Jamie-AU
Regular Member
I'm not sure if this is the right forum for seeking advice in regards to the topic, but here goes.
About a year ago, I hired a freelance web designer from Melbourne to redesign an existing travel-based website I had. I needed around 35 pages/templates designed.
No contract was signed - I simply paid his invoice up-front, and while he indicated it would be finished in about 3 months, we never set a formal date until a while later, when we both agreed everything would be finished within 6 months.
It's now 12 months later and:
1) I have paid him $6,490 up-front (this is just a partial payment for the whole project)
2) He has delivered not one complete web page/template I can use - just screen-grab drafts of less than half the total pages required, none of which is at the finalisation state
He blamed the blow-out in deadlines due to the huge number of changes to each page. The problem is that most of the changes are due to:
1) His failure to follow the agreed design spec. Eg: he left out breadcrumbs navigation which was in the spec, and now he said he had to waste lots of time re-designing all the pages around that
2) His constant switching of web project management and publication platforms - eg Basecamp, Layervault, Dispatch, DesignSignoff, etc - which has meant the feedback I've provided for page drafts is lost each time, and I have to keep repeating them every time he switches platforms
3) Decisions he makes without any consultation. For example, he significantly changed the font style used within the website logo (something I had professionally designed about 18 months ago through someone else), without even discussing it with me. This is despite the fact I had heaps of stationery in stock with the original logo - I'd be throwing thousands of dollars away if I shredded it.
All in all, this has wasted so much of my time and caused lots of stress. It's impacted badly on my reputation, and I originally had notified my clients that a new website would be released by Christmas, then I changed that to the first quarter of 2013, now I have no date.
The interesting thing is that this designer has excellent credentials on the web - a website with lots of clients, a highly ranked linkedIn profile and a glowing CV.
This freelancer has been through a number of personal hardships, including financial problems during this time, so I'm not totally heartless and do have sympathy for what is going on behind the scenes. However, I get the impression that while he's been doing little work on my project, he's been doing lots of work for others. You'd think because I paid so much up front, he'd ensure I was looked after first. And let's not mention that he changed his mobile number without bothering to tell me, meaning all my SMSs never got answered for weeks.
He has tried to make amends for the blow-out in completion date by offering to discount the total price and bundling in thousands of dollars of free SEO services. None of that really means much without completion of the website, does it?
Recently, I told him to cease work until he signs a contract, so I had a completion date in writing that he would be legally bound to. He refused to sign the contract, even though it gave him a whole month to finish and it stipulated that I would pay him for all work he had completed by the completion date.
I've become very fed up with things. I've asked him to refund some or all of my $6,490 so I can get someone else to do the work. He again refused, saying it's not like returning a broken item to a shop for a refund. He says he's done a lot more work than I think, and he claims he has all the documentation to prove that, but he doesn't bother to show me anything to justify that.
Further complicating things is that the web designer has become aware of a similar thread to this that I posted in another internet forum where I asked for advice on how to deal with this situation. He said having his business name associated with that posting is defamation as all his customers are 100% satisfied. People replying to the forum posting suggested legal action, however my freelancer says he knows a lot of lawyers and legal action will get me nowhere. He also said that if I tried to take legal action, his defamation claim against me will more than wipe off any claim I make against him.
I got all sorts of advice to my other forum posting. First, I got heavily criticised for not having a contract to begin with, criticised for paying him so much money up-front, and blasted for not coming down harder on him in the first few months of the project rather than letting it drag on so long.
Some people said I should take legal action. Others said that because I have no contract, and this freelancer is in financial strife, then it's unlikely I'd get my money back, so I should write it off and pursuing legal action can be costly.
The issue is that this guy clearly isn't going to finish the work any time this side of the next millennium, and I need to get the redesign happening as it's 6 months overdue, so I can't really afford to get involved in years of protracted legal action against this person. So what do I do?
About a year ago, I hired a freelance web designer from Melbourne to redesign an existing travel-based website I had. I needed around 35 pages/templates designed.
No contract was signed - I simply paid his invoice up-front, and while he indicated it would be finished in about 3 months, we never set a formal date until a while later, when we both agreed everything would be finished within 6 months.
It's now 12 months later and:
1) I have paid him $6,490 up-front (this is just a partial payment for the whole project)
2) He has delivered not one complete web page/template I can use - just screen-grab drafts of less than half the total pages required, none of which is at the finalisation state
He blamed the blow-out in deadlines due to the huge number of changes to each page. The problem is that most of the changes are due to:
1) His failure to follow the agreed design spec. Eg: he left out breadcrumbs navigation which was in the spec, and now he said he had to waste lots of time re-designing all the pages around that
2) His constant switching of web project management and publication platforms - eg Basecamp, Layervault, Dispatch, DesignSignoff, etc - which has meant the feedback I've provided for page drafts is lost each time, and I have to keep repeating them every time he switches platforms
3) Decisions he makes without any consultation. For example, he significantly changed the font style used within the website logo (something I had professionally designed about 18 months ago through someone else), without even discussing it with me. This is despite the fact I had heaps of stationery in stock with the original logo - I'd be throwing thousands of dollars away if I shredded it.
All in all, this has wasted so much of my time and caused lots of stress. It's impacted badly on my reputation, and I originally had notified my clients that a new website would be released by Christmas, then I changed that to the first quarter of 2013, now I have no date.
The interesting thing is that this designer has excellent credentials on the web - a website with lots of clients, a highly ranked linkedIn profile and a glowing CV.
This freelancer has been through a number of personal hardships, including financial problems during this time, so I'm not totally heartless and do have sympathy for what is going on behind the scenes. However, I get the impression that while he's been doing little work on my project, he's been doing lots of work for others. You'd think because I paid so much up front, he'd ensure I was looked after first. And let's not mention that he changed his mobile number without bothering to tell me, meaning all my SMSs never got answered for weeks.
He has tried to make amends for the blow-out in completion date by offering to discount the total price and bundling in thousands of dollars of free SEO services. None of that really means much without completion of the website, does it?
Recently, I told him to cease work until he signs a contract, so I had a completion date in writing that he would be legally bound to. He refused to sign the contract, even though it gave him a whole month to finish and it stipulated that I would pay him for all work he had completed by the completion date.
I've become very fed up with things. I've asked him to refund some or all of my $6,490 so I can get someone else to do the work. He again refused, saying it's not like returning a broken item to a shop for a refund. He says he's done a lot more work than I think, and he claims he has all the documentation to prove that, but he doesn't bother to show me anything to justify that.
Further complicating things is that the web designer has become aware of a similar thread to this that I posted in another internet forum where I asked for advice on how to deal with this situation. He said having his business name associated with that posting is defamation as all his customers are 100% satisfied. People replying to the forum posting suggested legal action, however my freelancer says he knows a lot of lawyers and legal action will get me nowhere. He also said that if I tried to take legal action, his defamation claim against me will more than wipe off any claim I make against him.
I got all sorts of advice to my other forum posting. First, I got heavily criticised for not having a contract to begin with, criticised for paying him so much money up-front, and blasted for not coming down harder on him in the first few months of the project rather than letting it drag on so long.
Some people said I should take legal action. Others said that because I have no contract, and this freelancer is in financial strife, then it's unlikely I'd get my money back, so I should write it off and pursuing legal action can be costly.
The issue is that this guy clearly isn't going to finish the work any time this side of the next millennium, and I need to get the redesign happening as it's 6 months overdue, so I can't really afford to get involved in years of protracted legal action against this person. So what do I do?