How do I handle Phase II of a project after a very bad experience with payment on Phase I?

You've mentioned a contract several times. Without having looked at your contract, and just going by the comments you have made, I would say you have options. Since it sounds like you are hosting their site and still have control... i'd give them written warning something like this: As stated in our contract, the final project was to be delivered when final payment was received in our offices.

When we were notified that your payment had been sent, we generously posted the final project to the Internet, even though we had not yet received the payment. You are currently benefiting from the work you contracted us to do, however, we have not been paid for this work according to the terms in the contract you signed. Our contract is legally binding.

This letter serves as your notice. If payment is not received in our offices by XX date, we will have no choice but to take down your website, as it is not paid for. Rest assured, when we do receive payment, your website will be restored.In addition, further hosting payments must be made according to the current payment schedule.

Hosting accounts have terms of (fill in the blank) We stand behind our work, and we keep our agreements. After this matter is resolved we can discuss any further work you want us to do for you. Of course, put it in your own words and apply your terms to it... and I hope you have a clause in any quotes you do that they are only valid for xx number of days.

If not, then find out the terms for your state if there are any. For instance, in some states I believe a (building/repair) contractor cannot add more than 10% to any written estimate and estimates are valid for a certain number of days. I always provided a written quote to website design clients... with an expiration term included.

Your work might be worth a lot more two months from now... or you might have to include extra when you know trying to get anything done with that client will take a lot of your time. In any case. You are in control of who you want as a client.

They owe you... and you don't owe them. As long as you fulfill your contracts you can take the high road and walk away from future projects. I'd be interested to know how this works out for you... oh... and when giving a quote for a second project for any client, i'd like to recommend that you quote the full amount then offer them a discount for being a customer in great standing with your company.

This can even be mentioned as a selling point when doing a first project... those who want a long term agreement will like that. And it gives incentive up front to keep their agreements. A 10% or 20% discount on a large project can add up to quite a bit.

I have been in this exact scenario. You're not alone. Many people have experienced this.

I notice that you mentioned Paypal. This is scary. Paypal isn't a good way for web designers (or any knowledge worker) to accept payment.

Although, it does look like the client said they sent payment via wire. This is exceptionally easy to track with the number - it's black and white. Regardless of the details, it sounds like your relationship has deteriorated and I wouldn't move into "phase II".

When dealing with a client who doesn't pay, you basically have 3 options: 1) Walk away. It can be time consuming and costly to continue. When things like this go downhill, it can often be advantages simply to chalk events like these up to a "learning experience" and move on.

The way I look at it, the more time I spend with people who do this sort of stuff, the more time that I loose with good clients. 2) Work with them. Tell them that you understand they're having trouble right now and that you're here to help.

Outline a clear document that outlines REAL dates and landmarks. Make sure that the person knows that they can make changes to the timeline if they need to, but that they must let you know within x number of days before the landmark date. If they fail to let you know they need to change a date or fail to pay, even once, take them to small claims to get that landmark money and any other outstanding money.3) Go to small claims.Be forewarned, you will need to have exact proof.

You'll need to carefully outline exactly what went wrong, where, how and when. The other person will say that you are incompetent and you will need to defend against this.0) Don't feel bad. This sort of stuff happens to everyone.

When you've been doing this sort of work for awhile, you can "smell" a bad egg a mile away. Above all else, don't be afraid to walk away. Even if the client is promising 10's of thousands of dollars, it's only real when the check clears.

Here is a really great podcast. They've talked about this sort of stuff in detail before: freelanceswitch.com/podcasts.

You have to listen to the net at night with Dan James from Silver Orange. Amber has brought up the topic of designers getting paid for their work on the last two podcasts and Dan gave a great answer for what he does. Basically it works that you get a down payment and then refuse to deliver the site until payment is received.At this point legal routes would seem to maybe be more expensive than it would be worth, so you will have to apply the pressure yourself and withhold any further work from this client until you are made whole.

If it appears you will never get the money, then you could pursue it via legal channels.

You've mentioned a contract several times. Without having looked at your contract, and just going by the comments you have made, I would say you have options. Since it sounds like you are hosting their site and still have control... i'd give them written warning something like this: As stated in our contract, the final project was to be delivered when final payment was received in our offices.

When we were notified that your payment had been sent, we generously posted the final project to the Internet, even though we had not yet received the payment. You are currently benefiting from the work you contracted us to do, however, we have not been paid for this work according to the terms in the contract you signed. Our contract is legally binding.

