Longing for a freelance check

[top_dog]

First off, have lurked on this website since 2003. I'm a big fan. This is the first time to start thread.

Have a dilemma. Did freelance game story last April for a newspaper. Received compliments from the desk for timeliness (crazy deadline) and detail.

But no check has been produced. Three e-mails to the sports editor (sent a month apart) have been returned with "I'll look into it" and "It should be next week."

I know, I know. I should be more "persuasive." But it's not my style. I'm contemplating another e-mail with a carbon copy to the executive editor.

I've done plenty of freelance work, including some of the national football/basketball preview magazines. I know about patience about getting paid, but this is getting ridiculous.

Any advice?

 

[slappy4428]

1) Your repeat business is what keeps this site going.
2) If it's the only work you've done for this paper, hell yeah. Flame the SE to the EE, and tell him that after three months you should get 10 percent a month. If an ad account doesn't pay, they get charged interest. why not you?

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Outline what happened to the Executive Editor and see if it gets settled. Do NOT tell them you should get 10 percent a month.

A lot of SEs have always been lousy administrators, and things are probably worse today as people try to get by with fewer employees.

 

[mustangj17]

Outline what happened to the Executive Editor and see if it gets settled. Do NOT tell them you should get 10 percent a month.

A lot of SEs have always been lousy administrators, and things are probably worse today as people try to get by with fewer employees.

Screw that, they owe you money. You owe them nothing. Tell them you want interest.

 

[blacktitleist]

This happened to me a few months ago.

I kept blasting my contact with emails until he finally responded, and then he offered me an extra $25 bucks for the hassle.

It was about a three-month turnaround from the time I did the story.

Bottom line is this: You did the work in a timely manner, you should be paid for it in the same manner.

Your work is valuable, and so was the time you put into it. Keep pushing the envelope until you get your check.

 

[playthrough]

Definitely go above the SE. He/she will have no motivation to get you paid. Get a name/number in accounts payable and hammer it.

 

[Ace]

If it's a larger paper, the sports editors would not be the ones actually issuing the check. I would ask for the person who handles that and speak to him/her directly.

A lot of papers pay by direct deposit only these days. Is it possible that you got the money and didn't realize or that the paper doesn't issue checks any more and needs your direct deposit information to pay you?

 

[huntsie]

Send to the sports editor and cc the publisher/general manager with specifics as to the date your story appeared and the agreement you had regarding the fee for your services, telling them you've followed channels and haven't received satisfaction.
No need to be nasty or confrontational. Simply spell it out. SE might get pissed that you went over his head but you'll get your money.

 

[Stitch]

Outline what happened to the Executive Editor and see if it gets settled. Do NOT tell them you should get 10 percent a month.

A lot of SEs have always been lousy administrators, and things are probably worse today as people try to get by with fewer employees.

Screw that, they owe you money. You owe them nothing. Tell them you want interest.

I hate to tell you this, but interest won't be coming.

 

[Joe Williams]

Time to go to the telephone. Call the SE and give him two shots to call back, if you get voicemail or another "I'll look into it." Two or three days apart, at most. Then call the ME. Then the EE. And keep buzzing them, in voicemails if necessary but ideally getting the pinheads on the line.

They'll soon send you a check. This happened to me with a major-market paper a few months ago. And they didn't seem embarrassed in the least by being morons in the ways of business.

 

[mediaguy]

Call the payroll department at the newspaper and tell them you're waiting on a check. At least then you'll know if it's gotten to them yet.

Waiting on check from work done two months ago. Not like I need the money or anything.

 

[WoodyWommack]

I lived off freelance work for almost a year and four months is a long time but it's not really that long, especially because it's only one assignment. I think you need to step up your aggression and email the SE again, but CC whoever is over him.

 

[forever_town]

I have the same problem with getting checks from baseball umpiring. I've had to call and e-mail my supervisor to make sure the checks are coming.

I'd go along with the recommendation to e-mail and CC the managing editor or executive editor. When I had a disciplinary problem with an employee that wasn't resolved by my directly addressing it with her via an electronic paper trail, I sent my next e-mail to her with a CC to my boss.

My next step would have been a formal warning followed up by paperwork. I think your next step ought to be a serious phone call to the SE and/or his boss.

 

[gutenberg]

This reminds me of working at a paper that was too cheap to send the beat guy to a postseason game and then asked me if I knew someone in the area who could cover the game for us.

I called a contact and set him up to cover the game. More than two months later, he calls me and tells me he still hasn't been paid.

I mention it to the SE and he says nothing. Another two weeks pass and the guy still hasn't been paid.

I bring it up to the ME and she has this stunned look on her face. I tell her we look really bad. She agrees. I tell her we should pay the dude an extra $10 or so since he has waited nearly three months to get paid after accepting our proposal on short notice. She looks at me like I lost my mind.

We're talking 10 freakin' bucks here lady.

The next time said paper asked me if I knew of someone who could help us, I pretended I didn't know anyone in that area. Wasn't worth the grief for any stringer to have to put up with some unprofessionalism.

If you hire a stringer cheapos SEs, PAY THE PERSON.

And pay them fast.

 

[Dan Hickling]

Amen, brother.... ;D

 

[huntsie]

Our (former) ME regularly screwed our (former) main stringer. It was our guy's main source of income and he would file his statements with the ME every couple of weeks. Sometimes the guy would forward them to the payroll office, sometimes they would get lost in a stack of papers on his desk.
And then he would say "Well, for most people, this is a part time job...supplementary income. It's not our fault this is his main source of income."
As if that had anything to do with anything. Happily, the ME has since been fired and remains out of work nine or ten months later...

 

[flexmaster33]

It's never good to burn bridges...I would follow up with a phone call to the SE and not stop ringing until I got him in person. If it wasn't resolved after that, then I would go over his head with an e-mail to an editor higher on the tree, detailing your efforts to get paid over the last several months.

Thankfully, I've never had this issue, but yes with staff cuts many are getting pressed more and more, so I can see freelance gigs being low on the priority list (not that they should be!!!)

 

[BillyT]

Call the payroll department at the newspaper and tell them you're waiting on a check. At least then you'll know if it's gotten to them yet.

Waiting on check from work done two months ago. Not like I need the money or anything.

This won't work with all papers, especially chains.

I string for a Lee paper, and the local payroll department would have nothing to do with it.

The sports editor sends the pay request to Lee, and I get a check at the end of the month.

 

[slappy4428]

I'm getting the same dance right now from a Gannett paper in La.
SE promised a check the first week of this month for two stories done in July. They had me fill out direct deposit paperwork.
I waited 10 days and inquired about the check. I waited five days and inquired again. This time, the SE actually answered and said that he was told I should have a check the end of the week.
I waited until the beginning of this week -- no check. No reply.

 

[Dan Hickling]

I don't consider something overdue until 30 days after the invoice ... I don't get too owly until 45 days ... I do have a couple of accounts that are four months behind ... not pleased about that, but I WILL get my money (heh heh heh) ...