My Dad had a folder labeled 'Deadbeats' at this small consulting firm. It was in the conference room - anybody was free to look at it. In the field he was in, word got around quickly so there was a few tardy clients that paid but stipulated that he remove their transgressions from the 'Deadbeats' folder.
I Wasn't Paid
81–90 of 201 posts
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#82[deleted]
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#83This is not a way forward. 1). Work with better clients. You can have invoice collection problems at $50k, too, but they're much less likely than at $500 and you have much better options for... escalation methods at that point. 2). If you're not a bank, stop taking on so much credit risk. Businesses can deal with substantially sterner payment terms than you'd think to offer. If your clients balk, see #1. (Thomas has…
Patrick, I completely agree with you, which is why I have never publicized my difficulties with problem customers. But something in my reptilian brain really still likes this. Let me tell you why... You say "Work with better clients." Working with better clients means avoiding the bad ones. Avoiding the bad ones means being able to identify them. Being able to identify them means being warned. It's almost like seeing…
I like http://clientsfromhell.net/
Same idea as this, but funnier and more about learning to laugh about the stupidities of some clients and moving on.
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#84We are currently bootstrapping our startup with some consulting work in iOS and Rails. This is the process that we follow: 1) We discuss the project with the client stating our hourly rates clearly from the beginning and that we also work in our startup so we won't be a "full-time" developer 2) We then make a clear estimation of time and deliverables for the project + time for testing/debugging/QA + time for calls +…
I completely agree.
That and a (very) detailed list of requirement and goals is the best way to go.
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
May I suggest that you refrain from surfing the Internet using IE7 while on a secured military network.
Unfortunately there is no other option. You use the software you're given, and that's it.
If you're browsing random sites that could well be infected, even if you weren't using IE7 the fact that you're on a "secure military network" doesn't stop you from being just as vulnerable as anyone else browsing random sites. Sounds to be like the security of your network has at least one hole in it.
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#86Ultimately it's your fault as a contractor if you don't get paid. And a site like this does nothing to teach developers, freelances, designers, and the like how to avoid these pitfalls which is why I'll never use it. Why is it your fault? Because as a professional you've not taken the time/money to have a contract created to cover your ass. Contracts exist to protect both parties from each other. And it is your profe…
Contract are only really usefull for big company and with big accounts. For private freelancers and small/medium jobs suing someone for breach of contract will probably not be a viable option. The amount of time, effort and money that you need to sue someone and win sometimes is seample not feasible. Yes, having a contract written by a laywer may work as a deterrent for some clients. But if they don't accept you stil…
It is foolish to do "contract work" with no contract, period.
The other key deterrent is to keep a handle on your deliverables until the client pays you. That does not mean "kill switch" in an app running on someone else's servers, it means (whenever possible) don't put the deliverables on someone else's servers until they pay you.
If the work depends on their pre-existing code or assets, get the dependencies into your private and properly secured development environment (with a tightly scoped license and NDA to protect the client).
And make sure your contract says that until they pay you, everything you create is your property. You can't claw fees out of a bankrupt client, but you can at least keep exclusive rights to your work.
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#87This is not a way forward. 1). Work with better clients. You can have invoice collection problems at $50k, too, but they're much less likely than at $500 and you have much better options for... escalation methods at that point. 2). If you're not a bank, stop taking on so much credit risk. Businesses can deal with substantially sterner payment terms than you'd think to offer. If your clients balk, see #1. (Thomas has…
Most of the customers that will pay you 20-40k for web work would never bother trying to stiff you; it would cost them more in process exceptions and legal review (which happens the first time the word "lawyer" occurs in an email message) than it does to simply pay you. But most of all, it's not their f'ing money. The company pays, not them.
So I might be substantially more wary about working for someone who's paying out-of-pocket than I would for a real customer.
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#88This is not a way forward. 1). Work with better clients. You can have invoice collection problems at $50k, too, but they're much less likely than at $500 and you have much better options for... escalation methods at that point. 2). If you're not a bank, stop taking on so much credit risk. Businesses can deal with substantially sterner payment terms than you'd think to offer. If your clients balk, see #1. (Thomas has…
I'm not sure how useful public shaming and griping are, but I do think it works on the iamayoungconsultantandnoonetalksaboutthis.com level. I'd have found the stories super useful as an insecure 25 year old "forced" into the freelance market.
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your computer probably has malware. Run ComboFix and that should fix the issue. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix
I'm on a highly secured military network. While it's not impossible that there's malware on my computer, I think it's more likely that something's up with the website. Edit: There's no choice of browsers on this network. It's IE 7 or nothing.
The "secure" US networks are also just full of malware, because at the end of the day you have a bunch of random enlisted men clicking around in IE 7. I've heard plenty of accounts of the malware on these things.
Re: I Wasn't Paid
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Patrick, I completely agree with you, which is why I have never publicized my difficulties with problem customers. But something in my reptilian brain really still likes this. Let me tell you why... You say "Work with better clients." Working with better clients means avoiding the bad ones. Avoiding the bad ones means being able to identify them. Being able to identify them means being warned. It's almost like seeing…
If you want to perform (for lack of a better word) a mitzvah for the community, rather than picking out a single abusive customer, use your experience and teach people how to pattern match. Memo to young Rails developers: "I have an idea for a website. If you build v1.0 I'll pay you a whole thousand dollars and you might get equity if it works very well." has never had a happy ending. (Slight overstatement there, but…
Here's my mitzvah:
Don't do work for individuals or very small companies. People are much more reasonable when your fee isn't coming out of their pocket.