An ecommerce project has been completed for over one month, all final invoices paid and I've already moved onto another project. A few hours ago this client sent me four panicked emails sttting that "everyting on the checkout is faulty" and "there is a processing fault" which I need to fix immediately. Also adding "we've had to phone the bank and they assure us it's a problem with the programming" and "you are making my business look unprofessional".

 

When we launched the site we ran a number of live and sandbox tests, so when everyting was handed over, to my knowledge, it was all running smoothly.

 

So I polietely replied explaining I don't usually work weekends but I'd make an exception to try and quickly resolve the isse; I had a look over the system for 30 mins and couldn't find a problem. So I explained that on Monday I'd send her a fee for me to do an assement to find any issues, which would probably be four hours work (running sandbox tests, etc) and then if there's a major issue I'd work on a full estimate for the work.

 

At this point the client said I'd have to fix it for free, since it was my job to make a working ecommerce site and they'd not be prepared to pay extra. They also said "how do we know you've not sabotaged the site so you can charge us to fix it".

 

I really don't want this to get out of hand, so I want my next reply to be as fair and professional as possible.

 

How would others handle this kind of situation?

If they signed off the site as working and everything did work when you handed over then you'll just have to put your foot down with the client.

 

Obviously it goes without saying to be as polite as is possible. Unfortunately this does happen but we can't be responsible for these sites for ever or we'd all be out of business by now.

MikeChipShop is right.

 

Did you make a contract for them to sign and did they say they was happy with the site, if so then they don't have a leg to stand on unfortunately for them.

 

Also don't let them scare you with "Trading Standards" as they will be on your side, as long as you are offering to help but obviously you have to put your charges on top.

Oh yeah and if it was like a couple of days later or max a week then maybe you would have to do it for free, but a month, to be honest they should of knew by then.

You should have used that 30 minutes to check how many successful transactions have went through since you handed over the site.

I suggest adding something to your contract or T&C along the lines of what I use:

 

If your website malfunctions or goes offline as a direct consequence of my own actions or negligence, I will take prompt action to repair the website and bring it back online at my own expense.

 

If your website malfunctions or goes offline for any reason other than my own error, oversight or negligence, a charge will be made at my normal hourly rate to repair your website and bring it back online. This covers such events as 3rd party intervention, your own activities as site administrator, your web host's actions, your Internet Service Provider's actions or the activity of a malicious person (hacker) or piece of software.

 

MMMedia has the right idea. Before deciding what to do, check how many transactions have been successfully processed since the site went live.

Agree with MMM and !b. This should be covered as part of your contract and sign-off procedures.

Thank you all for your replies so far. I've got another email from the client and some more thoughts on the situation:

 

A tiny bit of back-story, when we were planning the site I recommended a blog, so they could market their products, and since they doesn't have a high-street store the website was their only business front. They turned down the blog and only wanted the ecommerce site; but they kept saying things like "we're counting on you to make us a successful website". So right now I have a feeling, and this is just a gut feeling, they may be trying to use me as a scape goat for zero sales in one month. But I'm not responsible for the success of their business.

 

So as part of that 30 minute check I wanted to a) check how many live transactions had gone through, which was zero, come across as being helpful as I do genuinely want her website to succeed.

 

But I find what rallport said to be interesting, would others have not done the quick check out of kindness and gone straight into an hourly fee? Would this not make them seem even more suspicious and get her more agitated?

 

If it truly was a huge catastrophe at the checkout (e.g. all the templates had been deleted), then would people here start to fix it, or wait until they agree to pay?

 

When we did the handover and the test transactions, I made sure I forwarded all the relevant info to the client for their approval - but in another email last night they said "we never tested anything, I don't remember tests". So either they're just lying, or they can't remember me doing the checkout tests. This only complicates things further, because its my word against theirs.

