How long do I wait?

[aemidaniels]

I am kinda at the end of my rope with this guy so I'm hoping to get some less livid perspective.

I started a YCH auction a while back that two people fought over. The winner was outbidding the other participant by pennies (my fault there as I did not set a minimum bid but still kinda douchy) so the other participant eventually gave up and let the guy have it. All was fine at first. I asked for his references and his PayPal so I could send an invoice.
Nothing. No reply.
Ok.... maybe he mass purges his comments? Many people do that. So I note him. He had no idea who I was and had totally forgotten in only 4 days that he had even bid on the silly thing. I reminded him which seemed to jog his memory and he finally coughed up his reference and e-mail address.
I sent along the invoice, saying that I would start the picture once the payment came through. Now normally I don't like to do this but this guy was practically beating me upside the head with red flags so I decided it was time to cover my own tail. I waited another 4 days.
Nothing.
So I noted him again thinking maybe I got the wrong address? Still need that invoice paid up so I can start!
He claims he never got it.
So I screen capped the invoice, including the section that showed the e-mail address he sent me, and even removed the due date on it in case it was causing some sort of issue.
No reply.
NOTHING.
It has been two weeks now, both messages are being listed as unread in my outbox, and nobody has seen hide or tail of this guy in at least 5 days. Considering he can't seem to remember the auction only 4 days later and then can't seem to find the invoice, I am starting to wonder if this is even worth it.
Is there something I am doing wrong with the invoice? I am having a really hard time figuring it out since he won't answer any of my mail! What do I do? The last time someone took this long paying me, he got hit by a bus and went missing for two years (and STILL to this day has not paid me)!

Comments

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

Personally, I think you'd be best off canceling the invoice, sending him a note saying the slot is canceled, block him so you don't have to worry about him bidding on your stuff again, and then lastly contact the runner up and ask if they'd still be interested.

If he's this difficult to start with, he'll always be difficult.

[everainsley]

Yep. I agree this is probably your best bet. They don't get any easier to deal with.

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

This very much, and assuming you'll be sending him things to approve, like sketch and inks, just imagine how hard it'll be to get a response, even more so if they do want any changes.

[hunty belmnt (from livejournal.com)]

Yup. Agreeing.

[blot.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna agree with others and just cancel the invoice, inform him that because he took too long, he's forfeited the slot, block him, and offer it to the runner up. This person sounds like far more trouble than it's worth.

[gatekat.livejournal.com]

What kayla_la said.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't screwing with you so much as the person he was bidding against.

A week and a reminder is more than enough.

[talentedfool.livejournal.com]

The upbidding by the tiniest increments and then immediately forgetting having ever bidded at all after winning reeks of some petty ulterior motive to me.

Echoing everyone else though. Cancel, block, contact runner-up and ask if they're still interested - and, take this as a learning experience to add some new terms to your YCH auctions about how long people have to give their commission information and payment before defaulting on the win and it going over to the runner-up.

[spartanwerewolf.livejournal.com]

Yeup, what Kayla-La said. Contact the runner-up and ask them if they're still interested. If not, go ahead and relist that bad boy after blocking this guy from bidding. Doesn't seem like they ever had any intention of paying up.

Might be a good idea to add that into your terms, too, if a YCH is not paid by X amount of time after you've told them they win, they forfeit their spot.

[epiceternity.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with everyone else, sounds like he's just a time waster/auction saboteur so don't waste any more time or energy on them. Shoot him a message that due to non-payment the commission is cancelled (remember to cancel your paypal invoice/s so he can't start trouble there) and offer the piece to the second highest bidder.
If they decline then re-run the action and put in place a time limit for payment (i.e three days unless a different payment date/plan is agreed on before the auction ends.
Unfortunately there are people out there who will sabotage an action for the fun of it so I don't think in this case that you did anything wrong.

[rachael walters (from livejournal.com)]

You are getting the run around, he was bidding like crazy and suddenly forgets? I don't think so.

I have a feeling OP you are dealing with a well known user who will often never pay for YCH and tries to get artists to send him the file before he has paid (or charges back) but he most often gives artists the run-around and wasting their time.
I think this user gets a kick out of wasting YCH auctions.

[honeynuggets.livejournal.com]

I agree with everyone else (cancel, block, and relist if the runner-up isn't interested), especially the part about making sure you put something in your TOS about failing to pay/contact within X days. You should be able to cancel a YCH commission like this within a few days if the client doesn't pay, so that you can relist the YCH and move on.

[hashire-star.livejournal.com]

I only ever give 24 hours max for this very reason...no pay or no contact within that time frame? Invoice cancelled and the user is blacklisted.

Cancel your invoice and block him. Hes not going to hold up his end of the bargain.

[james t (from livejournal.com)]

Like everyone one else above sayings, maybe salvage it by contacting the second bidder if they still want it? (with a small discount 10% to incite them of what they last bid on it)

hope everything works for you over there!

[aemidaniels (from livejournal.com)]

i sent a third message now to let him know im giving him till monday (in case life is bogging him down cuz that does happen) and if i dont hear from him by then im passing it on to the runner-up. thanks guys!

[torch-tiger.livejournal.com]

Well he just faved something on FA 2 days ago, so he's active, and probably hasn't been hit by a bus.