Just a simple public wish and hint about how I and presumably most people would like to be paid by their customers/clients. I will not take the ‘recession’ as an excuse for problems paying. If you don’t have money don’t hire me:
On Time Please
You may not realise that I, the company whose services you hire consists of real people (me) with real bills (many) that need to be paid. If you agree to hire me for the price I quote then I expect to be paid when I do what you asked. I put my valuable time and private/family life aside to work for you so I expect to receive the agreed fee when I ask for it. I will deeply resent being made to chase money owed as it will take up even more of my afore mentioned valuable time.
Pay Digitally
It’s 2011 and the ability to pay someone without having to move has been around for quite a while. Cheques are an antiquated method of payment. Why would you go to the trouble and expense of writing one, putting in an envelope, buying a stamp and traveling to your nearest post office when you could transfer a payment through online banking or Paypal instantly? You’re also asking me to leave the office and go lodge the cheque when received. For me that’s currently a 10 mile round trip taking at least 30/45 more minutes out of my working day.
Respond to Invoices
I send invoices digitally and very rarely get any response or confirmation of receipt. I consider it good manners to acknowledge an invoice and notify the sender of when they are likely to receive payment. Not acknowledging invoices makes sender nervous.
Alert on Payment
If you do pay by bank transfer, congratulations, I salute you but be aware that most people wont get notified by their bank that a new payment has come in and if I forget to check manually then I’m likely to presume you still havn’t paid. Also, make sure your payment is labelled as coming from you as it’s not always obvious who made the payment. Similarly, if you send a cheque, say you’ve sent it. Things get lost in the post.
Finally, make sure a cheque wont bounce before you send it and if you are in doubt then make an instant/digital or cash payment to make sure. Bounced cheques cause havoc in people’s accounts and invite large bank fees to process.
Leon
Reverb Studios Design 
If it takes a bit of arrogance, name calling and condescension to make my point then fine. Non paying clients invite that…
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I agree with you entirely Leon.People who give you the runaround regarding paying up on time would not go to a garage for petrol or Tesco for shopping without a proper means of paying for goods.
web Design london
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Leon, yet another brilliant post, this site is a gem of great content, I have about 10 pages open, hope I get a change to put my tuppence in!
I am a partner in a timeshare disposal business and we can’t ask for money upfront but we are luck enough that it is put in escrow so our clients are safe and we get paid on complettion of the transfer. In my old business some years ago we added a 28 day interest charge at 4% for the 28 days with a note that it may be deducted if paid by X date. 99% of clients paid on time and the only one who bleated was a pain anyway and expensive to manage so we pursued him anyway and added more interest when he had not paid 28 days later, he ended up paying it all.
Most people will just pay sooner and no harm done, if I was in your business I would charge at least 50% upfront.
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I fully agree with you that the checks are already outdated method. Especially in my country that would receive money by check from abroad need about 1 month…
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Leon youre a legend.
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Leon you are an arrogant little prick could not put it better
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First of all Leon, you’re absolutely bang on with everything you said in this post. To those commenting anonymously about arrogance etc. – seriously? Do you all work for free? If you hire someone to complete a job for you, respect and adhere to their business terms – it’s the least you can do.
Leon, the only thing you’re guilty of is allowing clients to mess you around in the first place. Tighten up your contracts and set out your terms clearly at the start – if someone doesn’t like them – tough – their loss. I would not provide final deliverables until final payments have been made first – you’d be amazed how this sometimes makes payments appear promptly.
If you’ve got half an hour free at some stage go watch this – guarantee you’ll enjoy it 🙂
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I’ve tightened things up a lot lately..contract in place, 50% deposit required up front, sites taken down for non-payment etc..has helped a fair bit.
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I knew before I clicked that would be “Fuck you pay me” – great video.
Leon, if someone called me a prick on my blog I’d delete it – it’s just plain rude and I wouldn’t accept it. But that’s just me.
Agree completely with being paid on time. Can’t be argued with.
Could you not just save up cheques and lodge a few at the same time when you’re in town?
For electronic payments could you ask clients to quote the reference/invoice number as the comment field when paying, so you can easily spot it?
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Too easy to delete rude comments. Thought it would be better to leave them in to show that people are capable of being like that!
Saving up cheques and lodging all together = even more cashflow probs but I’ve only just recently realised you can post cheques to your bank. Doh!Good idea re ref number but my clients never listen to me or take my advice!
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I have to say I’m amazed by some of the comments here – how can you call someone arrogant for wanting to be paid what they’re owed in a professional and timely manner?
And for that anonymous poster to suggest that someone has to be owed a huge sum of money to be allowed to complain about how unprofessionally they’re treated is absurd. This isn’t a pissing contest; a lack of cash-flow can cripple a business of any size.
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I agree with you entirely Leon.People who give you the runaround regarding paying up on time would not go to a garage for petrol or Tesco for shopping without a proper means of paying for goods. Yet they have the brass neck to contract your services and expect you to feed yourself and fuel the car while they decide to pay you or not. Would they put their hand into your pocket and take cash from your wallet ? The answer is no, that would be theft. I cant see any difference……spongers.
Tesco and other retail outlets have never been referred to as being arrogant for seeking payment. You will find yourself in court for stealing a loaf of bread but people such as Angela and “nameless” say it,s okay to steal the bread out of Leons mouth
Name and shame them Leon or go to the small claims court.
To nameless at 12.54pm…….You only have yourself to blame by allowing your customers/conmen get away with YOUR money. Dont blame Leon for being proactive about getting paid.
To guest, another nameless, at 10.53 if you are only thinking now of getting a website done you are not even at the races as far as running a business. I wish you luck with getting paid tho.
Leon IS guilty, guilty of expecting payment in a reasonable time frame for services provided
Kieran Walsh
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Your only owed €3400 from 21 clients how’s about being owed €7500 from only one and €27800 from 4 clients and no sign of any settlement in the future so you arrogant prick keep your jumped up oppinions to yourself about being paid and best of luck trying to get business around Leitrim with that attitude. People have bills too and are owed far more than you.
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It’s the number of clients that’s the important statistic for me.
PS Put your name and contact details on what you say online and show some balls. The fees you charge suggest that you’re highly professional at what you do but your comment here betrays you.
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I dont think word of mouth or these blog post’s are doing much for your business at the minute so if I were you I would stop the school yard stuff and try and protote yourself a bit better than that and not come across as such an arrogant person. People talk you know.
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Again…the arrogance is on the side of non-paying clients. What’s not doing much for my business is NOT GETTING PAID, not me complaining. If it takes a bit of arrogance, name calling and condescension to make my point then fine. Non paying clients invite that.
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Can I just say, as someone who was looking to have a site done, this blog post shows your arrogant and hypocritical side and nothing else. You say first that you don’t like when people don’t acknowledge your invoices but a small way down you admit to sometimes forgetting to check if bank transfers are received.
I would sternly advise you to reworded this as icfir one will not hire you on the back of it
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There is a bit of a difference between forgetting to check for bank transfers and ignoring an invoice notification delivered straight to your inbox?
I make no apologies for this post as slow/non-paying clients are on the verge of putting me out of business and I’m very annoyed by it. As I write this, I am overdue by over €3,400 from 21 different clients.
The arrogance is on their side.
You sound like the kind of client I could well do without.
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