Apr 19, 2023·edited Apr 19, 2023Liked by Barbara Genova
This story hits me right in the gut because I've dealt with similar non-payment issues in the past. I worked for a tiny startup doing tech coverage for a while (they were always great) and they had a syndication deal with one of the top news sites. After the startup shutdown some of my contacts from that larger site asked if I'd be interested in doing some freelance work. I said yes, because I needed the money and it was easy work.
Fast forward a few months and I'd racked up a bill of around $3,500, which had yet to be paid.
I was told it was in the works and I would be paid soon.
Another month goes by and people at the company start dropping. Layoffs and then a mass exodus. I'd contact one person, they'd promise I'd be paid soon, and by the time I checked back in with them in a few weeks they'd be gone.
Between each person, I'd spend a week just trying to figure out who to contact. Who even knew that I was owed money? Was there even any record of it at this point?
This stretched on for over two years.
When I was finally paid, I had already gone through roughly a dozen people who promised I'd be paid within a month. Each time, I had to explain to an entirely new person who I had never met before that they owed me thousands of dollars. I'd have to provide email logs and records of my work. Each person strung me along just long enough for to buy time so they could leave the company, never passing on my situation to anyone, but locking it away in their now-defunct email.
Things got incredibly tight for a while, and I often wanted to just give up. The hours I spent trying to get paid outweighed the amount of time I'd spent on the actual work by a factor of 10 or more.
Looking back, I probably could have taken some kind of legal action, but I had no idea what I was doing at the time, and freelancing leaves you so incredibly powerless in many instances.
Anyway, this was a great story Barbara. Thank you for sharing.
This story hits me right in the gut because I've dealt with similar non-payment issues in the past. I worked for a tiny startup doing tech coverage for a while (they were always great) and they had a syndication deal with one of the top news sites. After the startup shutdown some of my contacts from that larger site asked if I'd be interested in doing some freelance work. I said yes, because I needed the money and it was easy work.
Fast forward a few months and I'd racked up a bill of around $3,500, which had yet to be paid.
I was told it was in the works and I would be paid soon.
Another month goes by and people at the company start dropping. Layoffs and then a mass exodus. I'd contact one person, they'd promise I'd be paid soon, and by the time I checked back in with them in a few weeks they'd be gone.
Between each person, I'd spend a week just trying to figure out who to contact. Who even knew that I was owed money? Was there even any record of it at this point?
This stretched on for over two years.
When I was finally paid, I had already gone through roughly a dozen people who promised I'd be paid within a month. Each time, I had to explain to an entirely new person who I had never met before that they owed me thousands of dollars. I'd have to provide email logs and records of my work. Each person strung me along just long enough for to buy time so they could leave the company, never passing on my situation to anyone, but locking it away in their now-defunct email.
Things got incredibly tight for a while, and I often wanted to just give up. The hours I spent trying to get paid outweighed the amount of time I'd spent on the actual work by a factor of 10 or more.
Looking back, I probably could have taken some kind of legal action, but I had no idea what I was doing at the time, and freelancing leaves you so incredibly powerless in many instances.
Anyway, this was a great story Barbara. Thank you for sharing.
Great headline -- sucked me right in!