Unpaid Job

[carmelae]

Hello,

I was offered by a new client, a new job to create Youtube Thumbnails in October 2017. That went on for 9 months. Client happy with my work, paid on time, no problem. I would say that it was a very good relationship, we got on very well.

Client would once in awhile request ‘small’ design jobs ($2-$15) within the contract and said would pay extra. Sometimes he would, sometimes he would not.

Then he offered me another design job to create graphics for his Webinar, again under the existing contract. We agreed at $6.00 per image. Total of graphics completed was 89 pieces which totalled to $500+.

After I completed and submitted all required graphics, I went on medical leave as had to undergo operation. I informed client and he suddenly ended the contract (August 2018) without paying the mentioned design fee of $500+.

I messaged him several times before my operation and 10 months later after I have completely recovered but to no avail.

He has not answered my messages and have not paid me a single cent of what he owed me.

Is it still possible to get paid, now that the contract had ended?

Help please.

Thank you,

Carmela

[lysis10]

yeah that money is gone. Get escrow even with people you think you know on the Internet. It's the Internet and you're some stranger. If the lights are about to go out and the client got money to pay one person, who do you think the client will pay first? The electric company or you?

[melaniekhenson]

That is just evil, especially since you two had an ongoing client/freelancer relationship. He must have decided since he'd already gotten away with the little stuff and since you were going to be out of commission for a while, he might as well go for a bigger sum. So sorry, Carmela.

[kat303]

As soon as the client cancelled the contract, if you still had a few days before the operation, you should have filed a dispute and perhaps taken it all the way up to arbitration. Now, 10 months have passed which is WAY past the time to start a dispute or anything else. 

[petra_r]

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Kathy T wrote:

As soon as the client cancelled the contract, if you still had a few days before the operation, you should have filed a dispute and perhaps taken it all the way up to arbitration. 

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those $ 500 were never funded, so there was nothing to dispute, let alone take to arbitration.

It was super risky to do $ 500 worth of work with nothing funded, (in hindsight) - but with a long term client many of us would have taken the risk (I know I have, more than once, and it was always ok so far.)