Non-payer in Latvia Thread poster: Birgir24
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Birgir24 
Iceland
Local time: 00:59
Member (2011)
English to Icelandic
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A translation agency in Latvia owes me in the region of 8,000 EUR which I have been trying to recover (BlueBoard, countless emails, unanswered phone calls).
I'm trying to assess my possibilities from here on. I've never been in this situation before. I'm thinking of hiring a debt collection agency in Latvia but worried that they might also scam me... Does anyone have any experience in dealing with Latvian collection agencies?
Also, could I use other means to make them p... See more A translation agency in Latvia owes me in the region of 8,000 EUR which I have been trying to recover (BlueBoard, countless emails, unanswered phone calls).
I'm trying to assess my possibilities from here on. I've never been in this situation before. I'm thinking of hiring a debt collection agency in Latvia but worried that they might also scam me... Does anyone have any experience in dealing with Latvian collection agencies?
Also, could I use other means to make them pay me. This is an agency that seems to pay eventually but that can take months (my invoice is dated 110 days ago.
I'd appreciate any suggestions.
Regards from snowy Iceland,
Birgir ▲ Collapse
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I have worked with a lot of latvian translation agencies... And I am more than sure about which particular company you speak.
[Rediģēts plkst. 2017-03-10 10:11 GMT]
| | | | | I think their clients will be more than delighted to see the practice | Mar 9, 2017 |
Birgir24 wrote:
A translation agency in Latvia owes me in the region of 8,000 EUR which I have been trying to recover (BlueBoard, countless emails, unanswered phone calls).
I'm trying to assess my possibilities from here on. I've never been in this situation before. I'm thinking of hiring a debt collection agency in Latvia but worried that they might also scam me... Does anyone have any experience in dealing with Latvian collection agencies?
Also, could I use other means to make them pay me. This is an agency that seems to pay eventually but that can take months (my invoice is dated 110 days ago.
I'd appreciate any suggestions.
Regards from snowy Iceland,
Birgir
Contact their clients for that matter - for instance. Tell them the story (but first tell THE AGENCY that you are going to do this, that you have no other choice).
Or, find a lawyer there (on-line), pay him an hourly fee (20-30 EUR) and ask him to make a call or two to this agency quoting any info you may have, with a promise to take this issue before the corresponding bodies, etc.
The last option (for me) would be to make a discount of 20-30%, so that you both don`t end up in court. You pay less now - we don`t go to court.
[Edited at 2017-03-09 13:11 GMT]
| | | | | General advice | Mar 9, 2017 |
This is not the sort of sum you can ignore. If you hassle the agency and they are able to pay, they probably will pay up in the end, if they can. It may be a good idea to propose an instalment plan, in which you ask them to pay one third within 10 days, for example, the second third at the end of this month and the last instalment at the end of next month. If they do geuninely intend to pay you but are in difficulty to meet that obligation, this means you may recover some of the money they owe y... See more This is not the sort of sum you can ignore. If you hassle the agency and they are able to pay, they probably will pay up in the end, if they can. It may be a good idea to propose an instalment plan, in which you ask them to pay one third within 10 days, for example, the second third at the end of this month and the last instalment at the end of next month. If they do geuninely intend to pay you but are in difficulty to meet that obligation, this means you may recover some of the money they owe you rather than none at all. Send the letter by international recorded delviery with proof of posting and proof of delivery. Another main advantage of this strategy is that before taking formal action and seeking the services of a debt collection agency or a lawyer, you will need to prove :
- that the agency ordered the work,
- that you completed and sent the work,
- that you invoiced the work,
- that a payment deadline was agreed,
- that the payment deadline has not been respected,
- that you have sent a reminder,
- that you have explained that if the sum is not paid within X days, then you will (then set out the action you will be taking).
If the agency is genuinely in difficulty to pay you, it is essential that you take formal steps to recover the money you are owed. If you do not do so, in the event of the agency going out of business, then in most jurisdictions, their debt towards you will probably not rank very highly in the event of a liquidation. If you do get a judgment debt against them (= a judgment affirming that the sum is owed), it is usually necessary to take further steps to have the judgment enforced.
In my view, the sum invovled here is significant and it makes sense to take these steps in this case. ▲ Collapse
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Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 01:59
Member (2007)
English
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| Have they paid you before? | Mar 9, 2017 |
Birgir24 wrote:
This is an agency that seems to pay eventually but that can take months (my invoice is dated 110 days ago.
When you say that this agency seems to pay eventually, are you basing that on your own experience or on other people's (BB, for example)? If the latter, when was it they got paid? I'm wondering if this company is still solvent. Many (most?) of the most disorganised and unprofessional agencies go bust, taking translators' fees with them. You haven't stated what the agreed payment terms were, so I don't know how overdue this payment is. I know that some agencies want to delay for 90 days, and often that period doesn't start until some while after delivery (although I certainly wouldn't accept those terms myself).
So, have you ever worked with this agency before? And could it be that you've unintentionally collaborated according to their terms - which call for lots of free credit?
If it really is overdue, I think the first thing you need to do is find out if the company is healthy. But I don't know how you can do that. I'm sure a Latvia-based lawyer would find out for you. I would advise you to contact one and ask - that at least should be free. And if they'll provide a reasonable package that includes a very formal letter to the company, then that would be good. A full lawsuit is another matter, but certainly worth considering for EUR 8,000.
I'm sure there are scammers out there collecting debts, but I often hear about such companies offering a "no recovery, no fee" service. In that case, they'd either fail to come up with the goods but you'd be paying zero so no worse off, or they'd recover the debt and deduct 30% or so as their fee. I guess the first thing they do is make sure that the company is solvent - it would be a waste of their time to chase a bankrupt one.
I really would keep the idea of contacting the end client as a last resort. I did it once and it worked very well, but it was a highly unpleasant experience. I certainly wouldn't advise it unless you have proof that your work has been published somewhere. If it hasn't, you may well have no claim against the end client. I don't think anyone is totally clear about what rights we do have - they'd vary around the world anyway - and I certainly have no real knowledge.
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 02:59
German to Swedish
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