Hello all, new guy here looking for a little advice.

 

Around 6 months ago I agreed to design a site for a client (we shall call him X for ease). Between ourselves we agreed he would pay a deposit (25%) upfront, another intrim payment after we had agreed a design (25%) and the final payment of 50% upon completion. All sounded find and to which he fully agreed to.

 

6 months later and numerous ignored emails\phone calls have passed. I noticed as the site was built on a CMS system he has been populating and using the site for a while and just not wanting to pay for my services. I finally decided to give him an ultimatum; "Lets draw a line under this, pay me for the work I have done so far and we shall say no more about it. If you don't get back to me in 48 hours I will take the site down."

 

I have just recieved an email from him saying;

 

Hello,

Don’t get much chance to come online, infact last night was the first time in ages as im juggling 2 jobs between each other.

Im not prepared to pay any more unless the site is finished i.e all information and links correct, products we can do our self. You wouldn’t go into a shop and buy half a mars bar would you?

If the site is taken down we will be forced to take legal action however this is a last resort as I believe this can get sorted in a civil manner however we need the site looking official before we can pay the full amount.

 

Now I appreciate where he is coming from however we had already agreed on a way payment would be made. Once the design has been agreed upon a further 25% would be required. Which he is now not willing to pay. I dont want to do anymore work with him as I have lost all trust, and now he is threatening legal action.

 

Is there anything I can do, and\or is there anything he can do? e.g. I have all the emails saved including the agreed payment terms which he hasn't met. Can he take this further?

 

Any help would be great!

 

Thanks

If the agreement has been made between you two, that he will be paying 25% more, then he should be paying it, as long as you have met the agreed critera.

 

How much was the total project worth? If it is only a small one, it would cost them more than it is worth to take you to court, and they will lose anyway. Turn it the other way around, and take them to court for failure to follow contract. (a verbal will still stand in a court of law, particularly if you have the proof)

 

Please be aware i am no solicitor, so if you want to ask one of them, that is your choice.

 

Reaper

Was the original agreement made in writing?

 

 

EDIT: Sorry, just read again and noticed it was stated on an email. In which case, what's the point in his trying to argue about it. I trust you have satisfactorily provided a design which he agreed to, also in writing?

 

Is it simply a misunderstanding on what 'design agreed' means? He says "however we need the site looking official before we can pay the full amount". Does he think it means it needs to look 'finished' but without all the content in?

 

He also says 'full amoun'. Are you absolutely sure he knows you are only after another 25%?

Dump him. Don't be scared of legal action, he prob can't afford it anyway.

To be honest, it sounds like your best bet is to walk away.

 

If your agreement was 25% upfront, then 25% once the design was agreed and it's the latter payment of 25% he's refuting, all he has to say is that he is not happy with the design.

 

Unfortunately, it sounds like the agreement you made says he only has to make the second payment when the design is accepted. If he is currently using this design then don't worry about it, walk away and let him take you to court. You have a stronger case than him and personally I think you'd be calling his bluff. If he was aware that the agreement was that you require payment for the design and he then used the design without making said payment, it is theft.

 

With regards to pulling the site down, unfortunately he has built the content himself and that belongs to him so you would be making an unlawful act by removing it. You mentioned it was a CMS, just get rid of the design (delete YOUR images and CSS from the FTP etc).

Thanks for the replies guys, really helpful.

 

The agreement was once a layout was agreed upon the second payment of 25% would be paid. The project wasn't big - £350 in total, so yes very petty!

 

To be honest, it sounds like your best bet is to walk away.

 

If your agreement was 25% upfront, then 25% once the design was agreed and it's the latter payment of 25% he's refuting, all he has to say is that he is not happy with the design.

 

Unfortunately, it sounds like the agreement you made says he only has to make the second payment when the design is accepted. If he is currently using this design then don't worry about it, walk away and let him take you to court. You have a stronger case than him and personally I think you'd be calling his bluff. If he was aware that the agreement was that you require payment for the design and he then used the design without making said payment, it is theft.

 

With regards to pulling the site down, unfortunately he has built the content himself and that belongs to him so you would be making an unlawful act by removing it. You mentioned it was a CMS, just get rid of the design (delete YOUR images and CSS from the FTP etc).

 

With regards to the site. The domain and hosting is still in my name so what can I do with that? He still hasn't paid for the domain nor hosting so I guess that is technically still mine? I'll give him the domain name because I have no use for it but would prefer to keep the hosting package, is that possible with regards to his content being on there?

 

Thanks again for your help.

Thanks for the replies guys, really helpful.

 

The agreement was once a layout was agreed upon the second payment of 25% would be paid. The project wasn't big - £350 in total, so yes very petty!

 

 

 

With regards to the site. The domain and hosting is still in my name so what can I do with that? He still hasn't paid for the domain nor hosting so I guess that is technically still mine? I'll give him the domain name because I have no use for it but would prefer to keep the hosting package, is that possible with regards to his content being on there?

