Lenna, I understand the importance of gratitude, I am certainly grateful for the business I get from many of the companies I work with...
However, this is different. It's important to take into consideration how much time, how many phone calls and emails, it takes to collect on a payment. That is additional time you're not getting paid for. There are many predatory companies out there who simply don't plan on paying at all unless you hound them and/or post bad reviews. It would be naive to think they don't exist or that some magical entity is going to police them.
If you are in business, it's important to set payment standards...30 days, 45 days, whatever is reasonable and agreeable between you and your clients. Of course there will be times when an escrow takes longer than normal to close, or there is a reasonable delay. You can always make those exceptions for clients you work with by communication. But 5 months??? IMHO, that should not be acceptable to anyone.
I personally feel it's better to reward the good/reputable companies by being available for them and providing exceptional service...it's a win/win. Keep the good companies (they are out there) in business, build those relationships, and pass on the ones that clearly don't value your service enough to pay you at all, or on time, without additional time spent on collections. Keeping unethical companies in business just lowers the bar for everyone. |