 

In hindsight I do agree I should have put something in my contract about this, I only have a section about copyright and ownership of data, but nothing about accountability of malfunctioning code and possible negligence; or a process how to handle such a situation.

 

If anything, this will only make me a better business person, so thats a good thing!

Do you keep all your business emails? It's something to think about, because if the client is 'forgetting' all about your testing protocol, you can always forward them the original email, with a short message: "Please refer to my email of xx/xx/xx copied below".

...but they kept saying things like "we're counting on you to make us a successful website". So right now I have a feeling, and this is just a gut feeling, they may be trying to use me as a scape goat for zero sales in one month. But I'm not responsible for the success of their business.

 

Had a few like this.

You have to be firm from the start. Make sure they know that you're responsible for delivering a working, functional website that meets their brief, for the budget provided.

 

As you full well know, you're in no way responsible for how their business is run and how successful they are.

Make them aware that it's not the site that's the issue but it's how they make use of the site. Offer to analyse their use of the site and offer up pointers and a write up on how they can improve sales and minimise the bounce rate. Of course it goes without saying that this comes at a charge.

 

So as part of that 30 minute check I wanted to a) check how many live transactions had gone through, which was zero, come across as being helpful as I do genuinely want her website to succeed.

 

But I find what rallport said to be interesting, would others have not done the quick check out of kindness and gone straight into an hourly fee? Would this not make them seem even more suspicious and get her more agitated?

 

No, i would have done exactly what you did. There's a fine line between being helpful and stupidly not charging for work. In this case you were correct imo. No point agitating the client. That quick 30 min check up could have led to more work in the long run or it may have identified an error in the code you'd missed which you could have quickly cleaned up.

 

If it truly was a huge catastrophe at the checkout (e.g. all the templates had been deleted), then would people here start to fix it, or wait until they agree to pay?

 

So long as it wasn't something that was my fault then it'd be time to quote for the fixes and issue a new working contract for the potential time needed to fix the issue.

Never ever do anything before having the signed contract and deposit in place.

 

When we did the handover and the test transactions, I made sure I forwarded all the relevant info to the client for their approval - but in another email last night they said "we never tested anything, I don't remember tests". So either they're just lying, or they can't remember me doing the checkout tests. This only complicates things further, because its my word against theirs.

 

As notbanksy said, you should still have all these emails in place, so grab them and forward them back to the client as a reminder.

 

In hindsight I do agree I should have put something in my contract about this, I only have a section about copyright and ownership of data, but nothing about accountability of malfunctioning code and possible negligence; or a process how to handle such a situation.

 

If anything, this will only make me a better business person, so thats a good thing!

 

We all learn everyday.

However, so long as the client signed it off as working, then you shouldn't have an issue if they try to take you to court.

THEY signed it off, THEY completed the contract by paying the remainder of the money, it's now THEIR problem.

 

Good luck.

This is where experience plays a card, your client is in distress so mentioning you don't normally work weekends and it's chargeable isn't the ideal leading line and would perhaps be better served as the final stanza... and only once you've determined the fault!

 

Your job is to reassure them, not add to the dismay.

 

We've been through this exact situation with a client and it boils down to two simple questions.

 

1) How many successful versus failed transactions are on the system?

2) How long has the site been live?

 

Transactions prove your case either way, successes mean you're off the hook for a freebie fix UNLESS the site has only been live a short period of time. I don't think there's any hard and fast rule but if a client came to us after a week, even with successes, I'd be cautious throwing them a bill to fix it until I was certain they'd broke it. Even then I'd feel a certain obligation to 'keep them on side' by just getting it done and sorting the problem out, especially as many issues can be resolved with a restore job.

 

Again speaking from experience this is why our ecommerce platforms get backed up every 2 hours during business working hours and once before open, once at close and once at night. Excessive? Not when you've got an active shop that you've handed over to a client - trust me!

 

/sorry if some of this has already been covered.

*when I say obligation I really mean a 'duty of care'.