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

If he hasn't paid for the domain or hosting, you have every right to pull the whole site down. I do this but I also have terms and conditions to cover myself. I also don't pull it all down, I just replace the index page (because normally the client wants the site back and knows the only way to do this is to make payment and they usually pay asap).

If he hasn't paid for the domain or hosting, you have every right to pull the whole site down. I do this but I also have terms and conditions to cover myself. I also don't pull it all down, I just replace the index page (because normally the client wants the site back and knows the only way to do this is to make payment and they usually pay asap).

 

thanks ill just rename the index and upload a splash page instead

Sounds like the best option JC.

 

Do you often get people doing this to you? may be better to have either a contract, or someone handling the customers and contracts

 

 

Reaper

Sounds like the best option JC.

 

Do you often get people doing this to you? may be better to have either a contract, or someone handling the customers and contracts

 

 

Reaper

 

To be honest he was one of my first clients as I'm still dabbling at the minute. Not a great start, eh?!

 

Is there any sort of generic contract terms I can use, or will I have to get some drawn up professionally?

There are examples and templates around. I am paying to have a new one written for my team, with the intention of it being better for its purpose. Have you considered the option of working alongside a team or teaming up ? If you are starting out, it can be useful to have the help, and ive found customers mess companies around less than they would a freelancer.

 

 

 

Reaper

When I started, I wrote up my own. I took into consideration all of the troubles I'd had with clients from a previous job and it made life a hell of a lot easier. When I got my first large job, a solicitor looked over it and rewrote it to be more protective, legally understandable and to eliminate the possibilities of any loopholes.

 

This cost a good grand though (and I've only had the one big job since)

Hi Guys I just received the following message from the client;

 

Can you please forward your delivery address to us as you’ll be hearing from our legal team as we will be seeing which is the best action for us at this time.

 

Bearing in mind this is a '1 man band' I am wondering exactly what legal "team" he is talking about.

 

What shall I do?

Hi Guys I just received the following message from the client;

 

 

 

Bearing in mind this is a '1 man band' I am wondering exactly what legal "team" he is talking about.

 

What shall I do?

sounds like he is bluffing and just trying to scare a reaction out of you, dont give in, if you are confident you have met your side of the bargain you could use Money claim online its the online arm of the court service, you dont need to be a business anyone can use it, it cost £25 to make your claim but you do get that back along with the money the client owes, you also have the option of adding interest.

 

I have used this service once and it scared the living daylights out of the recipient and they paid by return post, nothing puts the s@@ts up people quite like recieving a payment order from the courts. my claim was pretty straight forward and the recipient didnt have any grounds to disagree with the order, but they do have a right to reply and or appeal so bare that in mind, it is a hell of a lot cheaper than using a solicitor and the action is usually pretty instant the person that owed me money recieved the court papers the following day.

sounds like he is bluffing and just trying to scare a reaction out of you, dont give in, if you are confident you have met your side of the bargain you could use Money claim online its the online arm of the court service, you dont need to be a business anyone can use it, it cost £25 to make your claim but you do get that back along with the money the client owes, you also have the option of adding interest.

 

I have used this service once and it scared the living daylights out of the recipient and they paid by return post, nothing puts the s@@ts up people quite like recieving a payment order from the courts. my claim was pretty straight forward and the recipient didnt have any grounds to disagree with the order, but they do have a right to reply and or appeal so bare that in mind, it is a hell of a lot cheaper than using a solicitor and the action is usually pretty instant the person that owed me money recieved the court papers the following day.

 

 

Thanks that link is really useful! I have replied to him asking for his legal team's contact details and I will contact them myself as I am not happy giving such details out during a dispute. Needless to say I haven't heard anything back yet!

 

Thanks again for that link!

Thanks that link is really useful! I have replied to him asking for his legal team's contact details and I will contact them myself as I am not happy giving such details out during a dispute. Needless to say I haven't heard anything back yet!

 

Thanks again for that link!

 

Turns out he has screwed his old company over; using their registered company number, paid me a deposit from their bank account and isn't even registered with company house. I don't think I need to worry about him pursuing legal action, but I think I might send him one of those letters for the sake of £25

 

Thank you so much for your help guys!

good luck with it I hope you get your cash, let us all know how it pans out.

Blooming 'eck, and I thought I had it bad with my own pain in the Rs customer!

 

I don't really have any words of wisdom as I'm only starting out myself, just wanted to send you some positive energy, I can totally sympathise with what you're going through, not nice!!

 

Hope it all works out ok in the end.... good luck!

When I started, I wrote up my own. I took into consideration all of the troubles I'd had with clients from a previous job and it made life a hell of a lot easier. When I got my first large job, a solicitor looked over it and rewrote it to be more protective, legally understandable and to eliminate the possibilities of any loopholes.

 

This cost a good grand though (and I've only had the one big job since)

 

 

I've done the same thing myself, including the bit about paying through the nose to have a lawyer check it over. So far, I'm in negative equity (or should that be or even ?). But I still think it was worth paying the money as he came up with some good suggestions based on past experience of writing/editing similar contracts and as you say reworded it to make it sound more "legal". And of course eliminating the possibilities of loopholes is always a good thing too