Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners

Is Publicly Shaming Someone The Best Way To Collect A $225 Bill?

It's a tactic fraught with peril, as small-firm columnist Shannon Achimalbe warns.

By  
on

When you’re self-employed, sometimes you have to deal with people who are slow to pay their debts. Usually the parties work something out. Or the creditor will resort to taking outside collection action or just lets it go.

But someone has decided to resort to public shaming. I received a copy of this posting from an anonymous member of a solo/small-firm listserv who is trying to collect an overdue debt from another member.

A member on the list, who ardently advocates prompt payment for services, hired me in May for a one time project. We agreed on a price and, silly me, I didn’t require him to execute my usual contract. His response to my first invoice, sent 6/1, was, that his client hadn’t yet paid. After several months of requests, he told me the file would close on 9/1 and I’d get paid.

We’re staring at November and he hasn’t even acknowledged my last 2 requests. For a number of reasons, I would never dare to out him on the list, but I do expect to be paid.

It’s “only” $225 – I could add penalties and interest, but I’ve already wasted too much time on him. In my world, $225 is a lot of money – I look at it and see a round-trip ticket home to see my mother.

I’m losing patience and, well, I need my money.

Public shaming is becoming the new fad for social justice. It’s a lot faster than due process, and obtaining evidence is a tweet or smartphone video away. Individuals, businesses and even governments have succumbed to the will of the not-so-silent internet majority. While this has done some good, it has also created problems. Sometimes the punishment is disproportionate to the bad act. Other times, the backlash can also create trouble for the shamer.

In this case, the anonymous poster publicly complained to the listserv because he could not get payment on his own. He’s probably hoping that by posting scant details about his modest finances, and accusing the debtor of being a hypocrite, the responses from the collective will pressure the debtor into paying. Or the poster might be venting.

From my perspective, since both parties are anonymous, I seriously doubt that the accused will be sufficiently motivated to pay up unless some of his colleagues know who he is and call him on it. Also, some members of the group may not be overly moved by this post because dealing with cheap deadbeats overdue accounts receivables once in a while is a normal part of doing business.

Ultimately, I don’t believe in using public shaming for your own benefit because it seldom gets you the results you want. And sometimes, the tactic may backfire.

Sponsored

By outing your dispute, it is almost certain that you and the debtor will never do business together again. Not only that, expect him to be noncooperative in the future. This may have been the case a long time ago, so you may be thinking “good riddance.”

You also run the risk of the other party escalating the dispute and making counter-accusations against you. Most likely they will take this opportunity to criticize the quality of your work product. You’ll vehemently disagree but that is ultimately irrelevant. Just the fact that the accusation was made may be enough to tarnish your reputation.

Another collateral effect of public shaming is that you may give your colleagues the impression that you are a tattler. This can certainly influence their decision to hire you. After all, the last thing someone needs is a hire who will cry publicly when there is a disagreement.

Anonymous did the right thing by not outing the deadbeat because it could have been a lot worse if there was name-dropping. Thankfully, some of the more generous members of the listserv offered to help financially. But public shaming should only be used to help and warn others, not to resolve a personal dispute. The listserv is not your personal army. At best, public shaming may win you a small skirmish but cost you the war.

If you owe someone money for work performed, make an effort to pay them as soon as possible. People need money to buy Thanksgiving turkeys and gifts for friends and family. Don’t be a grinch by blaming your clients’ failure to pay. That’s your problem. If you don’t have the money on hand, take out a short-term loan. Or you can take a cash advance on your credit card and then immediately do a balance transfer with a very low interest rate for at least 12 months.

Sponsored

Someone’s mother will be very grateful to see her child for the holidays.

Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached by email at sachimalbe@excite.com and via Twitter: @ShanonAchimalbe.

Topics

, , , , , , , , , ,