ANOTHER UPDATE - Not getting paid by a reporter -- any suggestions?

6/18/13 Update:

I finally got paid!!! Thanks so much for your help, everyone! Without your encouragement and being on my side I wouldn't have had the courage to keep pursuing her until she paid me.  

I finally threatened to call the attorneys who she had taken the jobs for and ask them about "all the errors."  At first she wrote me back a nasty email saying she would have paid me but now she wasn't going to since I "threatened" her.  Then she capitulated and said fine, she would pay me. She made some excuses about how she didn't "mean" to ignore me and she was so busy and blah blah blah.  I had her pay me through paypal so the check couldn't bounce.

Thanks again, CSRNation community!  I really needed your help and you came through!

Carleigh

_______________________________

I'm a proofer of many years and I've worked with dozens of wonderful reporters.  I've had a great experience with my CSRNation reporters, but now I need to ask for your help.  

One of my reporters isn't paying me and isn't responding to emails.  It's been a couple of months since I've had work from her, and I imagine she isn't sending me any work since she hasn't paid me.  I'm not particularly distressed that she's not sending me work, but I would like to be paid for what I've done.  

Do you have any tips for getting her to pay me? The amount is relatively small, about $100, but I'd still like to be paid!  The biggest bummer is that she found me through CSRNation. :(

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Kelli Combs (admin) on June 11, 2013 at 14:46

Carleigh,

 

Send me a private message who this reporter is.  If she got you through this website, I'll ban her if she doesn't pay you.  I feel responsible when agencies or reporters don't pay their vendors when they get the help/work from my website.

Permalink Reply by Carleigh Pearce on June 11, 2013 at 14:56

Thanks so much, Kelli. I'll send you a message.

Permalink Reply by Cherylegal, Inc. on June 13, 2013 at 20:55

Kelli:  Loved reading your response.  It's great to know your stance on this.  I wish I would have thought to use the forum when having trouble being paid by a reporter.  I've been doing this for so long, I have kind of weeded out the non-payers.  But it's really nice to know that you are so willing to help someone! 

Permalink Reply by Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber) on June 11, 2013 at 15:40

What a despicable situation.  Really sorry to hear it.  I'd suggest hounding her with emails, texts, and phone calls.   Also with PMs on FB.   Give her a week or two (or three) warning to be paid in full and then, as you will warn her, you'll go public with her name on csrnation, depoman, FB.   How long has she had the completed work from you?   It the $100 for one job or multiple?  THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS.  SHE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HERSELF.

Permalink Reply by Carleigh Pearce on June 11, 2013 at 15:52

Good idea, Marge.  I hate to be so aggressive, but it's really shameful behavior.  Who doesn't pay someone who worked hard for them in good faith?  Plus, her work was terrible!  More corrections than I've ever had for anyone in all the years I've been doing this.  I just warned her, so we'll see what happens.  Thanks for your help.

Permalink Reply by Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber) on June 11, 2013 at 16:28

Depending on how long she has had the work from you, that's how aggressive you have every right to be.  That said, I pay my proofreader the same night she sends me the work and sometimes the next day.  Never more than 24 hours later.  I go online to my bank where's she's a payee, fill in the amount and the job date, paste that info into her invoice, print the invoice for my records, email it to her, and I'm D O N E.

Permalink Reply by Carleigh Pearce on June 11, 2013 at 16:57

Wish there were more like you.  I just heard from her and she tried to tell me that "my proofing was horrible" and she got "several complaints about the jobs I did." I have never had that experience, and I don't think her deciding not to pay me for several jobs had anything to do with these pretend complaints.  I also don't think that just ignoring my emails would have been the appropriate response if that was actually true.  Her name is SUZANNE CATALANO.  So steer clear!

Thanks for all your help.

Permalink Reply by Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber) on June 11, 2013 at 17:09

Why would she send you more work after even one job had too many unfound errors would be my first question.    Or did she not know that there was a problem until she got an errata sheet later, which I presume is what she means by complaints?   Did she actually go through her multiple errata sheets to determine which were unfound proofing errors as opposed to CR error?    If there were so many proofing errors, then she needs to proof her work once after scoping it besides using a proofreader.  That's what I do because my writing sucks and I have no other choice.  I catch of lot of stuff on that second read-thru (on the screen) that there's no way a proofreader would find.   And while I'm doing that, I purposely don't correct a whole bunch of obvious errors, note them in hidden text, to see how my proofreader is doing.  (She never catches them all but always finds tons of errors that I missed.)

Permalink Reply by Carleigh Pearce on June 11, 2013 at 17:14

I'm sure she didn't.  There were numerous incorrect spellings, wrong words, even spelling the witness' name wrong on the same page.  Much more than would be on purpose.

Permalink Reply by Cherylegal, Inc. on June 13, 2013 at 21:14

Carleigh:  Thanks for speaking up about this!  I truly hope you get paid.  It's obvious you take your work seriously and you do a good job.  Like everyone has been telling you, if there were so many complaints about you, why would you ever get more work from this individual.  Hopefully by posting this, you have saved others from being "duped" into working for free by this person.  I think anybody who has been in this business of scoping and/or proofing has been in your shoes at some point in time.  Be assertive and don't back down. 

Permalink Reply by Carleigh Pearce on June 12, 2013 at 9:08

I just got an email from another reporter who has worked with Suzanne Catalano in the past.  Here's what she said:

"Just read your posts on CSRNation about this jerk (being polite here). She got me for about $50 two years ago -- first (and only) CR I did work for who didn't pay -- and I was wondering when she might pop up again. Sorry you got screwed too. You're right, though, about her work being total crap. After I'd proofed two small jobs for her, I told her she'd have to completely edit the transcripts before I'd look at another one, and that's when she disappeared. Don't be surprised if you hear from others who she's refused to pay."

At least now I can feel confident that it really wasn't my proofing!  Steer clear, peeps!

Permalink Reply by tami carlson on June 12, 2013 at 21:18

"I just heard from her and she tried to tell me that 'my proofing was horrible' and she got 'several complaints about the jobs I did.'"

Carleigh is my proofreader, and it breaks my heart to read that.  She has excellent punctuation skills, reads for content better than anyone I've ever used, and has fast delivery.   

Sadly, if she isn't going to pay, she isn't going to pay.  Cut bait.  There are better clients out there.  They will find you.  I'm sorry this happened. 

Feel free to bill me if you find an errors in that, LOL.

Tami

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