just lost another freelance job
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- piperboytoy
Ok I came back from a trip on tuesday expecting to start my new contract job. But turns out the guy in charge decided to hire a less experienced designer to do the work. Mainly because of money issues.
WTF, I met with the guy twice in the past week and had scoped out a project plan for him and was suppose to start the work today!
Is there any legal binding to our agreement? we had an oral agreement. nothing written.
me so dumb
- vellan0
that f'n sucks ass man.
i can kick his ass if you want?
- shellie0
not a thing. you could go back and fourth in court but even if you wont you'd walk away with nothing at the end. sorry :(
- spclarke0
That sucks ... just be glad you didn't show him any preliminary designs.
- piperboytoy0
ok please kick his ass for me. I have his home address too.
What really pissed me off was that he didn't even send me a message saying that he didn't need my services anymore. I emailed him twice and then had to call him to ask for a status. He said he was too busy to reply to me. ASS WIPE SHIT FACE.
- PanchoPimpXL0
Yes... even spoken agreements are binding... a "virtual contract" if you will and can be upheld in court. Now, the question is if you're willing to go the long haul with it all.
- piperboytoy0
I just like to forget about it as quickly as possible. Actually this job was refered to me by a fellow NTer.
- shellie0
believe me piper.. even if you went to court and won... you'd be in the hole. let it go. its not worth it.
and even then.. theres ways for him to kick you in the ass even more.. by giving you 100 dollars a month until the contract is paid in full. now wouldnt that suck? and you'd still have to pay for your lawyer cost. but i bet he always has a lawer on retainer so.. hes got all the itme in the world to drag it out and make the whole experience even more miserable. i've seen it before nearly first hand.
:) unless you want to try and settle out of court.. but he'll probably call yoru bluff just to be an asshole.
- piperboytoy0
thanks shellie, I think I'll just move on. It's just a big waste of time for me to go meet with him for over 2 hours each and sending a project timeline and get nothing for it.
I don't know how people like that can exist!
- spclarke0
shellie ... you sound like you're talking from personal experience
- shellie0
sign a contract befor eyou do any work next time. write in a clause that if he x's the project before coming he has to pay a kill fee. cover you assssz.
- frankosonik0
Although I would never do this, this scenario happened to an ex-employer of mine:
This contractor hired an attorney who works on a contingency fee to settle a case that was based on an oral agreement. The attorney did not get paid until a settlement was reached, dragging the proceedings on and on while the legal fees for my boss kept piling up. My boss finally had to settle.
It's really slimy, I know. but it got results for the contractor.
- shellie0
spclarke, i said i know from almost first hand. it didnt happen to me, obviously... but i saw everything go down and it was messy. dont assume anything and try and smoke out drama by makign statements like that.
- unknown0
that sucks.
but on the up side - sounds like he's a tosser so you're probably better off in the long run.
- piperboytoy0
I usually have a contract before starting anything. But a friend from NT referred me to him. So I guess I just let my guard down.!!
- shellie0
never let your gaurd down when it involves money. never never never *slaps your hand*
- spclarke0
sorry if i came across that way ... wasn't intentional ... i just feel it's good to learn from our personal experiences as well as from the experiences of others
- piperboytoy0
I deserve to be slapped in the face too. I'm probably too trusting for my own good, :-(
- Anetalaya0
I belive you can nevwer trust anyone. A few months ago, I had a jog, but then the office close because of the country-s situation. Then my boss called me to do a freelance job, of course I agreed, since we had a good business relationship. I finish the job (a website) and upload it; and he said "I'll came next wednesday to give you the check" I'm still waiting. Lucky me, the servers went down and so the website. A few days ago he sent me and email and ask me for the files, since the client was asking for the website again. I told him he needed to pay me first. He hasn't called yet.... trust noone.
- piperboytoy0
wow, good story anetalaya. Money really brings out the beast in everyone.