This letter serves as your notice. If payment is not received in our offices by XX date, we will have no choice but to take down your website, as it is not paid for. Rest assured, when we do receive payment, your website will be restored.

In addition, further hosting payments must be made according to the current payment schedule. Hosting accounts have terms of (fill in the blank) We stand behind our work, and we keep our agreements. After this matter is resolved we can discuss any further work you want us to do for you.

Of course, put it in your own words and apply your terms to it... and I hope you have a clause in any quotes you do that they are only valid for xx number of days. If not, then find out the terms for your state if there are any. For instance, in some states I believe a (building/repair) contractor cannot add more than 10% to any written estimate and estimates are valid for a certain number of days.

I always provided a written quote to website design clients... with an expiration term included. Your work might be worth a lot more two months from now... or you might have to include extra when you know trying to get anything done with that client will take a lot of your time. In any case.

You are in control of who you want as a client. They owe you... and you don't owe them. As long as you fulfill your contracts you can take the high road and walk away from future projects.

I'd be interested to know how this works out for you... oh... and when giving a quote for a second project for any client, i'd like to recommend that you quote the full amount then offer them a discount for being a customer in great standing with your company. This can even be mentioned as a selling point when doing a first project... those who want a long term agreement will like that. And it gives incentive up front to keep their agreements.

A 10% or 20% discount on a large project can add up to quite a bit.

I have been in this exact scenario. You're not alone. Many people have experienced this.

I notice that you mentioned Paypal. This is scary. Paypal isn't a good way for web designers (or any knowledge worker) to accept payment.

Although, it does look like the client said they sent payment via wire. This is exceptionally easy to track with the number - it's black and white. Regardless of the details, it sounds like your relationship has deteriorated and I wouldn't move into "phase II".

When dealing with a client who doesn't pay, you basically have 3 options: 1) Walk away. It can be time consuming and costly to continue. When things like this go downhill, it can often be advantages simply to chalk events like these up to a "learning experience" and move on.

The way I look at it, the more time I spend with people who do this sort of stuff, the more time that I loose with good clients. 2) Work with them. Tell them that you understand they're having trouble right now and that you're here to help.

Outline a clear document that outlines REAL dates and landmarks. Make sure that the person knows that they can make changes to the timeline if they need to, but that they must let you know within x number of days before the landmark date. If they fail to let you know they need to change a date or fail to pay, even once, take them to small claims to get that landmark money and any other outstanding money.

3) Go to small claims. Be forewarned, you will need to have exact proof. You'll need to carefully outline exactly what went wrong, where, how and when.

The other person will say that you are incompetent and you will need to defend against this. 0) Don't feel bad. This sort of stuff happens to everyone.

When you've been doing this sort of work for awhile, you can "smell" a bad egg a mile away. Above all else, don't be afraid to walk away. Even if the client is promising 10's of thousands of dollars, it's only real when the check clears.

Here is a really great podcast. They've talked about this sort of stuff in detail before: freelanceswitch.com/podcasts.

You have to listen to the net at night with Dan James from Silver Orange. Amber has brought up the topic of designers getting paid for their work on the last two podcasts and Dan gave a great answer for what he does. Basically it works that you get a down payment and then refuse to deliver the site until payment is received.

At this point legal routes would seem to maybe be more expensive than it would be worth, so you will have to apply the pressure yourself and withhold any further work from this client until you are made whole. If it appears you will never get the money, then you could pursue it via legal channels.

If they haven't paid you for Phase I at all, I don't understand why you are even considering working on Phase II at this point. It's probably a bad idea to work with these people any further, even if the payment does come through belatedly. If you do decide to work with them more, at least wait until you have been paid in full including the late fee.

And insist on regular staged payments for Phase II as the work progresses. Then stop work if the payments don't come through on time.

I would stop doing work for them until you get your money. You created their website right? You could take it offline until they send the money that is owed.

If they continue to give you trouble, it might be best to just end the agreement with them. I don't know how much you have invested in the project, but you have to decide if it's worth it to keep working with them.

I also make ecommerce websites and what I usually do is take 30% upfront money and balance 70% on delivery. As you are facing alot of problems with this client then I suggest is you stick very very closely to what you have mentioned in your contract. Why?

So that in case things get ugly you will be right in the court of law and any third person will agree to your case. Sorry to say this, but I think you are a very lenient person and as a result you are getting pushed over here. Hope this helps, Cheers, Vishal Khialani.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.