The saga ended (or is it continuing? (was Re: A sticky contractor situation: no pay yet?)

Subject: The saga ended (or is it continuing? (was Re: A sticky contractor situation: no pay yet?)
From: "Chuck Martin" <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 09:43:51 -0700


Many thanks for all the feedback, and some response to some below.

But last week turned out to be interesting. I was talking with the owner
every day, who said he couldn't understand why the check wasn't arriving in
the mail. He'd originally said he'd sent it out mid-week, then whne it
hadn't arrived over the weekend, he said he mailed it out personally on
Friday afternoon (the 11th; the invoice was due Monday the 7th).

By Wednesday, he said if it didn't arrive that night, that he'd cut a new
check and get it to me, probably by overnight. Part of my response was that
I'd rather get it on Thursday, one way or the other, that a day courier
would work, or I could meet him out toward where he lives and pick it up.
When I called him on Thursday (after the check hadn't arrived Wednesday, we
agreed to work out the latter option. He also said he'd void the old check,
but I said he didn't have to if he didn't want to, that if and when I did
receive the mailed check, I'd deliver it back to him (save the colst of
putting a stop payment on it).

As a side note, one person mentioned to ask where it had been sent. I asked
on that Thursday and found out it had indeed been somewhat mis-addressed: to
"Montgomery" Blvd. instead of "Monterey" Blvd. There is no "Mongomery Blvd."
in San Francisco, although there is a "Montgomery St."

Anyway, I took tranist out to the end of the line and met him and picked up
a check. I was feeling a lot better--and I used the trip back to pay bills.

That evening, guess what arrived in the mail? The check.

But there's still something a bit disturbing, something that still nags at
the back of my brain, something that tells me that trust in this situation
still isn't what it shoudl be. He said he mailed the check on Friday
afternoon in Tracy, where he lives. For those who don't know the San
Francisco Bay Area, it's a suburb about 50 miles due east. When the check
arrived, I looked at the postmark: Tuesday, the 15th, in Sacramento.

My understanding is that postmarks are stamped on mail at the receiving post
office the day they arrive and are processed. Or at least at the regional
distribution center. In my mind, that postmark should have been either
Friday or Saturday. Monday at the very absolute latest. But Tuesday?

That also meant that, despite the misaddressing, it still got to me in 2
days from where it was postmarked, well within the norm for local/regional
delivery. I'm not sure what to beleive: that he really did mail it on Friday
and the post office somehow delayed it, or that he toldf me a tale and
didn't actually drop it in a mailbox until Tuesday.

When I do hand him the envelope (never opened), I do plan on mentioning that
fact, and see what the response it.

"Andrew Plato" <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote in message
news:206169 -at- techwr-l -dot- -dot- -dot-
> >
> >> Andrew said:
> >> Its probably not a good idea to make this a war until the customer is
in
> >> gregarious violation. Again, you're making this personal. Its not. Its
> >> business.
> >> Furthermore, if carrying customers 30-45 days is too hard, consider
> >> partnering with an employment agency. They will pay you regularly
> >>and handle the collections for you. Naturally, you will have to give
> >>them a percentage of your rate, but you'll get paid more reliably.

I used to. almost exclusively, until that business went into hibernation in
late 2001.

>
> > Up to a year and a half ago, all of my contract work (when I did
contract
> > work) was through an agency, and I did W-2/4 (rather than 1099) whenever
> > possible. I'd rather take a couple fewer dollars an hour, get some
> > rudimentary benefits, and not have to deal with self-employment taxes.
But
> > that business, an agency that specialized in technical writers, went
into
> > hibernation when the economy went south. About a month ago, I sent my
resume
> > to another agency that specializes in technical writers. I never heard
word
> > one from them. Not an encouraging start.
>
> Unfortunately, most of the agencies that specialize in tech writing have
> collapsed. There isn't enough money in tech writing to support such
companies.
> A few still exist.

One that still does exist was recimmended to me by the person who ran the
agency I formerly used. I contact them, sent a then-current resume, and I
never heard back from them. Sort of the same thing that happens when I apply
to a companydirectly these days.

>
> Rather than have them do all the leg work for you, take a contract to
them. Go
> out and get contract work and then bring the contract to an agency. If you
call
> up an agency and say "I have a contract gig and I need an agency to carry
the
> contract for me, would your firm do that for a 10% margin?" Some will say
no,
> some will be happy to handle it for you (although they might ask for more
than
> 10%.)

I never thought of that option. And it sounds like a plan.

In such a situation, is it better to have contacts ata an agency or two that
I can call shoudl I get such a contract, or is a simple "cold call" going to
end with a similar result? And shoudl the margin vary depending on whether I
want to do 1099 or W-2/4?

>
> I have two or three writers who bring be contracts all the time. My
company
> carries their contract for them. They get paid regularly on W-2 and my
firm
> collects. Since my company doesn't actively solicit for tech writing any
more,
> its not a big deal to us. We just carry the contracts as a favor to people
we
> know are competent, but like yourself, hate dealing with the business side
of
> things.

So maybe I'll just look you up. :)

Chuck Martin



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