You get what you pay for - ha!!

[cojak]

Is there another way?

This sort of thing has always happened to little guys. I worked for a blue chip engineering company in the 1980s, where the unwritten policy (from high up the food-chain) was to not pay for three months regardless of terms, and then only on the xth demand for payment. The small companies had no choice. They hated the BigCo but needed the business, and couldn't match BigCos lawyers anyway. If they caused trouble, they could easily lose business from other BigCos.

But at least they mostly got paid in the end, even if it had fecked their cashflow. So I'm glad this lot have gone public, if only to highlight what happens.

WDSS

They probably thought that they could screw a small off-shore company by simply ignoring them once they'd done the work.

The website mentions that this is the last resort - what else do you do if every other avenue has been exhausted?

As for unprofessional, it may be impolite to be so direct but it might also get the job done where other professional approaches have failed.

[original PM]

it may be unprofessional - but then so is not paying your bills...

but it just comes down to greed - big boss in bigco wants more bonus so is happy to tulip on the little guy....

[Archangel]

I was going to recommend this guy to a customer, went to his site to get his contact details and found

Zine Photography - Sowerby Bridge - Halifax - [email protected]

[RasputinDude]

You get what you pay for - ha!!

It's not professional, but in my case when the company didn't pay for over six months, I was left with very little recourse. I wasn't prepared to subsidise them any longer. At what point do you give up trying to be the better man?

[cojak]

You get what you pay for - ha!!

It's not professional, but in my case when the company didn't pay for over six months, I was left with very little recourse. I wasn't prepared to subsidise them any longer. At what point do you give up trying to be the better man?

Quite.

[VectraMan]

It's not professional, but in my case when the company didn't pay for over six months, I was left with very little recourse. I wasn't prepared to subsidise them any longer. At what point do you give up trying to be the better man?

Did you not try to use the courts to get the money? (I haven't read the whole thread - apologies if you've said). It strikes me this sort of thing is counter-productive. If a company genuinely is struggling, then taking away their e-commerce site may well finish them off, and then you definitely won't get paid. Plus by ultimately not providing the service, they're justified in not paying.

If your intent is to get the money, this probably isn't the way. If your intent is spite, then fair enough.

(I have personal experience of trying to get money out of someone with no ability to pay, and of having what I thought was a good relationship with a client go sour as soon as it was time for payment. So I certainly know how it feels).

[RasputinDude]

You get what you pay for - ha!!

This wasn't a small company, but a multi million pound international engineer firm. My intention wasn't spite, but I wanted the issue resolved quickly. To be honest, I didn't want the business any more as they were more of a problem than the job was worth.

[d000hg]

The website mentions that this is the last resort - what else do you do if every other avenue has been exhausted?

As for unprofessional, it may be impolite to be so direct but it might also get the job done where other professional approaches have failed.

So what if you get stiffed by a nonline company? Should you go and put massive padlocks on their retail outlets and spray-paint "you can't get in until we're paid" on the doors/windows? Because that's basically what you're doing.

I feel deciding how to act in an online scenario is best modeled on a nonline scenario rather than adopting the common attitude that the internet entitles you to act like a colossal dick the moment anyone upsets you.

[mudskipper]

So what if you get stiffed by a nonline company? Should you go and put massive padlocks on their retail outlets and spray-paint "you can't get in until we're paid" on the doors/windows? Because that's basically what you're doing.

I feel deciding how to act in an online scenario is best modeled on a nonline scenario rather than adopting the common attitude that the internet entitles you to act like a colossal dick the moment anyone upsets you.

If you've delivered a product and it's not been paid for, then it's not theirs. If you were the landlord and they didn't pay their rent, you probably would do the padlock scenario. If you deliver a website, then you take it down.

[cojak]

If you've delivered a product and it's not been paid for, then it's not theirs. If you were the landlord and they didn't pay their rent, you probably would do the padlock scenario. If you deliver a website, then you take it down.

I think that this is the more accurate analogy than d000hg's