[bbarthel]

The problem is it is not an all or nothing situation most of the time. Usually you get paid part of it and they have some convincing explanation of why they can't pay the rest. Suppose they paid all your wages but not your travel expenses - pending verification of some receipt or something. They paid all your regular time, but not your overtime charges, claiming that payment had to be approved by someone higher-up. I've had both of these happen to me (both were legitimate situations and I did eventually get paid hassle-free) - but how do you know it is legitimate until after you are paid? You can stop working until you get paid entirely, but if you have bills due, it can be better to get some money than none at all. There is also the whole issue of the relationship - if it is just a legitimate hiccup you might not want to sour a good long-term opportunity, so you make a judgement call - he's a good guy and would never screw me - and next thing you know you next months check is missing too and you are down thousands of dollars.

It is always easy in hindsight to say it should never have happened but that does not make it anyone's fault other than the people who agreed to pay them and didn't.

[kls]

There is also the whole issue of the relationship - if it is just a legitimate hiccup you might not want to sour a good long-term opportunity

I have this really bad habit of trying to trim my post to get them down to more digestible bits. In saying that, I did not make it clear that I was talking about clients in which the worker has a new arrangements with no or little payment history, or worse yet one that has a chronic track record of short or late payment. I have good clients that have the typical red tape issues with money. But I have a long term history with them and I know it is coming. In that case sure, I have let them go well past 30, but their was a proven track record of paying.

[hieronymusN]

This in particular has tripped me up. I had a relationship with a client that took 45 - 60 days to pay, but they always paid. Things were great for over a year and a half, they had tons of work for me and I made good money. Then all of a sudden 60 days became 90 days. At that point you have already filed a few invoices before you sense a problem and cease work (I was sending them in every 30 days). Basically they went Chapter 11 owing me over $10k - of which I was only able to recover 30% after being very, very persistent with their lawyers.

[kls]

Sure, I am sure if it ever happens to me I will feel different. All of my client now have been with me 3 to 5 years. I have never had one run past 60. I am not saying that it could not and is not going to happen, but I feel pretty comfortable with my clientele. Most are fortune 500 public companies so money troubles would be in the news long before they where set to implode.