Basically, A client removed the small Designed by link at the bottom of their page I made for them, and it's written in our contract that they are to keep it there, or pay a £50 fee. I contacted the client and asked them to place the text back in, or pay me the £50 fee, they declined to cooperate.

 

What can I do now?

If you have a written contract then I would write back and explain that you have a contract, so they either pay you the £50, put the link back on or the next step will be a letter from your solicitor calling them into small claims court. As long as you have a contract and you are 100% sure you are in the right then this will guarantee you a positive outcome.

 

HOWEVER.... if by a contract you mean a verbal agreement, I would move on and ignore it. Verbal contracts and agreements are worthless unless witnessed and even then you would be taking a big chance going to court over it. If it is not in writing, just move on and chalk this one up to experience

 

Good luck mate

Yeah, what terydinho said.

As far as the courts are concerned if the client pays the supplier the money as per their verbal agreement, it's still a legal binding contract - if the client didn't agree with the terms they obviously would not pay any money (however Alex has said it's a written contract so it doesn't apply in this scenario anyway).

 

You could send the client a formal letter demanding payment or reinstatement of the link, however in reality it will cost you more than £50 to take them to court (and they probably know it too) even if you add to that £50 your time and court costs etc. that you wish to sue them for it still doesn't make sense financially.

 

Your client sounds like a tosser TBH, by all means send a letter to them but if you've already been paid for the work then I would just cut my losses if I were you, and don't do any future work for them if they ask you.

As far as the courts are concerned if the client pays the supplier the money as per their verbal agreement, it's still a legal binding contract - if the client didn't agree with the terms they obviously would not pay any money (however Alex has said it's a written contract so it doesn't apply in this scenario anyway).

 

You could send the client a formal letter demanding payment or reinstatement of the link, however in reality it will cost you more than £50 to take them to court (and they probably know it too) even if you add to that £50 your time and court costs etc. that you wish to sue them for it still doesn't make sense financially.

 

Your client sounds like a tosser TBH, by all means send a letter to them but if you've already been paid for the work then I would just cut my losses if I were you, and don't do any future work for them if they ask you.

 

online submission to small claims court costs less than £30. SUE THE FRACKER!!

online submission to small claims court costs less than £30. SUE THE FRACKER!!

 

Contact the client and threaten to sue first before actually doing it. I had to this last week - the threat alone was enough for him to pay his £600 bill.

online submission to small claims court costs less than £30. SUE THE FRACKER!!

 

Yeah and there are other fees too depending on which way the verdict goes:

 

Fees

What a horrible thing to do, after working so hard on a site for someone you'd think your client would be happy to promote you services. Some people have no manners!

providing they are not replacing your text with "designed by me" there isnt a lot you can do. It might be annoying but save yourself the hassle at the end of the day and increase your design by £50 for future clients. Then if they remove the link then its no big deal. Im sure you have your own folio with their design in it.

What a horrible thing to do, after working so hard on a site for someone you'd think your client would be happy to promote you services. Some people have no manners!

many clients do NOT want their designer to be known, otherwise competitors will want similiar and good websites done by them. By removing the designed by, it makes it harder for competitors to know where it came from.

many clients do NOT want their designer to be known, otherwise competitors will want similiar and good websites done by them. By removing the designed by, it makes it harder for competitors to know where it came from.

 

So that makes it OK then?

So that makes it OK then?

not at all, but if your only talking about £50 for removing "designed by" then your making a rod for your own back. You would be better creating the site and taking payment including the removal cost. You can then ask if the client if they would be happy to have a link page with your details on or the designed by in the footer, if they say yes - you can give them a £50 discount as a thank you.

 

There is no point in trying to enforce something low cost if its editable by the client and not in your control - take a different angle and save yourself grief in the long run.

many clients do NOT want their designer to be known, otherwise competitors will want similiar and good websites done by them. By removing the designed by, it makes it harder for competitors to know where it came from.

It's certainly something I'll bear in mind for the future. As yet all my clients have been happy for me to display a link on their site. I've had a very help us out, we'll help you out kind of attitude from most of my clients, I think that comes from dealing with mainly small businesses though.

There really is not much you can do when they remove your designed by link. What I suggest is that you create your own designed by link. ie. upload their design on your website into your portfolio and create a link to their website so when visitors visit your site they know you were the one who did it. Eventually, the news would spread and everyone would know you designed the site