How I Got Paid $15k After 4 Months of GC Ghosting (Real Story)

Four months. That's how long a general contractor ghosted me after I finished a $15,000 electrical job. No calls returned. Excuses. Run-around. Sound familiar?

Here's what finally got me paid: documentation I created on-site, the day the work happened.

What Worked (Court-Ready Evidence):

• Daily site reports: Quick voice notes turned into PDFs while still in the parking lot. Date, time, what was done, what changed.
• Timestamped photos: Before, during, after. Every change order, every "just do it" moment from the Super.
• Transcripts of verbal approvals: When the GC said "yeah, go ahead with that extra conduit run" — I recorded it, transcribed it, sent a recap email same day.
• Professional PDF packet: When payment was 60 days late, I sent one clean PDF with everything. Timeline, photos, transcripts, invoices.

Within 48 hours of sending that packet, I had a check. No lawyer. No threats. Just evidence that showed I was prepared to go to court if needed.

The Lesson:

GCs don't pay because you ask nicely. They pay when the risk of NOT paying is too high. Documentation creates that risk.

But here's the problem: most tradies already know this. The hard part isn't knowing — it's actually doing it when you're exhausted, on to the next job, and your phone is dying.

That's why I built Ivoney. Voice notes → structured PDFs → sent while you're still on site. Before you forget. Before it gets hazy. Before you lose leverage.