Hi Ralph.

I've looked at your letter and, in my opinion, this isn't the course of action I'd have taken. I wouldn't have included the bit "in my opinion this is tantamount to fraud and deception.". Despite what you might think, at this point in time, has happened, you are actually accusing the client of a criminal offence here. Only a judge/jury can decide on this and, as this hasn't reached that far, you are leaving yourself wide open to a counter accusation of libel. You really need to resolve this swiftly with the right amount of pressure and not get in to a war of words that can quickly escalate. If you think that this client deliberately set out to defraud you - "obtaining services by means of deception" - then your first stop has to be report it to the police. A client not paying you under your T&Cs is a civil matter but a client intentionally setting out to defraud you out of money, goods or services is a criminal offence and needs to be put in to the hands of the police.

I know you're angry about this situation (after all, who wouldn't be?) but you have to approach it in a professional and level-headed manner. I wouldn't have even gone in to replying to the client's alleged concerns about the event at this point. I would have issused a simple straight-forward "Account Overdue - 14 days" letter which is standard procedure in the debt collection process. This letter simply tells the claimant that their account is now overdue and that they have 14 days to settle it. It also outlines the consequences of non-payment after 14 days - ie legal action for debt recovery will follow and could affect the person's credit rating, etc., etc., blah blah blah! The client hasn't paid for the service so, really, doesn't have a valid complaint at this point. Her complaint will only become valid once your services are paid for. This is why I wouldn't even refer to her complaints at this point in time. The complaints process and the debt recovery process are separate and should be kept that way.

It looks like what's been done is done now so I only hope you've struck a nerve with the client and she pays up. I think in 9 cases out of 10 the client will read your letter and pay. However, that always leaves the one who'll dig their heels in and make things harder for you. And with you accusing her of fraud then this has the potential to get messy.