There is a generally accepted principle in the world of commerce that, if a company or individual commissions a supplier to provide a service - and that service is then supplied, - that the former pays the latter for fulfilling their side of the contract.

Pretty straightforward you would think. But not so in the case of one Simon Hannigan (aka Dad the Dish). Simon, it seems, while happy to take the benefits of his part of a bargain (the service) is somewhat less happy to fulfill his end of the deal (the payment).

Some detail. Last month a freelancer did some work on a prospective TV commission for Hannigan, writing a treatment for a show idea called "The Munchbox" and contacting production companies on his behalf. The deal was that Hannigan would pay for the work on completion.

All pretty clear but, when the freelancer’s side of the deal was completed, Hannigan sudenly went rather silent on the subject of payment. Emails were left unreplied, the due deadline for settlement of invoices came and went, but nothing. Then, only when pressed for when the bill might be settled, he suddenly piped up to claim that that he was now not happy with the work that had been done.

When pressed on what exactly the issue was with the work and how he intended to resolve this disagreement, Hannigan then went quiet again. No payment, no discussion; nothing.

It does rather raise the question of how Dad the Dish himself might feel if one of his customers, having partaken of one of his “munch boxes”, then simply refused to pay. Not happy one would guess. But it is only a guess because it appears that Hannigan has gone to ground for good, remaining entirely unavailable for comment.

One obvious conclusion to draw then. If you do stump up money to buy one of this individual’s tasty products, you might be waiting a long time for it to arrive (maybe forever). And if anyone is considering providing any service to this particular company in the future, they would be wise to take a wide berth around him and it instead.

Simon Hannigan (Dad the Dish): Freelancers Beware!