HELP! A client refuses to pay for my services.

[pgriz]

I deal with retail clients every day as a contractor. My jobs can be as cheap as $80 or as expensive as $90,000. One thing I've learned over the years is to ask for a substantial deposit at the time of the signed contract. Has the amazing effect of scaring off the pretenders. Of course, serious people don't fork out several thousand dollars (and some deposits are up to $20,000) without also being sure that I am legitimate and won't disappear on them. So licenses, permits, tax ID numbers, an official place of business, verifiable insurance, all play a part in making me "real". Unlike many in my field, everything I do or will supply/deliver is described in detail in writing, both to protect me and to protect my client.

 

[KmH]

What are my next steps?

You don't need an attorney to use small claims court.
Verbal agreements are contracts, but it's his version against your version.
When a contract is on paper, all parties to the contract have a copy of the same version, each copy signed by all the parties to the contract.

The common retail photography business practice is to require a retainer (or a deposit) when a client books an appointment. Like 1/3 ($25) to 1/2 of the up front cost.
If the retainer/deposit is to small it's to easy for people to walk away.
No pay. No appointment. Your contract details what happens if the client cancels the appointment - before a cutoff date - and after a cutoff date.
A retainer is generally non-refundable, but a deposit is. Laws vary by state.

You get paid for the shoot in advance. You may elect to let a client pay in some number of payments as long as you are paid in full by the booked appointment.
No Pay. No Shoot.
As above, you contract specifies what happens if someone is not prepared to pay in full when the appointment time has been reached

This is all just common sense business 101 - Introduction to Business - stuff. Like how McDonalds makes you pay before they start cooking your hamburger.

Do you have a legal, registered with the city and state, business? Do you have business liability insurance, keep the required financial records, etc?

 

[AlanKlein]

Small contracts can be formalized by a simple email after agreeing verbally. Something like,


"Confirming our discussion on 7-21-14, you will pay me $75, 1/3 prior to the photo shoot an 2/3 at the photoshoot. The photohoot will take place for two hours at location xyz. Photos in digital form will be provided by me within 48 hours after the shoot."

Please confirm by email return. Liz

Obviously, this is only an example. Actual terms you establish and agree to would vary. The point is something confirming in writing avoids arguments.

Which remind me of the famous Yogi-ism of Louis B. Mayer of the Hollywood film company MGM said decades ago. "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on."

 

[Vince.1551]

Just post that freeloader's photos and mobile onto Craiglist and say Free Cleaning Services.

You know I'm jk right?

 

[Designer]

he is claiming that he can't pay me because he only has $25,

In case you hadn't noticed, the world is full of people like this. His father is no doubt the same. In fact, that is probably where he got it.

If I were you, I'd keep the photos handy in case you get sued. Meanwhile, if he asks again, tell him your standard fee has risen to $100, so that is how much he has to pay. Fees rise all the time, and just his darn luck, it happened right when he hadn't yet paid. Darn!

 

[astroNikon]

I think she already moved on ....

but
Just don't take any money. Even if a partial payment in your eyes it increases your liability since there is no contract.

 

[TCampbell]

You could take his 1/3rd of the fee... and then email him all the images... cropped to show only the left 1/3rd of the frame.

Not getting paid up front (or at least enough of a deposit to make it worth your while) and not having anything in writing to indicate the offer for, and acceptance of, the terms... it was probably inevitable that this would eventually happen to you.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I do not have a contract when I shoot portraits. The only time I have a contract is for a wedding. If this happened to me, I would just not deliver the photos and move on.

 

[IzzieK]

Quote from Eliz original post...

I emailed him requesting payment and that I could not deliver the prints or give him anything via. a cloud-based system until he paid. Now.. he is claiming that he can't pay me because he only has $25, and his misread the quote on his phone. ...

In short, she negotiated her price via texting. They have a contract! If a verbal agreement is also considered a contract, then a text message agreement is more of a contract too.

 

[tecboy]

Did the client say anything about the photos you shot?

 

[Tee]

Why not charge $75 as the session/sitting fee ahead of time? An additional charge for prints or digital files can be done afterwards. 5 for $25, 10 for $50, etc. That way you're paid in advance for your time and they can choose a print package. You end up making more in the long run than a flat rate of $75.

 

[robbins.photo]

Well even if you wanted to go that route and head off to small claims court, your looking at more time lost and more hassle. First you have to find out what the filing fee for a small claims court case is in your area, a lot of those are close to $100 just to start with - so unless you can convince the judge to award you that fee plus the $75 your already looking at a losing proposition. But lets assume best case scenario you file, you win, and Herr Douchebag is ordered to pay by the court. Well, odds are good Herr Douchebag won't.

So then you have to go jump through a lot more hoops, file a bunch of additional crap with the court to have their wages garnished, which only works if they have an employer and you can find out who that is, and well - there are additional fees involved for that filing too - so ya, probably not worth the hassle, at all. So even if you were to win a judgment that included the $100 or so in filing fees you'd need to shell out you'd have to wait to recoup that money, minus whatever you'd have to spend to have the wages garnished assuming you could even do so successfully which honestly with people like this is a coin flip at best.

Personally if you want my advice - walk away, buy some deep woods off, and just be firm about getting paid at least something up front next time.

 

[ronlane]

Don't look at it as wasting your time. If you were shooting and editing you were working on your skills. You also got photos that could possibly be used in your portfolio and a free model.

 

[Designer]

You could take his 1/3rd of the fee... and then email him all the images... cropped to show only the left 1/3rd of the frame.

FTW!!!

 

[Derrel]

You could take his 1/3rd of the fee... and then email him all the images... cropped to show only the left 1/3rd of the frame.

Not getting paid up front (or at least enough of a deposit to make it worth your while) and not having anything in writing to indicate the offer for, and acceptance of, the terms... it was probably inevitable that this would eventually happen to you.

And make sure to let him know that you are accepting his $25 payment and that you are, "Very happy to be able to give you 66% percent off on all of your photos!"