did a paid sponsored post for a beauty brand, contract said $2,800 for one feed post + 3 stories. delivered everything per spec on the agreed date. now they're emailing saying engagement was "below the agreed minimum" and they're paying $1,400.
here's the kicker — there's NO engagement guarantee in our signed contract. just deliverables. they're making this up.
read the contract. ALL of it including any addenda. if there's no engagement metric clause, they're just trying to short you. send a formal demand for the full $2,800.
also screenshot the analytics from your IG insights and the emails where they confirmed delivery met spec. those are exhibits if this goes to small claims.
I'm Sergei Tokmakov, California attorney (Bar #279869). Quick analysis: if the contract specifies fixed-fee for deliverables and you delivered to spec, you're owed the contract amount. The brand can't unilaterally substitute a performance metric not in the agreement.
Practical sequence: (1) clean demand letter citing the contract terms and requesting full payment within 14 days, (2) if no response, small claims under $10k (or attorney consultation if larger), (3) for serial non-payers, also consider posting in influencer-finance forums to warn others (truthful negative reviews are protected speech). For demand letters at this dollar amount, $575 flat on attorney letterhead. Informational only.