Exasperated

[pearlescence]

A contact does not have to be written if you had a clear verbal agreement - just make a written note of what you think was agreed verbally. That's still a contract, provided the other side thinks the same or if different they can make out their case.
A verbal contract can be worth the paper it isn't written on
eg if they said, can you do the work by oct 1 and you said yes, that is agreement and a contract term

[ps_bond]

An update. I managed to get part-payment on the interim invoice, I've completed the work and issued a final invoice. The response:

It's too expensive.
Then:
A 3rd party says it shouldn't take that long.
The data is useless.
I'm not paying.
I'm only going to pay for 1/3 of the data.
I'm not paying.
And on, and on, and on.

The complaints revolve around 2 issues:
1. The titles for the rings do not contain the clarity of the diamonds. I've shown her that the titles are as she specified in email, she's in denial. However, I have offered at no extra cost to supply her with a spreadsheet that includes them; she's refused that.
2. The descriptions of the rings have not been uploaded. I've shown that they were in the data uploaded, that Amazon raised no errors on them but they have not been processed. I've explained she needs to talk to Amazon tech support on that - I'm not Amazon's customer.

In the meantime, I am holding a stock of her stones that she is demanding back (given to me to look after). I believe I'm OK under general lien to retain them, but if this isn't paid in full by 1700 tomorrow I'm going to court over this.

[Gemsetterchris]

Let her waste the time with the legal action & be patient.

[pearlescence]

I think may you need to watch send in the sheriffs on catch up to get your money

[ps_bond]

I suspect MCOL is going to be the first step only. It occurred to me that as she is making full use of the data uploaded rather than rejecting it outright, can it be argued that she has accepted the work?
Either way, the real reason for all the histrionics is she doesn't see why she should have to pay.

[enigma]

Can you not get payment upfront in future? would save a lot of hassle.

[ps_bond]

With this one, I won't accept any more work from her. In general, when providing services, you would expect to do the work, invoice for it and get paid. As I say, in general...
If I'm doing repair work, that's how it's handled; if it's a commission then I usually ask for 50% up front.

[enigma]

That sucks
All my work is full payment up front, I wouldn't want to work any other way when dealing with the public- most people are great but then you get one like this

[camalidesign]

Interesting how everyone works... I tend to either take full payment up front for commissions, or at least 50%, but a while ago I made 2 rings for a friend of a family member so just went ahead and made them, using her own beach stones she had sent to me. When they were finished I sent pictures and asked for payment, but she just said "I will pay when I get the rings, send me an invoice". I felt a bit offended actually, I had gone ahead and made these rings for her in good faith based on the relationship, and gone through the trouble of photographing them so she could see them before paying, and I was so surprised that I didn't know what to say. This was to a lady in Sweden so I don't know if it works differently over there, but here most people I know take payment either on order, or at least when the work is done. I asked a few people "at home" (Sweden) and they didn't seem to think it was a big deal, although like I said I felt a bit cheated. Anyway, I sent the rings to her and she did pay, not straight away, I think I had to prompt her once.

It's always hard when it's friends or friends of friends you deal with. I guess a lesson is to always state your terms before you do business with anyone!

Carin

[Gemsetterchris]

If you don't pay bills they eventually get taken directly from your earnings via an official "debt collection" system (in Finland at least).
I can order just about anything & receive with an invoice knowing full well I'll be paying like it or not if I keep the goods.