beckie - 9:57 pm on Feb 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

Hi Alex,

It's a shame when clients don't pay for all the hard work that you have put into a website. I'm not sure what state you are in, but in the state of Michigan, you do not need a contract in order to get paid. If you provided the services and completed them, that is proof enough for the judge to award you your money. The other thing is that you have emails from your client stating that they will send the payment.

This is what I had to do:

1) Tell my client that they had until Oct 2, 2003 to send the payment. If I do not receive it, I will contact my lawyer.

2) I contacted my lawyer - they did not pay (surprise, surprise). Lawyer charged $250. Lawyer threatened that he had until October 14, 2003 to send the money or else I would take it to small claims. My client contacted my lawyer on the 14th and stated that the payment will be sent on the first week of November. My client did not sign my contract and thought that because he didn't sign it, he didn't have to pay. My lawyer told him otherwise.

3) Never received the payment the first week of November. I filed for small claims a few weeks later. My date was 1/20.

4) Client called an hour BEFORE COURT TIME! and said he couldn't make it. He wanted me to reschedule and said that he wanted to make payment arrangements. I stated that I would not reschedule and if he wanted payment arrangements, we would have to go in front of the judge. My client said he still could not make it.

5) I showed up and client did not. I got a default judgement but was not able to collect my lawyer fees. Client has until Feb 20 to pay the full amount or he will have a bench warrant on his record and I can file a form so the court can start garnishing his wages. I highly doubt if my client will pay, so I don't mind going all the way on getting my money.

The real kicker of this story is that I gave this guy a HUGE break that I normally do not do. I quoted him a price of $1600, but since he wanted to partner up with me (he lived less than 2 miles away from here) and had 7 other projects for me, I gave him a deal of $500. I got the site done in 2 days and worked my butt off - I also put my other clients aside to get this done.

So for only $500 + court costs, I will go through any legal process on getting the money I am owed. Take away the lawyer fees and I'm getting $250 + court costs (which I think was $65). Don't think $450 is low - it's the prinicple! Contact them and tell them they have 2 weeks (specify the date and time) to get the payment to you. Tell them that you have proof through emails and that proof will be used against them in court. If they don't pay you, file a small claims. If these people do it to you - they will do it to others. It's a huge lesson learned, but it happens to the best of us and the experienced.

Good luck and let us know what happens!