Good advice here. 2 months ago I faced an almost same issue. Best is to forget it. Build your positioning such that you command higher prices, better clients

Good advice here. 2 months ago I faced an almost same issue. Best is to forget it. Build your positioning such that you command higher prices, better clients & take 50% deposit minimum before starting the work. Look into Jonathan Stark. Another thing is to name & shame them. Just state the facts on social media. Maintain a blacklist of clients & share them woth your fellow freelancers. I'm into marketing & maintain such a list. About 7-8 people/agencies in there. Not everyone in there didn't pay. Someone was a micro-manager, someone was scope creep, someone demanded unnecessary things during interview process, wasted a lot of my time etc.