Wth can I say to some Germans to get them to pay?

[MarshaBrady]

I am owed £3.5k and would quite like it and am getting utterly annoyed with non-payment.

Usually my agent has all dealings with them but has not been able to get them to pay for a year!

I am going to ring them now and say I would like to be paid now, but is there anything else I can say?

I hate feeling out of control on this one.

This is silly. If it's been going on for a year, then surely you should be taking legal action?

Talk to a solicitor. I think you can get a letter written for a small fee, although I'm not sure how this works in international business.

Take back control!

It hasn't been up to me to take legal action. It is my agent. He said he would, and I waited. Then he said he wouldn't as they still hold £100k worth of his stock and he wants it back.

I don't have a contract with them, agent does.

So yes sadly I realise it is now in my court. Bugger, will probably have to do legal action directly.

Can you pass it on to an international debt collection agency?

Threatening legal action may suffice.

ok on phone to law society for a recommendation.

Seems it might be your agent that you need to take action against!

Or maybe time to change your agent ...

good luck, btw - I know how frustrating it is to chase for money.

Okay, I think you might need to suggest that you are instructing a lawyer
"Ich muss mir ein Anwalt nehmen, um diese Schuld einzutreiben"

I assume your German pronunication is up to that (I'm just being lazy - it will take a little while to do a pronunciation guide, but happy to do so if you need it!)

You could also try. "Stimmen Sie wohl mit, dass Sie für diese Schuld verantwortlich sind?"

"Do you agree you are responsible for the debt?"

If you are holding the discussion in English, I would just be as unequivocal as you can - I belive you are responsible for this debt, and I will have to instruct a lawyer to get a judge to decide if you disagree.

The other thing to verify is that there is actually a mechanism for them to pay you - I would suggest not using international bank transfers if you can help it - get them to pay into your German account (or your agents) and then move the money from there - there's too much scope for "well my bank say they've sent it"

I have to point out that was much more intelligent, other half, not me.

I would however query how you can enforce demands for payments internationally. Any court action would have to be carried out here, not in Germany, so is unenforceable there. IME of rent debts anyway.

Thanks Badmummy! Have to say I can't even speak German so it will be interesting. I did send a German-speaking friend round the other day and they claimed they had already paid London agent. But it is not true. Buggers

I know I may seem slack but it has never been my job to chase money, it's why my agent gets half of any sale! Plus they can get funny about direct contact.

Unfortunately my contract with London says I get paid when they do .

It's all highly unprecedented, people generally pay!

I can take no credit, I will pass it on!

I am surprised the Agent is not chasing his £1500 then!

And at 50% you would think he blardy well would. Not sure I have ever heard of an agent getting half!!

By the time you pay them and then your tax you are left with hardly anything for your hard work.

BUt that is clearly another thread!

sorry I know, I should say it's a gallery. They always take half. So usually they will get £3500 as well, and I get the other £3.5k.

In this instance I think it is a different arrangement, they are only getting 20% so not the full amount (my half is still 3.5). Usually the half is an excellent incentive, hence never having to chase before!

ah I see. That makes sense then.

Good luck. I hope you get it sorted. And I would hope that there are no other examples of your work in that gallery!!

Don't mention the war.

quite! Well I found the contract am typically disorganised. Payment from London gallery 28 days after they have been paid, soo.. not a leg and all that.

Lawyer quoted £100 for consultation not really in to that as am not even sure I can act against Germans since no contract with them.

I will send a big lad round

You can register a summons (gerichtliches Mahnverfahren) with the court for 23 euros, I believe, which you then add to the invoice for the client to pay. There is no reason you can't register the summons from Britain.

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahnverfahren

Try an automatic translation to get the gist of it.

This is the official website you can use to register the summons:

www.mahngerichte.de/

Click on Zum Online Mahnantrag and then get someone who can speak German to help you fill in the form.

Zahlungsmoral (literally 'payment morality' in Germany is terrible, and many companies will simply not pay and wait for you to issue a summons, on the assumption that a proportion of people (like OP) won't know how. For this reason it is actually compulsory to issue a summons for non-payment in Austria, as I know all too well at the moment because of a non-payer, also an art gallery.

When I phoned up to warn them that I was going ahead with the summons the laconic answer was 'we wouldn't have hired you if we'd known you were going to be like this', ie, if we'd known you were going to demand payment after 5 months...

Best of luck with it.

Omg BlauerEngel that is so helpful thank you! The London people won't know this, I will forward to them and they can sort it out.

You are a star! Did the Austrian gallery mean they thought you would wait longer or not do it at all therefore they wouldn't have to pay?