Re: Question about a client

Hey, Philip:  ;-)

At 01:01 PM 5/14/02, Phillip Perry wrote:
><snip>Mostly because getting updates from him is like
>pulling teeth and I can't continue until he gets me this information.

I think we all feel your pain!  ;-)

>Before
>I continue I should say...I have no contract in place (let the bashing
>begin! :) ).

No bashing necessary!   You now have a contract so let's see what we can do 
about the situation at hand....

>Anyway, now after about 4 months or so of not hearing from him, I sent an
>email last night very nicely asking what's going on. I let it go 4 months
>because he's a friend of a friend (big mistake).

If one learns by those mistakes - as we all have - then that's a good 
thing! ;-)

>He says he has been working
>on getting a major investor into his startup but as of yet there is no deal.

That is NOT your problem.  Give him a run down of the time/costs involved 
to date and that "as you are sure he would understand as a fellow business 
person" you need to be compensated for the work completed to date.  Let him 
know that  you will be pleased to provide the "site" in its current 
state  to him on CD/disk for future use.

If the site is live in any way - pull it until compensation is received.

>Now I interpret that as *I have no money right now so you need to wait*. My
>question is, with no contract how long exactly do I have to wait?

You don't /have/ to wait - but you are unfortunately not in a position of 
power.  I suggest you use a professional tone stating that of course you 
never assumed (since their friend recommended them and what a great guy/gal 
they were ;-)) that you would not be compensated for work completed due to 
delays or circumstances that have nothing to do with you or what you do.

>Should I
>ask for partial payment or does no contract prevent me from that?

Ask for the amount due at this point clearly stating no further work will 
be done until your new contract is executed.  Don't be surprised though if 
this person runs for the hills when they see your contract.

This is clearly someone who is not business savvy just due to their 
inability to show respect for your time and expertise to date.  Especially 
if they feel you shouldn't get paid until they get financing.  You aren't a 
business partner in the venture are you?  Nope.

>The only
>agreement in place is how many pages and how much which was on the quote I 
>gave him.

Use that quote to note what has been completed and what hasn't - revising 
the invoice for amounts due now based on work completed.  Let him know that 
the time spent, the work completed was based on his approval to proceed and 
that you need to be paid to avoid further action.

Send a confirmation letter via registered mail confirming the phone 
conversation if you have one.  Either way send the letter so that you have 
a signature that the invoice and the letter of explanation was 
received.  This too will show you are serious about being compensated for 
the work completed to date.

For this and/or future situations, you may want to engage a collection 
service that at the very least puts folks like this on notice that you are 
serious about getting paid and reports the situation to the top 3 credit 
reporting bureaus.  Here is a great service that I have used for years and 
worth the cost:

<http://www.digitalwork.com/credit/baddebt/>

Once these type of folks see I have reported them and they start getting 
letters informing them that their credit reports now reflect their lack of 
payments, the money mysteriously appears!  ;-)  Believe me when I say that 
folks KNOW who they have to pay and who they feel they can get away with 
stringing along....

>Let me leave you by saying I now have a 10 page contract for anyone who
>comes through my door, virtual or otherwise which I spent quite a few days
>on with my lawyer (acquired due to this problem).

Well, we all learn something new every day - anyone who says otherwise is 
fibbing.  Since it seems that you know the issues that put you in this 
position your best bet will be to be professional - but clear and stern - 
in requesting you be paid for services completed to date.

In what other industry/service does a client have the ability to just not 
pay?  The answer is none.  You may have to chalk this up to poor decision 
making in the beginning but it won't hurt to try and pursue the amounts due.

HTH and Good Luck!  ;-)

TTYL!
/j

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