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Client Project Cancellation 5555 Responses
Last post: 2 years, 8 months ago | Thread started: Feb 14, 10, 6:14 p.m.
- whatthefunk
Alright, this is gonna be a long one but I need advice. I have a website client that I've been working on a project with for 8 months. It's a website project with a custom CMS, eCommerce, javascript galleries, etc. We signed a contract stating a variety of details regarding copyright, payment, authorship credit, cancellation, etc.
So, this project has been dragging on for some time due to my hectic schedule and the client making a ton of revisions on the wireframe phase, the design phase, and we're now in development phase. I've been very transparent with her about delays but of course there were times when I went dark on her for 2+ weeks while the site was being designed. She now wants to cancel the project and wants a third of her deposit back.
My contract states "In the event of cancellation by the Client for any reason before the Designs are turned in 100% of the the fee shall be paid by the Client. Also, in the event of cancellation, the Designer shall own all rights in the Design including authorship credit and all rights in sketches, comps, or other preliminary materials. She also asked for me not to display this design on my personal website.
So my question is whether I should fight her for my deposit or just say fuck it and walk away? She's been very litigious with her comments recently stating "If this is unacceptable to you, please let me know and my lawyer will be in touch with you." Part of me feels like I'm entitled to the deposit not to mention the fact that I have to now pay my developer for time spent on a dead project which will come out of my project.
I'm always the guy who says "fight for your project and your rights as a designer if shit goes south" but that this point I'm almost fine with just walking away.
Thoughts - fight or walk?
- Feb 14, 10, 6:14 p.m. – Permalink
- dibec
A couple things, I don't think this happened over night. This "client" tension probably has been around for some time. At worst, are you ready to go to court? do you have the time? do you have money? can you re-negotiate the terms? possibly ask for a little more money and give the files?
I think the situation is unfortunate and you seem to hold some responsibility and that is a good thing. I always believe in fairness, and if you truly feel the work you have done is worth the value, it is done. The best thing is not to stick it to her. There a lot of QBN'ers on this board that will say that. Think open and offer some resolutions, be it purchasing the work up to this point, give her "some" of the deposit, or other solutions. You know your client best. It would suck to burn this bridge.
Justice. Fairness. Value. Stick to those and you should be fine. :)
Good luck.
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 6:25 p.m. – Permalink
- whatthefunk
Lukas - I think I should keep the deposit for 3 rounds of wireframes, a PSD of 12 pages of the site, and a JPEG html comp with image maps of all the pages. Not to mention the fact that my developer has built the entire framework of the site.
Joesv - what's the headache of dealing with an attorney worth? On a scale of 1 to 10 my developer is at a 5. Her reason to cancel is that it's taking too long and she hasn't seen the code yet due to the fact that my developer hasn't posted an alpha link yet. I've been very clear with her about delays, in writing, and while she's been frustrated she's been cooperative?
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 6:28 p.m. – Permalink
- lukus_W
I think part of the art of negotiation involves putting yourself in the position of the other person. What would it take for you to accept a proposal to forfeit a deposit? Most likely you'd want something to show for your money.
If the client is being reasonable - talk to them .. ask if you can go for a coffee, and come to an amicable solution, where she gets something (e.g. wireframes, and PSDs) for the deposit she forfeits. No one wants a court case.
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 6:36 p.m. – Permalink
- SteveJobs
just sounds like a situation gone wrong - it happens. open the lines of communication, and tell her that despite the fact her demands are against the terms of your contract, you appreciate her situation and don't want to lose her business.
right now, you may not feel that way, but she might appreciate the gesture and at the very least send some other work to you later. i don't know both sides of the story completely, but it's interesting she's only asking for a third, and not irrationally just asking for all her money back.. just my thoughts.
oh and everything dibec said.
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 6:37 p.m. – Permalink
- Josev
It sounds like the project is very close to being completed, no? It's going to take her more time to find someone else and get them up to speed. Did the contract have a completion date? She also probably doesnt even have a court case based on what he's said above.
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 6:41 p.m. – Permalink
- whatthefunk
the frustration has been mounting (I just left a shitty company that fired everyone and had me doing 3 people's jobs) and I was very communicative with her about the setback. But last week out of the blue she got litigious as threatened to file claims against me. I tried the whole "let me give you all the files for the deposit," I attempted to give her a discount but had to describe that due to a CMS and databases, etc that it's not possible to just throw it online for her to see in alpha.
I feel guilty because it's taken so long and believe that while I've been transparent with her about the delay I still feel responsible for this project going south (even though half the code is finished) I feel like I've earned the deposit at least and when I think about the tons of emails, phone calls, client meetings, and the fact that my dumb ass took 45 minutes out of my schedule to explain to this lady how to produce a fucking PDF and now this. On Friday she refused to talk to me stating that she's speaking to an attorney and today her tune is different.
I need to sleep on it - it's funny how easily it is to preach to others about what they should do in these situations and when you find yourself in them the only thing you want is for it to be over as quickly as possible. I need to work this out - how bulletproof is a contract anyway?
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 6:47 p.m. – Permalink
- dibec
whatthefunk, K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid), a little thing I live by. Your contract is going to be as good as your lawyer is. I think you got a good approach, you have not shut down and started cursing f this and f that. Though it seems you want to. ha. Get your rest, talk to her, offer a closing deal. Move on.
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 6:56 p.m. – Permalink
- d_rek
In all seriousness... not to derail this thread but I have nothing of value to contribute. However, I do hope it all works out in your favor.
I know a few colleagues of mine who worked for a small studio got seriously strong-armed by an overly-aggressive client. Financially it set their studio back to square one and they ended up shrinking the staff by about half. The client had not only refused payment but also proceeded with litigation. Luckily my colleague was able to find a lawyer who was willing to work at a severely reduced rate as kind of a friend's service. Still, after all was said and done they nearly broke them through tedious legalese in the courtroom. 'Twas an unfortunate scenario.
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 7:33 p.m. – Permalink
- whatthefunk
What bothers me most is the fact that she is not offering anything this is inline with our contract. I state authorship credit and reservation of rights as well as cancellation details - she has ignored both instances and has yet to offer anything in my favor. This will undoubtedly never go to court but will certainly result in a variety of back and forth until we are both satisfied.
I'm going to think about, give it a couple days, speak with an attorney or two and then present my offer. I'm not going to simply accept her initial offer - what fun would that be? So strange how I find myself in this field due to my creative nature and my ability to visually solve problems and I often find myself in situations with clients refusing to pay, changing scopes, and trying to get out of contracts - shit, I should have gone to law school with the amount of time I've spent researching case law, contracts, etc. I love doing this type of work and if this is a small percentage of being able to be creative every day, I'll take it, it's a small price to pay compared to having to dig ditches I suppose!
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 7:59 p.m. – Permalink
- Josev
Part of the problem is that you didn't manage her expectations. I do find that I spend more time educating or managing people than I do on design. It's frustrating and at times think it would be nice to work someplace where others manage that end of projects.
- Dog-earFeb 14, 10, 8:22 p.m. – Permalink
