Roughly 2 months ago I did some English editing work for Getac. They hustled me to finish and I got it all done in a couple weekends. Then they dragged their feet when it came to paying. One excuse after another. “Please fill out our form and fax it” (people still use faxes? okay). Couple weeks go by. Then they request a COPY of my bank book (like the account number and name wouldn’t do the job. I fax the copy. Couple more weeks go by. They need more pages from my passport. I fax em. Etc. Finally, 50 days after I delivered the last document, payment made it into my account. I had been quite gentle with them. The harshest thing I ever said was in an email: “It’s been 46 days since I finished the work; is there a problem?” I got to thinking maybe they are used to a pushy style, and don’t really do anything unless people push. That’s when I sent the email.
Full disclosure: I originally agreed to do these documents for NT$5000. But I underestimated the amount of work. Getac offered me NT$10000, twice what I had suggested. Hey, I didn’t underestimate THAT badly. I liked their unusual bargaining style, and agreed to NT$10000. When it came time to pay, Getac witheld 10% for taxes, so final payment was NT$9000.
Still, seven weeks and a day seems kind of slow. Is it slow? Should I have pushed more, and/or sooner? Opinions?
It’s too slow, for sure. More than one month is a long time in Taiwan. Even many corporations bill each other here on a monthly cycle. Next time you do freelance editing, make sure you specify the time. BTW, are you cleared on your ARC to do this editing? If they paid tax on your behalf, and their name isn’t on your ARC, you could have trouble getting another work permit. FYI.
No “could” about it. If the tax authorities have you recorded as having paid tax for the work, you won’t get another work permit. Just ask Dragonbones. He got in deep shit for exactly that, I believe.
APRC or JFRV is the only safe way to do that kind of stuff unless you can get them to pay you in cash, no names, no pack drill. The tax authorities are on the ball these days.
Actually sometimes the person who enlists you to do the work doesn’t understand the payment procedures but if they do or you did then you could have expedited the process. It is a good idea to have a jpeg of your bank account, ARC (APRC) and passport and send that off as an attachment plus you can ask them to send you their receipt requirements in the first email.
Thanks much for the speedy replies. I have an APRC, not work connected, plus a Foreigner’s Work Permit from six years ago (with no expiry date that I can see), so I think I am covered to compete in the open market. Hope so anyway.
Thanks for the tips, Fox. I see now that I could have been much better organized. Kind of got badgered into the job.