Dealing with a non payer - agency in Canada. Thread poster: Marie Claude Etoc
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Dear Fellow Proz Members,
I have an issue regarding a late payment/ non- payment from a Canadian based translation agency. Does anyone know what is the law in Canada (Provine of Ontario) regarding late payments / non - payment? Any links to helpful websites - Black list, Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau etc.
I contacted proz for the issue to be posted. Proz posted then shortly after posting I was contacted that it has been removed. My response back to proz ha... See more Dear Fellow Proz Members,
I have an issue regarding a late payment/ non- payment from a Canadian based translation agency. Does anyone know what is the law in Canada (Provine of Ontario) regarding late payments / non - payment? Any links to helpful websites - Black list, Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau etc.
I contacted proz for the issue to be posted. Proz posted then shortly after posting I was contacted that it has been removed. My response back to proz has not been answered nor was a ticket # issued.
DETAILS:
1st project: invoice paid on time
2nd project completed 08/28/2017- much larger project approx. 40k project.
Invoiced 09/04/2017 client acknowledged invoice.
10/16/2017: contacted client for outstanding invoice
Client e-mailed: “Invoice will be paid in 30 days." AND ONLY THEN INFORMED ME THAT EDITS WERE HAD BEEN MADE. I requested the proof on the edits several times client did not follow up with any proof.
11/28/2017: I followed up again by e-mail on the outstanding invoice and on an (appointment made at 10 am to discuss) client responded: Hi just with someone Call me at 3pm which I did and got the usual voice mail. My opinion: client is stalling on making a payment. It was then that I decided its time to put a notice on Proz Blue Board which did get put on only to be taken off shortly.
Any and all help as to what recourse I can start to take will be most appreciated. In 2010 I had a similar
situation but on a much smaller project with a client from Canada whom I addressed the following e-mail and was paid promptly.
Your statement is attached. As per your last e-mail you stated that you
will pay this outstanding amount
In the first week of December 2010.
Please consider this e-mail very serious as you have avoided payment for
quite some time and as per several e-mails
Stating you would be looking into the payment on the weekend, next week, etc
you were informed that if not paid it will be reported to a debt collection
agency, this may adversely affect your company's credit rating.
In addition it will also be reported on translation sites as unpaid
outstanding invoices. ▲ Collapse
| | | | brnadette
Canada
Local time: 07:42
English to French
+ ...
| small claims court | Dec 4, 2017 |
Hello Marie-Claude,
Sorry to hear that you have problems with a bad payer.
You can sue them in small claims court. Here is the link for Ontario: https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/scc/
From what I heard, a letter from a (local?) lawyer threatening to sue them can sometimes work wonders as well.
HTH
... See more Hello Marie-Claude,
Sorry to hear that you have problems with a bad payer.
You can sue them in small claims court. Here is the link for Ontario: https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/scc/
From what I heard, a letter from a (local?) lawyer threatening to sue them can sometimes work wonders as well.
HTH
Bernadette ▲ Collapse
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I suggest that you look back through the forum so make sure that you have taken all the usual steps.
If you wish to obtain legal advice on recovery, then you need information from an official source and/or from a professional.
The first step should be to look to your contract and then contact a debt collection company (usually very epxensive) or find out if the amount due falls within some type of small claims procedure you can undertake yourself, sometimes online.
Th... See more I suggest that you look back through the forum so make sure that you have taken all the usual steps.
If you wish to obtain legal advice on recovery, then you need information from an official source and/or from a professional.
The first step should be to look to your contract and then contact a debt collection company (usually very epxensive) or find out if the amount due falls within some type of small claims procedure you can undertake yourself, sometimes online.
The usual pricniple is that if you supplied the work agreed by the agreed deadline, your client has to pay you, whether he edits the work afterwards or not. Even if your work is late, the client still has to pay, although there may be provisions about reductions. It will depend on your contractual arrangements.
Make sure you formalise your demand for payment with a means of proving that the demand has been received by your client. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Similar experience with an Ontario agency back in 2012 | Dec 5, 2017 |
Hi Marie Claude,
It is a bit strange that you are asking about Canadian laws when you are working in Canada (according to your profile).
Anyway, that is not the point.
Your story sounds familiar to what I had to deal with in 2012.
It may even be the exact same company, although in my case there were no excuses of edits and such, or any kind of complaint from the client. It was just extreme delays in payments and false promises. "only the boss can issue checks and he is no... See more Hi Marie Claude,
It is a bit strange that you are asking about Canadian laws when you are working in Canada (according to your profile).
Anyway, that is not the point.
Your story sounds familiar to what I had to deal with in 2012.
It may even be the exact same company, although in my case there were no excuses of edits and such, or any kind of complaint from the client. It was just extreme delays in payments and false promises. "only the boss can issue checks and he is not in, i will ask him", etc.
Finally, after 3 months of non-payment, I reported them to the Better Business Bureau via their Online Complaint System. I am not sure whether the BBB contacted them, but I got paid 3 weeks after I filed the complaint, so that may have had something to do with it.
If you have a contract, see what it says about quality problems.
Feel free to contact me directly if you want to discuss further.
Katalin ▲ Collapse
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