Found out my old client still owes me from 8 years ago

I was digging through old emails last night trying to find a receipt for something and stumbled across an invoice from 2016 for a web dev project I did for a small real estate agent in Austin. Turns out they never paid the last $500 and I just forgot about it. I sent them a polite note and they actually paid it this morning. Has anyone else ever found old unpaid invoices floating around like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

brian_hart12d agoMost Upvoted

Eight years is a long time. I have to disagree with @joseph48 here. I don't think this gives anyone hope. Most people who don't pay you after a few months are never going to pay you. My rule is if they don't pay within 90 days, write it off and move on. The fact this guy paid after eight years is weird and rare. Honestly, it probably only happened because the debt was small and the guy felt bad or wanted to clear his conscience. I've had people owe me money and I chased them for a year, got nothing. Relying on old invoices coming through is just setting yourself up for disappointment. Better to just write it off and be surprised if it ever shows up.

joseph4812d ago

Used to think old invoices were gone forever but this gives me hope.

wells.evan12d ago

Oh man, I totally get what you mean. I had a client ghost me for like two years after some small web work and I wrote it off completely. Then out of nowhere a check shows up in the mail with a nice note apologizing for the delay. It really does make you think twice about giving up completely on older invoices. I still don't chase them after a certain point but I keep a folder of unpaid ones just in case.