Re: The Whatever Thread

JGH27 on Mon Dec 05, 2016 12:23 am

This is a highly unlikely possibility but have any of you ever had to go through small claims court? I understand Canadian laws would be different but any advice could be beneficial.

Long story short I did a camera gig back in September. My invoice states payment is due within 60 days. 60 days has since passed without any word on their part. I've called their office, sent several emails and its looking like I may need to file a claim with the courts in order to obtain the payment which is now 15 days beyond the given due date for payment.

Raya on Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:30 pm

@J: Yeah, I've had all the fun and games of the small claims court. I also do a bit of it at work (I don't do the claiming, but I grease the wheels for the credit control department to do their thing). Mainly, you need to get your evidence together first, because the more legwork you do now, the easier it will be for you/the harder it will be for them to get out of it. A lot of companies, due to cash flow, will ignore invoices for as long as possible so their numbers look better. They'll do anything to stall, so don't let them fob you off!

- Check your invoice and the wording, make sure it clearly says '60 days from end of invoice date'/whatever. You'll need this to prove they're in breach of contract.
- Get copies of any and all correspondence. Prints of letters you've sent, proof of posting etc. You need to prove you've done your best to alert the company.
- Get evidence of anything else related, eg, proof of delivery, acknowledgement of work done etc (one common thing I have to deal with is customers refusing to pay invoices because the delivery ticket wasn't signed, so we can't prove they received the goods, even though they clearly did).
- Usually I'd say contact the company one last time in writing, making it clear you will open a claim if payment is not received, but I think they've waited way too long.

I imagine opening the claim is very similar in Canada, fill out a form, submit it, wait for the company to throw a hissy fit. They'll either pay, or refute the claim, which is why you need all the evidence you can to back you up.

It's really not fun, but a lot of companies will do anything to get out of paying invoices, so don't give up!

JGH27 on Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:49 pm

Thanks Raya!

I have saved copies of all email correspondence, emailed them a few days prior to the due date as a reminder and have followed up after but not a word from them.

I am only missing the receipt for the harddrive I had to purchase which they claimed they'd reimburse for which I have the number in writing several times but no official receipt.

I am going to make 1 final attempt tomorrow and if no one answers I'll be filing with the courts.

JGH27 on Sun Dec 11, 2016 10:07 am

Good news, contact has been made with the owner. He claims the accountant screwed up so my pay is on route.

Relmitos on Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:47 pm

Little bit late, my excuse is that the forum logged me out and I didn't notice for whatever reason, but glad that worked out for you J. That's definitely a lot easier then what it could've been.

JGH27 on Tue Dec 20, 2016 11:04 pm

I'll feel better when the actual cheque arrives, still nothing and am currently at rock bottom on so many levels.

JGH27 on Sat Jan 07, 2017 9:14 pm

FINALLY got paid from the job in September I did!

And it all went towards hockey equipment lol

Raya on Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:55 pm

Good going J Very Happy

Companies can be such a bitch when it comes to paying what they owe, good job on sticking with it and winning!

JGH27 on Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:40 pm

Raya wrote:Good going J Companies can be such a bitch when it comes to paying what they owe, good job on sticking with it and winning!

Ya, kept trying to screw me so I finally told him that until I'm paid I legally own the copyright on the material I shot. 20 minutes later I was paid in full

Omicron Austin on Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:09 am

JGH27 on Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:37 am

Smashy B on Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:32 pm

JGH27 on Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:46 pm

Smashy B wrote:?

It's Smashy B and the Squirtle Squirtles!

Spontaneous Combustion on Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:54 pm

So...

... do you people still visit this board at all? Or is there a Skype/Discord/whatever channel still going strong?

Just remembered all of you beautiful people and wanted to say hi. Hi, beautiful people!

Minby_Aran on Sat Mar 31, 2018 5:44 pm

No, no one checks this board.

Raya on Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:24 pm

Great to see you again Spont Very Happy

The board is pretty quiet nowadays; we're mostly on Discord now, which is very active. If you've got a Discord account let us know and Q can add you.

Spontaneous Combustion on Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:51 pm

Great to hear that you guys are still keeping in touch! I feel I kinda stopped checking this place out a few years ago and was never very active in Skype so I kind of just drifted onto other things.

But I'd love if you could add me on the Discord channel, yeah! I'm there as The_Goddamn_Batman#6455.