A Polish company have not paid me

Hello

I need some help. I did some voiceover work for a Polish education company. I have not yet been paid. They owe me $50.

They said I would be paid on 9th January. I have messaged them and they have never replied to me. It seems like they are avoiding my messages.

How can I firstly, scare them. So I want to email them and say I will report them to the law or some kind of trading standards.

Does anyone have any better knowledge?

This is disappointing because so far I have had a good experience in Poland.

Thanks Clara

they might be waiting for your bill.
you won't scare anyone over $50

They aid they will pay me after I did the job. Thanks for replying phillip. To be honest I would like them to pay me. What can I do? There must be some kind of business standards or an organisation that prevents this. Especially in a EU country. It's just unfair.

most times the studio hire you.
sometimes it's the director.

a phone call might work better or visiting in person

Such situations used to be so "normal" in Poland until some years ago. I thought they had stopped. Of course, it is unaceptable to work without being paid but what to do? Unfornatelty nothing can be done! Unless a lot of money is at stake, no sense to hire a lawyer. Also forget about socalled labor inspection! Not only they have very limited powers but also they don't want to "hurt" employers. Furthermore, a foreigner in Poland will always be wrong when facing a Pole.

Disgusting but reality!

PS: I had similar situation some 5 years ago. It was not for 50 usd but for over 1,000 ZL and no way to get my money! Labor inspection, police, komornik or whatever to no avail! Hiring a lawyer would have cost more and going to court would have been useless: woman owing me money did not own anything officially (whenever she bought houseS, carS.... they put them under her mother's or her daughter's names).

Hi butterflybrit79,

I would suggest you make an invoice and send the email to them with the attachment and please make sure you cc that email to some legit law firm (if principal matters) or made up email address which looks like a law firm (scare tactic), please also make sure they are receiving the email from you, this could as well end up in their junk mail so maybe it's worth giving them a buzz to check that they actually received your email.

Good luck with your recovery!

Merged: Company have not paid me - what can I do?

I did some work for a Polish company. They were supposed to pay me (via bank account) on January 9th.

It has been almost 7-8 weeks and they are not replying to emails. I cannot find their phone number.

I want to report this company. What can I do as first step? Thanks

Give us what you know and we can help you.

reporting this company to whom and what for? First of all, what kind of contract do you have? If commercial contract, you need a lawyer; if work contract (umowa o pracy), you may contact Labor Inspection (PIP) but of course they have no power to force people to pay so again you need a lawyer. A lawyer will be expensive and if need to go to court because he cannot negotiate with them, you are not guaranteed to win and even if you did, your employer if insolvent would not pay you...

If I remember, the money they owe you is ... 50 dollars so less than 200 ZL so no need to bother with lawyer who will cost much more.

Sorry but welcome to real world! Most probably you were naive and now you have lost 50 dollars. I know it ****** you off but believe me, such things do happen. C'est la vie.... In Poland until a few years ago, it was not unusual not to be paid for work done (it has happened to me too and as people had made themselves officially insolvent, no way to get my money).

Just next time, don't sign anything with anybody!

Do concentrate over next job (with more serious people)! :)

@Delph: don't be naive! If such "employers" do it, it is simply because they know they can get away with it. You also don't know story. Maybe OP did something wrong and the employer keeps money as a result.

It is necessary to fight with such scammers (Polish or foreigners): it's obligatory to write: wezwanie przedsadowe do zaplaty.

They will get scared if it is written correctly in Polish.

@Pol Attorney: you know, when people make themselves officially insolvent, there is not way to force them to pay ;). Years ago (when I was still naive) I worked for a woman who still owes me 2,000 and in those days no way to get my money (I have of course stopped fighting) and inspite of PIP, police, lawyer, komornik, there was NO way to force woman to pay because officially she owned nothing (whenever she bought expensive things such as cars, flat, she would put purchases under her mother's or her daughter's names).

Also, what about those companies with headquarters and money from obscure exotic places, there is no way to make them pay!

Unfortunately thats how limited liability works. Once the obligatory advertising period passes and spolka wound up, thats it. Its the way of the world.

Merged:

I paid to a Polish company for services not received. What is my recourse?

One year ago I sent automobile interior items to a company in Poland that is well thought of online in the USA. I paid them for their services in February 2017. I have received nothing but promises and excuses since then. Can I retain counsel in Poland to sue for damages? What are the issues I will have to deal with. All of their continuing promises and excuses are well-documented.