Client agreed to pay final invoice "that day," ghosted me for 3 weeks, then I find out he's already using deliverables he hasn't paid for. What would you do?
Small web dev/SEO agency here. Built a site for a client (excavation/paving niche) under a standard 50/50 deposit + final payment structure. Wrapped up revisions on a call July 30th, sent the final invoice ($1,150) same day, he said he'd knock it out "today or tomorrow." Cool, no issue.
July 31st comes and goes. I follow up — he says he's traveling, back "Wednesday." Fine, I say no rush, enjoy the trip.
Wednesday comes and goes. Nothing. I follow up again, politely. Nothing. I call, text, follow up again over the course of two weeks — dozens of attempts at this point, phone and text. Total silence.
Then I realized he's already put the logo I designed for the site into his company email footer before paying the balance that (per my own ToS) is what actually transfers ownership to him.
My terms are pretty clear: site doesn't go live until paid in full, ownership doesn't transfer until paid in full, and there's a clause where extended unresponsiveness puts the project on hold / eventually allows me to cancel and keep the deposit.
I'm about to send a formal final notice citing the terms directly, with a deadline, and flag that the logo use needs to stop until he pays. Planning to escalate to small claims if it goes past that.
Has anyone dealt with a client like this? Curious if:
- This is the right move or if I'm missing a smarter play
- How you've handled clients who start using unpaid deliverables before settling up
- Whether it's worth trying one more direct call vs just going straight to the written notice + deadline
Appreciate any war stories or advice.