First of all the, we’re NOT attorneys and nothing heard on ProBoothTalk should be considered legal advice. We’re only sharing our own experiences. That said, let’s talk about court.
So, you have a client that’s not paying for a job you’ve done, now what? First of all, WHY DID YOU PROVIDE SERVICE WITHOUT PAYMENT?! I know, you’ve already been lectured. Maybe it was a bounced check or a stop payment on your credit card, either way, what’s done is done and hearing what you should have done isn’t going to help you now.
First things first, the point is to get paid, always keep sight of that. You’ll have people tell you to send them a certified letter but honestly, people dodging bill collectors DON’T sign for certified mail. If you want them to actually read it, just send an email or communicate however you have been with them. If they’re not responding, a cert’s not going to help. Notice, if we’re discussing a bounced check, then ignore all that. You MUST send a certified letter, but not just any letter. Visit your district attorney’s website and poke around. It’s typically pretty easy to find.
Finally, in the podcast we mentioned some verbiage that should be used for collecting a deposit. Here’s a couple links to articles about just that.
http://www.diyphotography.net/why-the-non-redundable-photography-deposit-is-a-myth/
http://weddingindustrylaw.com/non-refundable-deposits-contract-cancelled/
PLEASE, if you enjoyed the episode, help us out. Take two minutes to leave us a 5 star review in iTunes and tell 2 friends in the industry about ProBoothTalk.
939 comments on “Here Come the Judge: Basic Strategies for Collecting from Clients.”