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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to expect to be paid?

14 replies

thisisjuststupid · 17/03/2010 10:10

i'm so pissed off. i work for a well-known company on the high street am i'm self-employed. i work for them on a regular basis and have never had any problems witht hem before. the people i work with are lovely and i really like working there. but i'm owed for work i did back in january. it should have been due in my bank in february but i gave it longer as i've never had any problems with being paid before and i just thought it was a bit late. i have been chasing it up now for nearly 2 weeks and its still nowhere being paid. as i only do weekends cos im at home with DD during week this is a real income for me (not just to get me out of the house etc). the payments have got lost somewhere and i'm really struggling for money without it! WWYD?

OP posts:
itsmeitsmeolord · 17/03/2010 10:13

What is holding up the payment? Is there one point of contact for you? If not can you find one?

YANBU by the way. If you give a little more info though about what is stopping the payments one of us might be able to help.

Bramshott · 17/03/2010 10:15

I am having problems with freelance payments at the moment too (never have before). I think it's the economic climate .

However, in your case, it sounds as though there's a specific problem. When you say the payment is "lost" somewhere, do you mean that they've sent it, or that your invoice is lost?

Original poster
thisisjuststupid · 17/03/2010 10:17

i have got contact but no-one seems to be pulling their finger out. they asked for copies of claim form, which i did. then this isnt good enough. the person who authorises the payment knows of the problem, but the head office dept who deals with it aren't contactable by phone! only e mail. and i asked them to ring me and gave them my contact numbers but they e mailed me back! i have had enough now and DH helped me write a snotty e mail back yesterday. they had asked me to sort out more forms, but i dont see i should have to when they have been sent already and its not my fault they have lost them. grrr....

OP posts:
SolidGoldBrass · 17/03/2010 10:17

What are they telling you about why it hasn't been paid? If they are saying it has been and yet it's not in your bank account, you need to go to the bank and get printouts of statements showing that it's not made it into your account, then ask the company for the date on which the payment was allegedly sent and get the bank to track what happened to it.
Neither the bank nor the company you worked for can just shrug it off and expect you to swallow the loss.
ON the other hand, if the company has not paid because they claim to be having cashflow issues, it's trickier ( I have had a lot of trouble of this sort myself). You have to decide, at some point, whether you are prepared to let these people take advantage of you indefinitely or not (because they will if they can) - and often, when a company starts delaying or skipping payment, your working relationship with them is doomed anyway. So there comes a point when you have to inform them in writing that they have (say) 14 days to pay up or you will start legal action against them - this usually means they pay up but then don't commission you again.

SolidGoldBrass · 17/03/2010 10:19

So they are saying they lost track of your claim form? Do you have a copy of it? If so, take another copy (so you are not stuffed if they 'lose' this too) and send it by recorded delivery with a letter instructing them to make payment immediately.

Original poster
thisisjuststupid · 17/03/2010 10:26

solid - not being hired agin is what im afriad of. it's a nice place to work and i like the people i work with and enjoy my job, etc. it's also very close to home etc and ive been working there most weekends for about 2 1/2 yrs. the branch manger signs a claim form to confirm you were in and worked, etc, then it gets sent to an area 'controller' who also okays it. then it gets sent to the office who pay it. it is just 3 days and all payments before and since (so far!!) seem ok. the office seem to have lost it, but won't just pay it. i understand they need a paper trail for payments, but it's starting to get beyond a joke. i'm starting to think i'm being 'nicely' dropped as an easy way out for them and no-one has the guts to just to be honest. (i'm a bit prone to paranoia so that might be unreasonable

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisjuststupid · 17/03/2010 10:31

they asked for an e mail attachment of a copy. i copied my version and duly sent it on friday a.m, but then they said (monday a.m !!! no phone call as i requested) that they needed a copy with a stamp on. if they had read my e mail properly, they would know i only work weekends and the e mail address was a private one hence i'm at home(no access to anything in the branch), and they would also know that my copy wouldn't be likely to have a stamp on. why ask me to send it, when they would know this? in my stroppy e mail i said that as they had told me this would be sorted out as a priority and they know i work at weekends, i couldnt understand why they hadnt rung me as requested when i could have maybe got it sorted on saturday, but e mailed me monday instead. i get so fed up when people dont listen!!

sorry for letting off steam. i feel a bit better now. think i might see if i can get hold of someone again.....

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisjuststupid · 17/03/2010 10:33

bramshott - i hope your payments get sorted soon too....it's not fair is it? you do a fair days work for a fair days pay.....grumble grumble.... grumble......do they think we have worked for free??

OP posts:
Bramshott · 17/03/2010 10:40

Sadly I think that a company / organisations definition of "late" is probably a lot more elastic than my definition of "late". It's such a pain isn't it! Hope you get sorted soon.

Original poster
thisisjuststupid · 17/03/2010 10:42

thanks- you too. maybe we both work for the same place? sounds a familiar thing!

OP posts:
WingedVictory · 17/03/2010 10:43

Problems being paid are regrettably common, and happened even before the economic downturn.

Sorry you are going through this, thisisjuststupid. Does your branch manager have any advice about this? If s/he looks uncomfortable about the subject, it could be s/he knows something behind the scenes. Perhaps see whether you can find out.

In the meantime, perhaps it's time to start looking for something else, as you will feel better if you have something to fall back on - and threaten this company with!

In the meantime, if you have an address for the head office, you can find the switchboard number through Directory Enquiries http://www.thephonebook.bt.com/publisha.content/en/search/business_by_name/search.publisha here. If the receptionist won't put you through, or puts you through to voicemail, try to leave a message with reception about chasing payment for x invoice. If it gets out in the company that accounts are failing, perhaps someone else will do something.

WingedVictory · 17/03/2010 10:48

Oh, that link didn't work.

here

Original poster
thisisjuststupid · 17/03/2010 20:18

thank you winged!!! we might be a step closer now. replacement forms have been sent - watch this space! i will use that link if i dont get any joy. fingers crossed....

OP posts:
WingedVictory · 21/03/2010 14:13

Any progress yet?

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