Hi All,
Been reading the forums with interest and would appraise some input to see what others think.
Have a situation with non-payment of invoice. Also trying to recover my significant expenses, incurred to complete this specific contract.
Summary
I did a contract for a consultancy with their client. The work according to the clients IT manager has not been fully completed. The consultancy have withheld payment from the agency. The agency are now withholding payment from myself.
If it were this simple, I would agree with the basic facts above and done the same, however there are many strong mitigating factors to understand.
Background
I’m very IT experienced and professionally qualified so was contracted for 4 days to do some engineering remediation work for an small IT consultancy on thier clients site. I had not worked for either before. This was a short term and last minute contract where I was on the end client's site the next day. There was no interview or chat before from the consultancy. I was given the contract and told to do the job. I personally had to pay all expenses to get the job done (£1000+) and claim these back on my invoice.
There were 4 parties involved -The End Client; The IT Consultancy; The Agency and me (Ltd compancy).
I was given a document by the consultancy which had a number of tasks to complete for the end client. I was set to do this, but when onsite however, the end clients technical staff decided there was too much risk to the clients business and whey would not allow me to make the changes to remediate the tasks. We discussed each task, and between us decided I would document all changes which I would have made and then the clients technical staff would resolve them later in a controlled manner. I presumed all this was being communicated within the client between the clients technical staff and the clients IT manager.
Right at the end of the contract, in a client minuted meeting, the clients IT manager was told of the approach and blew their top at both the clients own technical staff and myself. Their reason which they stated was “they wanted all the changed implemented there and then", “as that’s what they were paying for”. Two client technical staff and myself explained some of the possible risks and impact of the changes and why the controlled approach would provide less impact to the clients business but the clients manage was not intrested in our argument.
In this meeting a consultancy manager was witness to the clients IT manager, complaining to two clients technical staff of this approach, and only then was it communicated to the technical staff the manager “just wanted it done now”. Afterward the meeting I spoke to the consultancies manager in depth and nothing detrimental was said to me.
Timesheet and Expenses Authorised
The next day after the contract ended, I submitted timesheets and expense claims to the consultancy. After a delay of around 2 days, these were both authorised in writing by the consultancy (via an email) directly to the agency.
I submitted my invoice to the agency with this email approval and waited for payment.
2 days before payment was due, the agency said there had been a complaint about my work and they were withholding full payment (Rate + Expenses).
That’s where it is at the moment.
Next Step
I’m wondering what to do next, been playing the softly, softly approach with the agency at the moment but what do people think my next step?
- I have explained in writing (email) about the situation and that communication at the end client was non-existent.
- I’ve asked for the complaint in writing (as I have nothing, just verbally) and no evidence that I’m at fault.
If I have to take a loss on the days, I put I will put it down to experience, it’s the expenses of £1,000 which I can’t afford to lose.
Conclusion
The way I see it is the client technical staff directly prevented me from doing the work, but the clients IT manager did not want it done this way, and is now withholding payment from the consultancy. The client’s IT manager directly neglected to tell their own staff what they wanted. This has now passed down the chain what I see as unjustly to myself. I belive the problem arose as there was no communication within the between the clients IT manager and the clients technical staff. But what is this to do with me? I did everything as directed by the client’s technical staff.
I have been contracting 5 years and in the industry for 20+ and never come across this or any issue before.
Appreciate everyone who reads this taking the time, everyone’s feedback is welcomed.
Been reading the forums with interest and would appraise some input to see what others think.
Have a situation with non-payment of invoice. Also trying to recover my significant expenses, incurred to complete this specific contract.
Summary
I did a contract for a consultancy with their client. The work according to the clients IT manager has not been fully completed. The consultancy have withheld payment from the agency. The agency are now withholding payment from myself.
If it were this simple, I would agree with the basic facts above and done the same, however there are many strong mitigating factors to understand.
Background
I’m very IT experienced and professionally qualified so was contracted for 4 days to do some engineering remediation work for an small IT consultancy on thier clients site. I had not worked for either before. This was a short term and last minute contract where I was on the end client's site the next day. There was no interview or chat before from the consultancy. I was given the contract and told to do the job. I personally had to pay all expenses to get the job done (£1000+) and claim these back on my invoice.
There were 4 parties involved -The End Client; The IT Consultancy; The Agency and me (Ltd compancy).
I was given a document by the consultancy which had a number of tasks to complete for the end client. I was set to do this, but when onsite however, the end clients technical staff decided there was too much risk to the clients business and whey would not allow me to make the changes to remediate the tasks. We discussed each task, and between us decided I would document all changes which I would have made and then the clients technical staff would resolve them later in a controlled manner. I presumed all this was being communicated within the client between the clients technical staff and the clients IT manager.
Right at the end of the contract, in a client minuted meeting, the clients IT manager was told of the approach and blew their top at both the clients own technical staff and myself. Their reason which they stated was “they wanted all the changed implemented there and then", “as that’s what they were paying for”. Two client technical staff and myself explained some of the possible risks and impact of the changes and why the controlled approach would provide less impact to the clients business but the clients manage was not intrested in our argument.
In this meeting a consultancy manager was witness to the clients IT manager, complaining to two clients technical staff of this approach, and only then was it communicated to the technical staff the manager “just wanted it done now”. Afterward the meeting I spoke to the consultancies manager in depth and nothing detrimental was said to me.
Timesheet and Expenses Authorised
The next day after the contract ended, I submitted timesheets and expense claims to the consultancy. After a delay of around 2 days, these were both authorised in writing by the consultancy (via an email) directly to the agency.
I submitted my invoice to the agency with this email approval and waited for payment.
2 days before payment was due, the agency said there had been a complaint about my work and they were withholding full payment (Rate + Expenses).
That’s where it is at the moment.
Next Step
I’m wondering what to do next, been playing the softly, softly approach with the agency at the moment but what do people think my next step?
- I have explained in writing (email) about the situation and that communication at the end client was non-existent.
- I’ve asked for the complaint in writing (as I have nothing, just verbally) and no evidence that I’m at fault.
If I have to take a loss on the days, I put I will put it down to experience, it’s the expenses of £1,000 which I can’t afford to lose.
Conclusion
The way I see it is the client technical staff directly prevented me from doing the work, but the clients IT manager did not want it done this way, and is now withholding payment from the consultancy. The client’s IT manager directly neglected to tell their own staff what they wanted. This has now passed down the chain what I see as unjustly to myself. I belive the problem arose as there was no communication within the between the clients IT manager and the clients technical staff. But what is this to do with me? I did everything as directed by the client’s technical staff.
I have been contracting 5 years and in the industry for 20+ and never come across this or any issue before.
Appreciate everyone who reads this taking the time, everyone’s feedback is welcomed.
Comment