I Want My Two Dollars!
If only it were that simple or even that insignificant amount of money. However, it is not.
Here's the problem- some months ago I was hired to be a blogging consultant to launch a particularly new (and by new I mean, having no idea what the heck they were getting themselves into, all very obvious now) scheduling company to the DC Metro area. I was ecstatic. I completely believed in and loved the product. The company is woman-owned and family friendly too. It was proof-positive that going to BlogHer can get you work too.
Rates were negotiated. Plans outlined. Contracts were signed. Work officially began.
Then things started to go awry. Emails were missed and bounced back. Contact was a bit hard to make. I tried to hold to it all together and make the campaign as successful as I could on the 5 hours a week I was allotted. Not much time in the grand scheme of things and truthfully I worked over that five each week just to get done what I did. The whole project took four weeks total. I charged them for three because I knew things were tight for them budget-wise. I couldn't excuse that third week because I had worked almost 10 hours that week alone. I needed to be paid.
And I was. For two weeks. Now? Nothing. My last $350 is not being sent. Why? They didn't budget it despite what my contract states, "a minimum of two weeks of work" and an agreement that I would be paid regardless. I am livid.
I want my money. I want to take the high road and not run their name through the mud but I'm wondering if after all this time (work ended in early September) I should just go ahead and call them out here and here and amongst my whole blogging network. They gleaned contacts from me through this project. My word and reputation is on the line. If another blogger is screwed out of hard-earned money because companies think they don't have to actually pay a blogger for work then they have another thing coming.
So, Internets- some advice? What would you do?
To think they had the nerve to ask me just last week to do more press for them as well. Sickening.
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/dlseWagesAndHours.html
ReplyDeletetry this one too
ReplyDeletehttp://www.corp.ca.gov/about/complaint.asp
You provided a service and had a contract. You held up your end of the agreement and you even went above and beyond the scope of work. Don't they realize how powerful word of mouth is? Blog away.
ReplyDeleteThis is so bad! Do they think that they don't have to treat a mother or a blog consultant like a REAL consultant? When they are marketing to moms that embrace technology? SO BAD!
ReplyDeleteVicky,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to let you know how happy I was to see that someone else in the world uses the "I want my two dollars line". I use it all the time at work, but it is not so funny when you have to explain the quote and the movie. I hope they will honor your contract. Even if you don't see the money, you can try to put a postive spin on it knowing that you won't have to deal with the company anymore.
Helen