| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] > | Poll: What would you do if you were overpaid by mistake? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 22:04
Member
English to Turkish
What if you were paid twice for the same job by an agency that is a notoriously late payer/non-payer and replies to your reminders weeks later? Would honesty still be the best policy then or would you consider that some sort of poetic justice?
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:04
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Return the money | Apr 20, 2023 |
For me, honesty is the best policy. Many years ago, when I was an EFL teacher, one of my private students paid me by cheque. When I went to cash it, the cashier accidentally overpaid me by the equivalent of 100 euros. When I counted the cash and notified her of the mistake, she glowered at me and grumpily took the surplus amount (which would probably have been deducted from her wages once the error was discovered) back. Her reaction was so unpleasant and uncalled for that I wished I'd kept it, b... See more For me, honesty is the best policy. Many years ago, when I was an EFL teacher, one of my private students paid me by cheque. When I went to cash it, the cashier accidentally overpaid me by the equivalent of 100 euros. When I counted the cash and notified her of the mistake, she glowered at me and grumpily took the surplus amount (which would probably have been deducted from her wages once the error was discovered) back. Her reaction was so unpleasant and uncalled for that I wished I'd kept it, but that's not the way I roll. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It’s happened twice | Apr 20, 2023 |
First time, we both discovered it - new accountant on client side. I did the next job for free.
Second time, the client had no idea. It was a sizable mistake, with a double paymebt well over 2000,00 euros. When I returned the money, they were both flabbergasted and grateful.
In Croatian, we have an expression - “clean bookkeeping - long love”. Long term client relationships are of utmost importance to me.
| | | | | Notoriously late payer... | Apr 20, 2023 |
Baran Keki wrote:
What if you were paid twice for the same job by an agency that is a notoriously late payer/non-payer and replies to your reminders weeks later? Would honesty still be the best policy then or would you consider that some sort of poetic justice?
Why would I work with a notoriously late payer more than once? I nag them until they pay and don't work for them again…
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Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:04
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Inform immediately and return | Apr 20, 2023 |
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Why would I work with a notoriously late payer more than once? I nag them until they pay and don't work for them again…
I was going to say I wholeheartedly agree (because I wouldn't work with them either), but then I reflected on the fact that some clients may pay late, but they may always pay in the end, assign solid order flows, and be otherwise pleasant to work with. So in those situations the question of whether to continue working with them may be more nuanced...
As a practical matter it's unlikely that such an overpayment would happen in my case because my clients carefully check my invoices when I create them, and I check the invoices carefully when they create them on my behalf, which is common.
Once or twice I have pointed out that the actual amount of work I have done seems a bit low given the PO, and the POs were corrected in those cases. I insist on being paid, but not for work I didn't actually do, and I want my clients to trust me completely in that sort of thing. If the PO were too low, I would raise that as an issue as well.
Dan
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I would think I've been scammed if that's a new client.
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[quote]Dan Lucas wrote:
I was going to say I wholeheartedly agree (because I wouldn't work with them either), but then I reflected on the fact that some clients may pay late, but they may always pay in the end, assign solid order flows, and be otherwise pleasant to work with. So in those situations the question of whether to continue working with them may be more nuanced...
As a practical matter it's unlikely that such an overpayment would happen in my case because my clients carefully check my invoices when I create them, and I check the invoices carefully when they create them on my behalf, which is common.
Once or twice I have pointed out that the actual amount of work I have done seems a bit low given the PO, and the POs were corrected in those cases. I insist on being paid, but not for work I didn't actually do, and I want my clients to trust me completely in that sort of thing. If the PO were too low, I would raise that as an issue as well.
Dan
I know exactly what you’re talking about: I do have a regular customer who has interesting projects and is very pleasant to work with, although he does need occasionally a gentle payment reminder, he is not a notoriously late payer (far from it)…
| | | | | Choose Your Own Adventure | Apr 20, 2023 |
Roll a dice. If the result is 1, go to number 93. If 2 shows up, go to...
These polls sometimes feel like a Choose Your Own Adventure book.
This one is like a page torn straight from a Choose Your Own Scam book though.
