Here’s a client question for those of you who have your own web design/development business or are freelancers. What would you do in this siutation?
A client hired us to do a project for them that involved moving a sophisticated website to a new web server. After discussing the project and what needed to be done, the client signed a contract for the work and sent us payment for 1/2 of the total amount upfront (our standard terms).
The client called about a week later and said that they didn’t need to move the website any longer and to stop working on this. We did immediately. We told the client that we had begun working on it and had several hours into the project. We said we’d only bill for the number of hours we worked vs. trying to uphold the full amount of the project and as stated in the contract (which they had broken). They said to go ahead and send the invoice.
We invoiced them for part of the time we spent on it. The client and us agreed to just take payment from the initial payment they had already sent at the beginning of the project(the 50% upfront check). And we agreed to return the overage from that check since our hours billed was less that the original upfront payment.
They call approximately 1 month later saying they feel the amount we charged was unfair and were never really comfortable with the project and cost to begin with. They accuse of not doing anything on the project since they did after all cancel it. They demand 1/2 of the amount they paid us to be returned to them. Mind you, they were the ones who canceled the project to begin with after we had already started on it. They broke the original contract and we had agreed to only charge them for time spent on the project.
So what would you do in this situation? Would you return 1/2 the amount of money the client paid as they demanded, knowing the situation with this project? Or would you tell them to get lost even though they threaten to talk with their lawyer?
I have a section of my project agreements that says I do not return deposits after work has started. If you have a similar section, then I agree with tke71709. Let them talk to their lawyer. Just make sure that you document and keep all communications with this client.
One question, though-- if you had to go to court, would the amount be worth the expense of the court costs? That may be one aspect you might want to consider.
In any event, for now I would just wait and see what they do. Threats are sometimes just threats. They should also be considering if it is worth their while to go to court.
IMO, a deposit should be non-refundable except in extreme circumstances (death’s a good one). The whole point of a deposit is to get a strong commitment from a client - it’s not just about covering the costs of the initial work on the project, it’s about the jobs you may have had to turn down when taking this project on. If they cancel, you keep the deposit, end of story.
Unfortunately by refunding some of it you may have shown a sign of weakness, so the client is chancing to see what else they can get back.
It sounds like they not only feel your hourly rates are too high but also don’t believe you actually performed the hours you claim you did. It sounds like they have a fair amount of buyers remorse.
Ultimately, it seems they were well aware of your costs and contract terms, so they should be grateful for the refund you’ve already given. You’ve done nothing wrong, so I doubt you have anything to worry about, you’ve been more than reasonable. Don’t let them bully you
I felt I was being extremely fair too by only charging them for time spent. Unfortunately they seem to be of the mindset that they shouldn’t be charged anything since they wanted to cancel it and was hoping that no work had started. However it did, especially since they made this into a “we need this done yesterday” type of situation.
The contract basically says that they would be charged for work done if the project was canceled.
The cost is under $1000. Part of me says it’s not even worth dealing with, just give them the money and be done with them. The other side of me says it’s just not right, and I should tell them to take a hike!
These are tough times, $1000 is $1000. You did the work and you billed them for the time spent, at the agreed rates. You can sleep well knowing you’ve done nothing wrong.
If they continue to insist you didn’t actually perform the hours, send them the evidence, if that’s possible. What kind of work did you perform to date? Anything tangible, like design work, code, etc?
Since this isn’t a web design project, there isn’t much tangible to show for this. It was essentially analyzing the setup of the site, looking through the code in the files (we didn’t have any idea starting out what programming or platform was used because they didn’t know), and performing some tests on an internal web server with their site files.
This was all listed as work performed in the invoice. But, I think they feel that nothing was done since it’s not a web design project with something that’s more visual.
Got to say that I agree with tke71709, let them talk it out with their lawyers. If you stand your ground then they may well back down as they were just ‘trying it on’ as it were.
A contract goes both ways and protects the interests of both parties, they will know that and are perhaps just trying to put the frighteners on you to see if you cave in.
Why would you give them money back just because they’re making a fuss? This case is much easier than if you are trying to get paid. You already have the money. The burden is on the client at this point. They will have to try to get it back from you. I would ignore them for now. If they take you to court, you show your contract, your timesheet and any other correspondence and documentation. It’s pretty straightforward.