Client wont pay.
Out of context: Reply #31
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Meeklo, you keep referring to your 'mistake'... but I think you need to decide definitively if your mistake actually cost them anything in terms of cost, of missed opportunity (due to timing delays) or an error in the final delivered product. If not, then I suggest you separate the mistake from their non-payment as they are two unrelated matters and a client will always try and link two things to justify not paying.
I don't believe any of us should ever encourage this kind of behaviour by writing off even the tiniest amounts. If there is a a discussion that needs to be had to resolve the issue it needs to be resolved. Its not always the case that the client is just been a caniving shyster, soemtimes they feel they have a valid reason for with-holding based on a sense of injustice of their own, but they may not have expressed that very clearly.
Talk to them, calmly, and explain how you see the situation, and listen... REALLY LISTEN.... to how they see the explanation without jumping in to argue against them mid-sentence.
You might come out of the meeting understanding why they refuse to pay, and that might be justifiable or it might not, but you are on the moral backfoot if you start a knee jerk slur camapign against them.
Most of the time, a client has handeld a situation so badly that if you walk them, like children, through the situation, and explain some basic principles of the working relationship, and their responsibilities (such as notifying you within 24hours of receiving your invoice if they have a problem with your work) it can generally be resolved.