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Client stopped responding to emails..
Автор темы: Maria Johansson
Maria Johansson
Maria Johansson  Identity Verified
Швеция
Local time: 00:47
шведский => английский
+ ...
Apr 4, 2011

Hi there,

I have been working for a translation agency who I contacted directly through their website. They quickly got in touch and gave me 2 projects at short notice and were very responsive during the 3 weeks we worked together, even reminding me to send the invoice at the end of the project, and quickly sent me a 3rd one.

However, now I have submitted all 3 projects within a month (and only recently sent out the invoice for part 1 & 2), they have stopped responding
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Hi there,

I have been working for a translation agency who I contacted directly through their website. They quickly got in touch and gave me 2 projects at short notice and were very responsive during the 3 weeks we worked together, even reminding me to send the invoice at the end of the project, and quickly sent me a 3rd one.

However, now I have submitted all 3 projects within a month (and only recently sent out the invoice for part 1 & 2), they have stopped responding to emails. The outstanding invoice is quite large and I have worked full time for them for the last 3 weeks. Is there anything I can do? They have no records on their bluebord here on proz.com and I have googled them without finding any complaints.

Is this a common situation? I am fairly new to freelance work and have had no problem getting paid for other work.

Thanks
Maria
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Sergei Tumanov
Sergei Tumanov  Identity Verified
Local time: 01:47
английский => русский
+ ...
Do you have Apr 4, 2011

a printed written agreemet with them?

 
Maria Johansson
Maria Johansson  Identity Verified
Швеция
Local time: 00:47
шведский => английский
+ ...
Автор темы
Only email correspondance Apr 4, 2011

so I assume there isn't much I can do here? They did seem as a serious business so I had no reason to doubt them, and I couldn't afford to lose the project by asking for an upfront payment.

 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Испания
Local time: 00:47
Член ProZ.com c 2005
английский => испанский
+ ...
Is it a European firm? Apr 4, 2011

Are they based in the UK or in Europe?

 
Maria Johansson
Maria Johansson  Identity Verified
Швеция
Local time: 00:47
шведский => английский
+ ...
Автор темы
It is a Lithuanian firm Apr 4, 2011

while I am based in the UK, does this change my standpoint? I am adament to do all I can not to let them get off the hook easily, if anything.

 
Elvira Daraban
Elvira Daraban  Identity Verified
Local time: 01:47
французский => румынский
+ ...
if... Apr 4, 2011

if they are lithuanian, than I assume the general EU rules apply, so once you've sent the invoices, they are considered binding, in whatever form and shape.

 
Maria Johansson
Maria Johansson  Identity Verified
Швеция
Local time: 00:47
шведский => английский
+ ...
Автор темы
Is there a next step? Apr 4, 2011

Thanks all. As the situation is new to me, is there an obvious next step I can take in this situation?

 
Signe Golly
Signe Golly  Identity Verified
Дания
Local time: 00:47
английский => датский
+ ...
email correspondence is written proof Apr 4, 2011

Assuming that they are a real agency and the emails were sent from their company email domain (and not an address that is simply very similar, which is a scammer technique), it is my understanding that email correspondence counts as written proof. If you can present emails that state the rate, deadline, payment terms, final go-ahead, etc. then that must be adhered to the same as a PO.

 
imatahan
imatahan  Identity Verified
Бразилия
Local time: 19:47
английский => португальский
+ ...
Unhappily Apr 4, 2011

It's becoming a more and more common situation and the complaints are shown almost daily here.

 
Thomas Pfann
Thomas Pfann  Identity Verified
Великобритания
Local time: 23:47
Член ProZ.com c 2006
английский => немецкий
+ ...
Give us more information? Apr 4, 2011

I'm not sure what kind of timeframes we are talking about. You say you sent your invoice "only recently". When did you send it? When was the payment due?

What do you mean by "they stopped responding to emails"? Are there any open issues? Do you need to discuss anything specific with them?

Have they actually missed a payment deadline or are you just worried because you haven't heard from them after you sent your invoice? In my experience it is not unusual for clients no
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I'm not sure what kind of timeframes we are talking about. You say you sent your invoice "only recently". When did you send it? When was the payment due?

What do you mean by "they stopped responding to emails"? Are there any open issues? Do you need to discuss anything specific with them?

Have they actually missed a payment deadline or are you just worried because you haven't heard from them after you sent your invoice? In my experience it is not unusual for clients not to confirm receipt of invoices and not to be in touch between projects.
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Maria Johansson
Maria Johansson  Identity Verified
Швеция
Local time: 00:47
шведский => английский
+ ...
Автор темы
in the middle of a project Apr 4, 2011

Hi Thomas,

On this ocassion I haven't been chasing the payment itself but they stopped responding to emails in the middle of a project, although I still in good faith submitted the work according to deadline. Since then I haven't had a single email for over a week when they usually all throughout the last 3 weeks working together have responded within hours, any time of day, to any email sent which makes me think this is very out of character and inconvenient due to the outstanding
... See more
Hi Thomas,

On this ocassion I haven't been chasing the payment itself but they stopped responding to emails in the middle of a project, although I still in good faith submitted the work according to deadline. Since then I haven't had a single email for over a week when they usually all throughout the last 3 weeks working together have responded within hours, any time of day, to any email sent which makes me think this is very out of character and inconvenient due to the outstanding invoices.

Hope that clarifies. At the moment I am mainly looking for options and will take further action once the invoice date has expired.

Thanks for all your help.
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Trudy Peters
Trudy Peters  Identity Verified
США
Local time: 18:47
немецкий => английский
+ ...
Blue Board Apr 4, 2011

You said they aren't listed on the Blue Board. Why don't you enter all the company information you have on the Blue Board? Maybe some people who have worked for them will make an entry.

Good luck.


 
Lori Cirefice
Lori Cirefice  Identity Verified
Франция
Local time: 00:47
французский => английский
Phone call? Apr 4, 2011

Have you tried other means of communication? Phone, skype?

 
Sergei Tumanov
Sergei Tumanov  Identity Verified
Local time: 01:47
английский => русский
+ ...
Forget it Apr 4, 2011

and never do something again in this way.

Treat it as a payment for commercial training.


 
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei  Identity Verified
Гана
Local time: 22:47
японский => английский
Assume the worst Apr 5, 2011

Use any available means to contact them: phone, skype, registered letter to their address with your invoice, etc. Find out if they're a real agency or not, and whether they have a bad reputation or not.

It's also safe to start looking up collection agencies in your area who can handle international collections. If you don't receive your payment within a few days of it being due, I'd say skip the emails and go straight to a collector. It's less stressful in the long run.


 
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