Invoice – to pay or not to pay?

Man I wouldn’t pay it either. She should of waited for your confirmation to start any work rather than doing it with out you saying anything. That’s shady. Don’t give her the satisfaction of paying it.

If you didn’t ok the work then don’t pay the bill and don’t take the work (assuming they did it).

Hmmmm… sarcasm and business are not to things to mix, even if you’re on more personal terms with the person. Unfortunately, I can see where they’re coming from when they claim that you saying “thanks” could mean that you agreed.

That being said, I don’t honestly thing they believed that you agreeded. And if you didn’t ask for the work and agree on a price, then they can’t make you pay a fee. If they continue to claim that you saying “thanks” was you agreeing, perhaps you should jump on the bandwagon and claim the ‘thanks’ was you saying, “Thank you for this generous gift.”

“ANYWAY she told me she was going to go ahead with creating the “digitizing” of the logo and “await my response” I never got back to her except to say via phone I had already gone with a better company.”

You should have responded right then “No, DO NOT go ahead.” That would have avoided this problem. Instead you left the door open for her to make an assumption (that you would indeed get back with her to proceed).

I would tend to pay the money if they are willing to turn over the work product to you, and also explain to them that this is the last they will see of your custom and why.

However, I suggest you have someone proof your response. For example, “could of” is not grammatically acceptable.

If you are happy with the services rendered at the price suggested, pay it. Otherwise, tell them to shove it! You didn’t sign a contract of any sort or even agree to terms of payment through writing. Since no terms were agreed to, that bill is completely arbitrary.

I would never take anything via email as a legal and binding contract and I doubt that the courts will either.

When dealing with anything legalese stick with fax, snail mail, or hand to hand.

tell them to shove it.

Here’s how it goes in the US
1. She might very well get a judgment in small claims court because you knew she was working on the design and didn’t tell her to stop.
2. Whether she takes you to court depends on how mad she is. It will cost her more than $75 in her time.
3. She can badmouth you in your community and that may cost you more than $75.
4. Basically this was your fault. Business is business. If you felt you weren’t getting the service you wanted, go somewhere else. She might have had reasons she didn’t come to you, you shouldn’t take it personally and not conclude your business.

If you didn’t sign a purchase order or exchange e-mails about the design, then I don’t think you should sweat it. What date did you need the shirts by, and would she have met it based upon her unresponsiveness?

Do you have a lawyer? If so, consult with the lawyer, and see about getting a strongly-worded letter. That should end the problem right there.

Consult with a lawyer for $75 Canadian?

Look. I worked in business for 25 years doing everything from AP/AR-corp controller, by making a big magillah out of this you can cause more problems than you want. When you screw over a vendor word gets around. They all talk to each other and in business your reputation is as important as the quality of your product. If you get the reputation of a no-pay or nickle & dimer you may find your estimates to be jacked and prepay required. The time it took to take this to Fluther and get bad advice was worth more than $75

The way I see it, the party offering the service has the responsibility of establishing a contract. You’re suggesting that the client is at fault because of the other end’s negligence. The company in question should realize that it’s not lucrative to take this to small claims anyway. Not only that, but word of mouth goes both ways.

However, what galileogirl says has some logic to it. If you pay the $75, you are completely off the hook. You never have to do business with them again and you save your reputation.

You could pay half of it, and never do business again. You could also pay all of it and take possession of the artwork files.

Just curious. Are you going to pay?