The client's finance officer went on vacation, but not before she paid my latest invoice, or so she said.

The invoice is due in 10 days, so I emailed the finance officer and cced the client to let them know that they will incur an 8% late fee in 10 days. That's plenty of time to avoid a late fee.

I get a response that late fees should be for dead beats, not for regular clients that a person wants to keep, and that it's bad client service to charge a late fee for something that was clearly a mistake.

I replied that she was right, that I would reverse the late charge if it happened, but went on to say that other clients aren't as reliable as her, and that it seems like a late fee is the only way to get people to remember that I'm a worker just like them and that the landlord doesn't care what my clients intentions are, only that I have the money to pay them.

I feel like I handled it pretty well, but I'm kind of miffed. If the check is late, that's not my fault. I shouldn't have to suffer someone else's mistakes. And it's not like it's such a big late fee anyway.

The truth is, I can afford it for now, but only because everybody else is paying on time.

I guess I'm just looking for someone to commiserate and agree with me.