LA Post people beware of poor payment client moving to LA

[MIKEROPHONICS]

Dear All Post Folk

I have/had a client who is not paying my invoices and is setting up offices in Sherman Oaks (I beleive) and I would like to warn others to be aware of this person's modus operandi.

This is the first time I have suffered this in over ten years of self employment, so am more than a little "up the miff tree".

Am I allowed to name and shame here without getting into legal hot water?
I would not be saying anything untruthful (of course) apart from naming the individual and his company and the fact that he has been a poor payer and is now avoiding payment altogether. I have had to pay the Vat on his outstanding invoices.

cheers

[Postman]

Mike,

Oh man that hurts! I experienced my first ever non-payment in 2009. I had done my due diligence on them and so it was a surprise to me.

As tempting as it is to list the name, I wouldn't do it. First, there is no doubt it would be removed from the DUC by Avid for their legal protection as well as your violation of rules of use. Second, in the US that would open you to the possibility of being sued by him for slander. He could actually win, there is legal precedence in his favor.

Any legal remedy will certainly cost you dearly in time and solicitation costs. My advice is to informally tell everyone you know about him to prevent the people close to you from being harmed, and otherwise do your best to make peace with your loss. There is always a chance you may collect some partial payment in the future. I did, almost two years later. It wasn't the full amount due but it helped. Oh, and I had to pay sales tax on the amount received because the client also did not provide the paperwork (s)he had promised that would have allowed me to waive its collection. I feel your pain.

[tom_lowe]

I thought it was the same one I had trouble with until I saw you put it was a he.

I don't see why naming and shaming would not be allowed. It isn't libel and it isn't slander because it's true. The worst he can do is take you to court but he will have to prove you're making it up, which he can't, as he hasn't paid you. Do it! BECTU do it.

I think actually setting up a thread on here naming people/companies who have repeatedly failed to pay invoices on time would be good and save a lot of people a lot of bother.

[MIKEROPHONICS]

Hi Tom/Postman

How and where do BECTU (the uk union - for our chums across the pond) do it?

Mmm - I have seen American immigration get nasty with people at LAX, wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of American justice.
Call me a cynic, but "the Law" wherever it is is only seems to be ever there as a playground for the rich and never seems to serve the wronged...

Cheers

[tom_lowe]

Originally Posted by MIKEROPHONICS

Hi Tom/Postman

How and where do BECTU (the uk union - for our chums across the pond) do it?

Mmm - I have seen American immigration get nasty with people at LAX, wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of American justice.
Call me a cynic, but "the Law" wherever it is is only seems to be ever there as a playground for the rich and never seems to serve the wronged...

Cheers

I've not seen the BECTU rag for ages, but they used to have a column of non-payers "the BECTU blacklist". I remember having a talk given to us by BECTU at uni and they sold it as one of the main reasons to join. Perhaps they don't anymore though.

[dr sound]

Mike,
Why don't you post a link to your website and give the full details.
That way it's a person's choice to see who the lowlife is or not.
As for US Immigration at LAX, that is straying off topic.

[C]

Not sure what aspect of your work (Film, TV etc) this non payment came under but it's worth noting the BAFTA have an LA office that may not look too kindly on producers not paying for work and also MPEG might like to be made aware of the person directly.

Obviously no guarantees that payment would follow but if you're worried about this being an ongoing pattern then might be worth a look.

[duckandcover]

Mike,

sorry to hear about this.
I recently went through something similar, the client was basically ignoring my invoices, I finally began the process of taking him to small claims court by sending a formal letter of payment request and that finally got him to paidup.

but seeing you are in the UK and he's in LA, not sure what you could do besides
adding his name here to warn others:
http://hollywoodcrewblacklist.blogspot.com/

[peter5992]

Two more things:

1. You may have considered this already but you could hire an attorney or bill collection agency, there are dozens of those in the US, including the in the area where your now former client sets up business. They can be pesky, making calls multiple times a day etc. If they work on commission basis then it doesn't cost you out of pocket money, they just get a percentage of whatever they recover.

2. About the VAT, you can probably recover that / offset it if you had to pay that out of your own pocket. Not an expert on VAT but the way the system works generally is that only end users / customers bear the VAT burden, no businesses.

Hope this helps.

[lexaudio]

When you are a small shop or one man shop it's best to always set up from the beginning this.
No final materials delivered until final payment.

Big studios have people that work on those problems and can afford the loss and write it off.

In the end, it's not worth no getting paid for your work. Some cases where u might allow later payment is a client who you have a very long standing relationship with. But even then, they can still pull th non payment act