Getting money owed to me

glasgowm148
glasgowm148 Posts: 174 Forumite
edited 29 January 2017 at 5:58PM in Loans
Not sure if this is the right forum but wasn't sure where else to post it.

A guy I used to work with owes me £470 - £120 of that was hosting fees a client left in the office for me and he took to give me (and never did!). The rest was for some work I done for him (graphic design).

I have the invoice I sent him for the work, and acknowledgement of the debt (him saying he'd have it soon, etc). I have no proof of the 120 other than texts he's sent me.

Where do I go from here? He just ignores my calls/emails. I have full control over his website/emails and in my rage I've considered just shutting him down but I'd rather solve this reasonably..

I've looked into small claims - would this be my best route? He's an absolute chancer so I don't even think he'd pay up after that. I also don't have his current address since his gf kicked him out.

I'm in Scotland
Capital One - 950/1400 :eek:
Barclay Card - 400/1250 :beer:
Overdraft - 1500/2100 :mad:
Personal Debt - 0/2000 :T
nPower - 900/1115 :A
Total - 3724/7900 -- 52% paid off!
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Comments

  • Arleen
    Arleen Posts: 1,164
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    edited 29 January 2017 at 6:02PM
    Whatever is equivalent of small claims court in Scotland. This way he will either have to pay it up or get a mark on his credit file, so that is something. But if he doesn't want to pay up, and doesn't care about the mark, you won't be getting money back (not worth trying to collect it unless you are certain you can easily find it).

    I absolutely would not touch his website or email in any way shape or form. And unless you need this access for any actual reason, other than revenge, delete them (access credentials) to not be tempted.
  • How will they be able to find him without an address? Would I need to find that first?
    Capital One - 950/1400 :eek:
    Barclay Card - 400/1250 :beer:
    Overdraft - 1500/2100 :mad:
    Personal Debt - 0/2000 :T
    nPower - 900/1115 :A
    Total - 3724/7900 -- 52% paid off!
  • Arleen
    Arleen Posts: 1,164
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    How can you invoice him but not have an address? According to http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/simple-procedure you may want to contract your local sheriff court, and they will be able to advise you on the process of address unknown.

    But in future, get a contract. Or at least full details for invoice.
  • Pixie5740
    Pixie5740 Posts: 14,515
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    You could try 192.com or Monkey Finder to track him down. Companies House could be another avenue if he has a limited company.
  • Though not particularly helpful for an amicable end result, I had a friend who worked on someone's website. At the end of the day, the client disappeared and didn't pay a cent. Only thing is, they didn't change the login information, so my friend still had access to the site. She changed passwords, and then spent the next month gradually lowering the opacity of the site's on-page stuff (text / images etc) via CSS, accompanied by an email saying she'd keep doing it until she was paid. That thing was barely visible by the time they finally paid up lol.

    An option for you? Possibly. Otherwise, local authorities or 192.com are likely your best bet.
  • dieselv2
    dieselv2 Posts: 164
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    Has he blocked you on Facebook? How about a private message on there saying you need payment or will apply for a CCJ to be taken out against him. A few words to scare him.

    If it's allowed that is haha
    Debt As Of 19/3/2021: £16,973 | Current Debt: £9,322 | 54.9% Repaid
  • Arleen
    Arleen Posts: 1,164
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    Though not particularly helpful for an amicable end result, I had a friend who worked on someone's website. At the end of the day, the client disappeared and didn't pay a cent. Only thing is, they didn't change the login information, so my friend still had access to the site. She changed passwords, and then spent the next month gradually lowering the opacity of the site's on-page stuff (text / images etc) via CSS, accompanied by an email saying she'd keep doing it until she was paid. That thing was barely visible by the time they finally paid up lol.
    That is a dumb thing to do. Just because friend still has login information does not mean that your friend is allowed to access the resource, and for sure has no right to deface it. If he keeps doing that, one day one of those clients will, rightfully, go to the police.
  • leespot
    leespot Posts: 554 Forumite
    The OP still owns the work they haven't been paid for - it would not be unreasonable for them to remove their design work from the website. Only remove the work you haven't been paid for, though.
  • MEM62
    MEM62 Posts: 4,732
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    If you want instant pressure I would view the £120 is a simple case of theft. Why not report it as such?
  • Arleen
    Arleen Posts: 1,164
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    edited 30 January 2017 at 12:12PM
    leespot wrote: »
    The OP still owns the work they haven't been paid for - it would not be unreasonable for them to remove their design work from the website. Only remove the work you haven't been paid for, though.
    It's not that simple, and this is 15 years of IT contracting/outsourcing talking.
    While the client is in breach of contract, no argument about that, that doesn't give you right to break into client computer systems (that is what you are doing, as there is no reason for you to think that you have the right to take stuff from his website). Nor gives it your the right to deface his website on top of it. What it does is provides you with a legal remedy of going to courts which can then rectify the situation in any way they see fit. But we are not to take justice in our hands, like some vandalism-vigilante.

    The pro tip for small contracts, which are not worth chasing up through courts, is to not work a minute before getting 50% of money down and deliver the work to the client only after full and final payment. Until then display it on your server/laptop. Ideally as JPEG so they can't just cut it out themselves if they are that sneaky. This way in the very worst case you at least will have half of the money for the work.
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