciprocity (you get what you give).

 

You're not going to like this one little bit, but if it were me, I'd make contact with her - apologise for coming on a bit

heavy-handed - and move slowly from there. In agreement with others, if you can't get the $$$ in a month or two, try

the drip feed approach.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers,

 

Colin

My response applies to all businesses, not just photography. In the collection business, it is known that most people have enough to pay between 6 and 8 out of 10 bills they get every month. The trick, for wise collection people, is to be one of the 6 to 8. The question becomes how to do it. There are, of course, a bunch of strong-arm tactics that some agencies use, and then there are the nice people who use nice tactics, sort of bonding with the debtor to make them feel bad if they don't pay 'the lovely person on the end of the phone line'.

 

Which would you rather be? Which do you think gets paid first?

 

If you've ever looked into psychology at all, you'll understand that majority of people do not think to talk to their creditors when they are approaching difficulty - they are embarassed, ashamed. I might suggest that your client is the same. Why not give the benefit of the doubt?

 

I got screwed on commissions twice in my career, once for $47,000 and once for $9,600. I collected over time on the $47,000 by working something out with the debtor; I hired the wrong kind of collection agency for the other one, and have not seen a dime.

 

IMO, Ellis solved your current problem in his response, which was the very first one.

The dress people,flower people,and cake people probably all got their money up front.Sometime I ask why is the photographer is always on the bottom of the list.

$300 is not worth it.

 

Years ago, I used to rent movies from Blockbuster. I would sometimes bring movies in late take the fee, and pay on my next visit when I wanted to rent something else. I did that for years without a problem.

 

One day in 1997 I get a letter from a collection agency asking for the $12 I owe Blockbuster in late fees. It had been less than a month since I accrued the fees.

 

I haven't been in there since, and I LOVE telling this story. So, they lost my future business and get as much bad commentary as I can dish out.

 

Clients in this business don't much like people with "the reputation of being someone who can't be screwed."

 

If this was a couple of thousand dollars, maybe.. But for $300, I would simply let it go, stay in touch with the client, and be nice about it. With a little compassion and understanding here, the money will come back. Either from the Bride, or someone she confides in.

 

Just don't allow this to happen again. Money up-front. Always.

This is exactly why we I make sure the entire balance is paid 60 days before the wedding. Once a client has a product in hand, even if it isn't the finished product it's really hard to get them to pay. If they order a product in addition to the package, it has to be paid for in advance. Good luck, let us know how it turns out!