By Freebie - 17/06/2017 06:00 - United States - Altoona

Today, marks the third month that I have not received payment for work I did on web pages for a hospital chain. They owe me over $1,000. It will cost twice that to get a lawyer to force them to pay me what I'm owed. FML
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Top comments

Druu 53

That's a bit of an exaggeration. You can probably get an attorney to knock out a demand letter for a lot cheaper than that. (I'll keep thinking on it, but I don't think I know anyone barred in PA.) Alternatively, you write a demand letter yourself based on online templates, then take the case to small claims court where you will not need an attorney to represent you. Google "Pennsylvania small claims court" without the quotation marks and go to the top result.

54 1
Charlie Coffman 14

if you take them to small claims court and you win, then the hospital has to pay your attorneys fees

43 2

Comments

Druu 53

That's a bit of an exaggeration. You can probably get an attorney to knock out a demand letter for a lot cheaper than that. (I'll keep thinking on it, but I don't think I know anyone barred in PA.) Alternatively, you write a demand letter yourself based on online templates, then take the case to small claims court where you will not need an attorney to represent you. Google "Pennsylvania small claims court" without the quotation marks and go to the top result.

54 1
LivingNightmares 3

You should have used Upwork, it guarantees that everyone is honest!

1 2
Charlie Coffman 14

if you take them to small claims court and you win, then the hospital has to pay your attorneys fees

43 2
hitmanoo 16

Small claims courts don't allow attorneys.

2 1
Druu 53

Down voted both comments in this chain because they're both partially correct -- and by extension, partially incorrect. This varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some states allow you to be represented by an attorney in small claims court, while others forbid you from being represented by an attorney in small claims court.

1 1
Seeya55 31

Small Claims as another said! You could also look at other written request for payments and copy/stylize them to fit your situation (To make it look professional) And it doesn't hurt to do as someone else said, hire an attorney to send out that initial letter requesting the amount or be hit with legal action. Good Luck! Don't back down!

7 0
Craig Lurtz 6

can you still access the page? a few redirects to a message about how they do business may change their minds.

18 2
Sandi Šegota 1

Wouldn't advise it. YMMV depending on the state/country but at least where I'm from, while you have copyright over your work, servers still belong to the other party and you could get in trouble for changing data on them without permission. Best course of action is small claims court if you have a contract. If you don't, you should have had one. Source: Been in the same position as OP.

1 0
ohsnapword 21

Take the site down until they pay up.

20 0
dino-rex 16

1. Take their sites down if you can 2. Go to social media, nobody likes bad PR. I've had most problems solved with a few tweets and Facebook posts 3. Take it to court

11 1
RichardPencil 30

Tell the local paper or tv news station that the big corporate hospital is stiffing the little guy.

4 1
pitdaddy1991 3

Which hospital it might be the one closing

0 0
KitKat20_fml 20

Take the website down immediately and don't put it back up till they have paid you. I hope you got your contract in writing too, you may need it.

6 0