So I make this video for a member of my church, quote him my hourly rate of $39 per hour. He receives the video and is very outwardly happy with it, I invoice him for 21 hours and he leaves saying he will pay on that day.
The next day he returns to pick up the DVD and get the media file to play on his laptop in presentations because he is flying over to Africa to present this video to people that weekend. He mentions that I had made a slip-up in the invoice which I acknowledge and it was actually 19 hours, not 21. My bad, invoice fixed. He says he’ll pay that week.
The next week comes, no payment, he’s in Africa, I email him and he writes back angrily because I emailed him. States he will pay this week.
The next week (today) still no payment, so I email him:
Name Witheld, on receipt of the invoice you stated you would make payment on that day, afterwards you made me aware of an error of mine on the invoice which I corrected swiftly and you assured me you would make payment that week. Then you stated you would make payment by the end of the next week. All of these dates have passed.
I would appreciate your transparency, communication and swift payment regarding this matter.
Where I’m going with this is that if you’re going to use the C word when you describe yourself, or even when others describe you, remember who you’re working for … to be Christian is to be Christ like. No lying, no scamming, 100% truth. I would be happier, I’m sure most people would be happier, if you were 100% honest and say “I’m broke and I can’t pay you” … instead your lies make others lie because they form expectations based on your words, which turn out to be lies.
My situation now, I’ve committed to paying someone else $200 I owe them this week and I can’t … so I pray that God will provide … I’ve got no other solutions.
Posted by simon on May 26, 2009 at 12:47 pm
these days , 50% up front .. 50% on delivery of product .. they dont wanna pay .. they dont get the goods its that simple …
dont work for free .. an next time , if you dont want to do a job .. jack your prices … if they want something bad enough theyll pay .. if they dont … dont let them waste your time …
do no work for free
Posted by Joshua Withers on May 26, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I’m learning doddo … I’m learning.
Posted by John Lacey on May 27, 2009 at 11:31 am
You know I have looked at this particular post half a dozen times in the last couple of days, and resisted the urge to leave comments each time. But theological discussions aside, it might be time to really think about your cashflow.
Posted by Clyo Beck on June 14, 2009 at 2:53 am
If your customer can afford to fly to Africa, he can afford to pay you.
However, consider this: anger, demands, ultimatums, veiled accusations – none of these are Christ’s way either, and for good reason. When you make a person angry and defensive, he will be likely to want to hurt you, not help you.
I agree that one would expect a person who says he is a Christian to keep his word and pay his bills or explain.
He may, however, be juggling his money. Or, he may have forgotten and have no access to his checkbook while in Africa.
Regardless, consider what Christ said: turn the other cheek.
I suspect that you have been paid by now. On the off chance that you have not, this is my advice:
Spend some time in prayer, connect to your heart, and think about how you felt about this man when you first met him.
Did you like him? Were you impressed by his vision? Excited to work on his project? Happy that you could help further his work and have that be a way of God supporting your own?
If so, then write down how you felt . Then, using what you’ve written, create another little video.
Spend a couple of minutes showing him the things you love about your life, the things you love about God’s goodness. Show him the life he will be supporting via his payment.
Also tell him how you felt working on his project. Tell him how much you believed in his project, and how much you hoped for his success as you worked on your video for him.
Tell him that e-mail is so difficult – that everything sounds so cold – and that you apologize for sending something that may have implied something you didn’t mean.
Tell him you hope that he has found your work of value and that the two of you may work together on a future project.
Do whatever you feel is best – send him the video file if you can, or put the video on your blog and send him the link with this message:
“You were right. I shouldn’t have sent that e-mail. I apologize. I hope your mission is going well. I really do believe in your project and made another little video about it for you.”
If you cannot come from the heart and get in a place where God’s love is flowing through you as you do all this, then don’t bother. Attack and accusation breed more of the same.
However, if you can come from the heart and approach this as an experiment to see what real love can do, try it. Coming from the heart like this has worked for me. I believe it can work for you.
“If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” Romans 12:20
Good Luck and God Bless.
P.S. I also agree with the other comments. The real question may be: do you really feel you earned your money and your time is worth what you are charging? If not, you will, likely, run into the problem again. Set it up next time so you don’t.