Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts Rachel Cullen (employee) Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts Refuses to Pay its Writers for Work Completed Chicago, Illinois

Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts offered me a freelance assignment several months ago. I was promised $40 to write a short article about one of its advertisers. I wrote the article according to company guidelines. The company published the article on schedule but couldn't be bothered to pay me for it.

I emailed two employees (David Henley and Rachel Cullen) over the course of several months, but they ignored the vast majority of my emails. Rachel initially promised to pay me a check when I asked her about it, but she stopped responding to me when I began to send her follow-up emails a few weeks later. David ignored all of my emails. I'm duplicating the email trail here:

David,

I wrote an article for the December issue of Clef Notes, and I have yet to receive any payment for it. Can you please update me on the status of the payment?

Thanks.Lindsey AndersonFeb 29to david.henley

David,

Could you please update me on the payment status for this article?


Lindsey AndersonMar 1to editorial

I've emailed David--my editorial contact with the magazine--about an unpaid article a couple of times this week, but I have yet to hear back from him. Can you please update me on the payment status instead?

Thanks, Lindsey Anderson

Rachel Cullen via yahoo.com Mar 2to me

Hi Lindsey: I'm sorry about that. Can you please tell me which articles (and word counts) for which you are missing payment? Thank you.

Lindsey AndersonMar 6to RachelRachel,

The article is called A New Tradition in Arts Education and it's 758 words. I'm attaching it here.
Thanks for your help!A New Tradition in Arts Education.docx

Lindsey AndersonMar 20to Rachel

Rachel,

I still haven't received a check. Can you update me on the payment status for the article?

Thanks!

Lindsey AndersonMar 26to Rachel

Rachel,
Please update me on the status of this article at your earliest convenience. 

Lindsey AndersonMar 30to Rachel

Rachel and David,

It's been more than a month since I first wrote to you asking you to send me a check for the article I wrote for your December issue, and I have yet to receive any indication from you that a check is on its way. In fact, you've only responded to one of the nearly ten emails I've sent you since February.
If I don't receive a prompt reply/check from you this time, I'm going to look into contacting the BBB and various other rip off report sites about my terrible experience writing for this magazine. At this point, I feel like I really don't have many other options.