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Murillo Mathias
Brazil
Local time: 21:04
Member (2006)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| I did return the money when this happened... | Apr 20, 2023 |
The day after I was paid, I returned the excess.
Almost ONE YEAR later, the agency's owner sent me an email saying he found out that I was overpaid and was going to deduct the excess amount from my next payment. I nearly fainted until he acknowledged that I had already repaid the agency, ruining completely my day.
A couple of years later, 2020, the pandemic year - no less -, he sent a message saying "the payments due on the first days of January will either be paid until December 19t... See more The day after I was paid, I returned the excess.
Almost ONE YEAR later, the agency's owner sent me an email saying he found out that I was overpaid and was going to deduct the excess amount from my next payment. I nearly fainted until he acknowledged that I had already repaid the agency, ruining completely my day.
A couple of years later, 2020, the pandemic year - no less -, he sent a message saying "the payments due on the first days of January will either be paid until December 19th or January 4th".
I criticized him for the disorganization and for keeping people not knowing if they would be paid before Christmas or early January (I didn't care, I had only €61.50 and frankly, January payments arriving early in December are a problem as they enter my tax return for the current year, not the next one).
The guy simply deleted me from the agency database.
I'm glad I don't have to work for this kind of people anymore. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 21:04
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
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Dan Lucas wrote:
I was going to say I wholeheartedly agree (because I wouldn't work with them either), but then I reflected on the fact that some clients may pay late, but they may always pay in the end, assign solid order flows, and be otherwise pleasant to work with. So in those situations the question of whether to continue working with them may be more nuanced...
I had (and still have) a client who systematically paid late. I often had to send 2 and sometimes 3 reminders (with a final threat of hiring a debt-collection agency) before they eventually paid, although the problem was mostly solved by refusing new jobs until payment occurred. This went on for years until one day they changed policy unannounced and started paying (more often) on time.
So it can indeed be worthwile to persist because otherwise this is an excellent agency that is providing me with a fair amount of interesting work for over 14 years now.
| | | | | Yes it would .... | Apr 20, 2023 |
Baran Keki wrote:
What if you were paid twice for the same job by an agency that is a notoriously late payer/non-payer and replies to your reminders weeks later? Would honesty still be the best policy then or would you consider that some sort of poetic justice?
.... unless you lack self respect. It's not your money!
[Edited at 2023-04-20 12:14 GMT]
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 22:04
Member
English to Turkish
| So much for anonymity... | Apr 20, 2023 |
Jean Dimitriadis wrote:
This one is like a page torn straight from a Choose Your Own Scam book though.
How did you know it was I who suggested this poll?
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It happened to me and I asked the client if he preferred an immediate bank transfer or if he preferred to deduct the payment from the following invoice.
For accounting reasons he preferred to have the money transferred back immediately and I followed that procedure.
He had not even realized that he had paid more than due, but after a long time cooperation, I had no doubt about what the right choice was.
On the other side I can understand those who say: it depends on the... See more It happened to me and I asked the client if he preferred an immediate bank transfer or if he preferred to deduct the payment from the following invoice.
For accounting reasons he preferred to have the money transferred back immediately and I followed that procedure.
He had not even realized that he had paid more than due, but after a long time cooperation, I had no doubt about what the right choice was.
On the other side I can understand those who say: it depends on the client - if it's not a regular client you can be tempted, but I think that being honest always brings something good.
And honestly... was that amount capable of changing your life forever?
[Edited at 2023-04-20 13:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | has happened with regular customer | Apr 20, 2023 |
Just last month I overcharged a regular customer the great amount of 11,47 euro.
This happened because they sent a small job, then a variation and I accidentally added it twice to the total.
They get an invoice every 3 months.
So in the next invoice I'll deduct the excess.
I can't see this happening with an occasional customer because they usually want an estimate before confirming the job, so we know what they will be charged at the end.
| | | | Ittai Hen
Israel
Local time: 22:04
Member (2011)
English to Hebrew
+ ...
| Return the money | Apr 20, 2023 |
Better lose money than lose your clients or reputation
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