Client changing amount on PO, what to do?

Thao Tran wrote:

Hi Jyuan_US, thank you for your opinion. I very much think so too.

I emailed Managing Director about the issue and asked for her help as well as attention. No response. I wrote a review on their Facebook, laying out all the facts, Blue Board review is coming.
I sent the final email informing the Director appropriate actions will be carried out.
She responded asking me to remove the review in order for her to look into the matter and solve it.

Here's her email:

Hello Thao,


Apologies for not replying, I received your email after working hours on Friday and I only just saw it by chance now as it is the weekend.

I will be back in the office on Monday morning 9 am UK time and I will read your emails and start an investigation to resolve this.


It deserve my full attention, so I do not want to reply to you without having the facts.


However I'm concerned about the treats you are making and the negative reviews you are writing, I'm afraid we cannot resolve this situation if you are dealing choosing to behave this way.


Let me know if you wish to find a solution and review the facts with me on Monday, of course, this is only possible if you remove the reviews and you stop the treats.



I hope we will resolve this and I send you my respectful regards.


Best,

J.

What would you do if you were me?

Regards,
Thao

Rita Pang wrote:



Dear Thao,

I am sorry to hear about this complicated situation you're in, and everyone here has sort of echoed what I wanted to say already.

In my opinion and if I were you, what I would have done when the whole disagreement first started is to accept the first project paid at X amount, then accept/finish/get paid for the second batch of projects at 2X amount.

Yes, I understand that it was the agency who changed the first job to 2X from X, not you, and therefore you weren't wrong to ask to be paid for the first job at 2X. However - not fully knowing how the conversation took place - I could also see where the point of frustration came from for the agency. I suggest that moving forward, for all future projects with ANY agency, whenever disagreement about POs arise, do try to resolve them as best as you could before submitting demands (which no matter how nice you put it, a demand is set in black and white once that email is fired off).

I should also remind you that the Blueboard shouldn't be used as a way to push a client to pay, according to Proz's site rules: https://www.proz.com/faq/2995#2995

A while ago I had a PO cancelled on me because the PM suddenly decided that I wasn't a native speaker of the language I was working on. Before this happened, there were already a number of administrative issues regarding the PO. It took about 5 rounds of emails before the PO was finally paid and settled. AFTER payment was made, I put in a Blueboard entry stating my negative experience and a senior PM contacted me in an attempt to set things straight. After a lengthy discussion, I removed my negative review altogether but declined their request to give them a POSITIVE review (for obvious reasons

Long story short, you're not alone when it comes to dealing with messy POs, but to reduce damage I suggest that you engage in this discussion with the PM. Be civil, stay calm and patient. If I were you I'd request payment in the following structure:
X for the first project
2X for all subsequent projects

Don't forget to ask them to cover all fees associated - if you are using PayPal, make sure you find out your country's transaction fees (ranges anywhere from 2 to 4% of the total amount) and include that on your PO. Be sure to mention this in your conversation.

Stay calm, stay courteous. Best of luck to you.