VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Moosevoice]

I recently voiced a project for a producer in Beirut (I KNOW, RIGHT!?) There was a little hiccup at first with the directed recording because of time difference, and Skype connection issues (between them and the client in Dubai) but overall a pleasant enough experience.

Anyways,
Pay time came and they wanted to do bank to bank transfer (no check, they don't have Paypal).
The agreed upon fee was $500 (US). There was some confusion at first because my bank (Navy Federal) is NOT apart of the SWIFT network (a banking thing, I guess) but eventually they wired payment.
However, when I checked my bank account the amount was $473.
I talked with my bank and they said that that's the money that was wired to them and that they (my bank) don't have a fee on that sort of thing.

So it must be either the producer's bank has a fee on that or the currency exchange wasn't factored in when they set the amount to be wired (or both!).
When contacting them about the discrepancy they said:
Please check the difference with your bank, maybe it’s a commission taken by them, I have paid all our charges.
As I said, my bank didn't make commission/fees on this.
I replied with my bank's message to me that that's the amount that was wired and am awaiting a response from producer(their accountant anyway) on that fact.

I'm willing (begrudgingly) to take the $20 loss here but how far do I push this with them?
What do I do?
I can take it as a learning lesson and make sure I have language in invoices of future international projects saying "Fee reflects net payment to contractor (me), all wire transfer/exchange rate differences are the responsibility of client (you)"
but I feel I should be paid exactly what was agreed upon.
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www.moosevoice.com

[Bish]

You will end up going around and around on this one. I does sound weird... but there are clear and documented examples of monies deducted on an international transaction that are nothing to do with either the sending or receiving banks... they are both acting in good faith... but there can be an intermediary financial institution that takes a slice of the pie on one of these international transactions. It may even be a receiving institution in the US acting as a portal for your non-SWIFT bank. It can be an absolute bugger to track it down and get someone to acknowledge it.... you are fighting the international banking cabal... bon chance.

Now, It's $20... and it may be worth just eating it to learn the lesson about the vagaries of international finance. How much time and effort do we put in to getting the $20 back? If we let it become a point of principle, then it spirals out of control. Is this going to be a repeat customer? If so, it may be worth a little investigation. Otherwise, eat the $20 and DO NOT get locked into a "point of principle" thing. As far as they are concerned, they paid you $500... as far as you are concerned, someone took a slice before it got to you... they haven't stiffed you, so don't make them the bad guy. Build it into your fee for next time.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[FinMac]

As I used to work in Lebanon, I would be happy to have gotten paid.

You may never find out who had their fingers in your pie. Perhaps it was their bank taking a fee to transfer to the US. Perhaps Lebanese Pounds were converted to dollars, and the bank took a fee from that! You may never find out.

Why not add an additional 25 dollar fee on your next job to cover any funds lost in the transfer. (Peter's post snuck in before I could post my response)

Be happy to have gotten paid
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www.scottsvoiceover.com - An American voice in Finland

"If you want to get to the top, you have to get off your bottom". (Unknown)

[Ed Fisher]

(While I was composing this post the above answers appeared. Seems we are all pretty much in agreement. )

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You will discover that if you are paid through paypal that you also will most often also receive less than the full amount. They take their piece and either the sender or the receiver of the money is going to pay.

I really don't think that you're being cheated. (at least by the folks who originally SENT the money) If THEY were trying to stiff you...WHY such a small amount? Who knows how it is routed? What laws or fees might be involved.

If you ever want to do work for these guys again, my advice is to take the money you were paid and put a smile on your face. In this business, there are PLENTY of folks who can do what you are doing and many times even BETTER. (a sad but true reality) Your relationship and how easy and professional you can deliver is just as, if not more, important to your client than your talent. So, it's always good to try to not be a PITA.
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"I reserve the right to be completely wrong."

[Bruce]

The missing money went to an intermediary bank in between the Lebanon bank and yours. That's the only way big foreign banks can wire money to your small non-SWIFT bank. And don't charge the client extra for that (or at least announce that you will). You don't charge extra for your electricity costs or Internet costs. They're just the cost of doing business. Same with bank fees.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Foog]

Moose, your client may well be as baffled by this as you are. I've had an ongoing issue (for years now!) with my bank and wire transfers from Hungary. Some Hungarian wire transfers come through no problem, and some have a mystery deduction that no one can track. I have even had the mystery fee happen when I myself transfer money from my personal account with a Hungarian bank to my other personal account at a Canadian bank. The money just evaporates and neither bank shows it as a fee or deduction. I've gotten to the brick wall point with both banks and can either just eat the loss every time (as I have been the past several occasions) or take it up with Interpol (for a lousy 15 bucks or so per transaction. Probably not worth the headache). To make matters weirder, this doesn't happen EVERY time, just some times, and I even have a SWIFT code for my transactions.

So if you do pursue this with your client, keep in mind that they may be entirely innocent not only of any wrongdoing, but of any way of detecting it!
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Andrew Fogarasi

[Yonie]

I'm with Bruce. This is not worth the hassle.