[tptacek]

Oral contracts are binding everywhere in the US.

What's damaging to his reputation isn't pursuing the invoice based on an oral contract. What's damaging to his reputation is if he jumped the gun, whipping up drama about a receivable that he reasonably could have expected to get paid if he simply invoiced persistently.

I suspect this thread might be a bit of a litmus test for people who have done a lot of freelancing. From working with designers a bit, I can tell that this is a hot-button issue for them: a lot of clients do shirk payment, and so they tend to insist on upfront payment of some sort before they commence work. But having said that, I have to believe every freelancer is familiar with delayed payments on invoices. Your most lucrative clients might pay many months late, and then only after persistent reminders.

[learc83]

Just because it happens doesn't mean it's right. Yes companies drag out payment and make you jump through hoops to get paid (the you here is a hypothetical freelancer).

The reason they do this is to hold on to your money as long as possible with the outside hope that you'll just go away and they get away with theft.

It's bad enough with larger companies where the people you're working with may not actually be the people who are writing the checks, but at a small company like this it is unacceptable.

Assuming the story is true, the CEO agreed to pay then decided that she didn't want to pay anymore. To accomplish this she's doing her best to get the designer to give up and go away.

How is this acceptable behavior? Again I realize it's common, but it's flat out dishonorable.

[capsule_toy]

I like how you assumed malice when bureaucracy is a much more plausible explanation.

[learc83]

I acknowledge that bureaucracy might be partly to blame in larger companies, but we are talking about a small company where the designer was dealing directly with the CEO.

[tptacek]

Again: are you familiar with the concept of "payment terms"? Has anything been disclosed to suggest that this vendor hasn't had timely payment? Are we all clear on what "timely" means in the context of freelancing?

[javajosh]

For once, I sort of agree with you. But I chalk it up to inexperience, not malice. It sounds like the OP was intimidated by the (probably meant to be tongue-in-cheek) referral to the "legal department, and genuinely doesn't know what to do.

And, it's one thing to have a client drag their heels on a bill, it's quite another for a client to say, "No, we won't pay that, talk to legal if you have a problem with that." The former is a good opportunity to persistently invoice, the later is a good opportunity to explore the small claims court system.