To make a long story short, we have used a company in Ukraine to program a complex web page that we have designed. It was supposed to take 3 months, but after over 1 year it is still not finished. The website is 90% ready, but every time they fix a bug they make 10 new bugs - and I do not know if we dare to continue to use them. I have made a few websites before, but this is the most excruciating experience I’ve ever been through. In addition, the company now want us to pay them the final amount (that was supposed to be paid when the page was finished) + hourly rate of the hours they spend on getting the page ready - even though we have not made any changes in design or content. In addition they write the number of hours with a fork when we compare the number of hours on similar projects that we have worked on earlier. What I wonder is: - Is it smart to find a new company to make the site ready, or should I torment myself even more to get them to do the job 100% done? - Will a new company be skeptical to complete a project that others have developed? - I reckon that it is an open code that has been used to program the Web site. Can a new company have trouble finish coding the website? - They have installed the Web page on our dedicated server in USA. Will we need the codes to the web company in Ukraine before a new company can finish programming our Web page? I do not want to pay them the final amount for the completion of the website if they do not finish it. - I have heard a lot of positive things about programmers in the Philippines. Have any of you experience with freelancers or a company that you can recommend for some advanced projects? Regards from one who is in the process of developing a large ulcer!
In general: It is always difficult to correct another persons work. However it is not impossible. If they posted the page on your server, then your best bet is to change the password so that they cannot do any harm. Specifics: To give you a better idea on how to proceed, it is necessary to know a little more about that page. What language is it written in (php, java, JS, c# etc....) Does it need a database (SQL???) Server type, Windows/Unix/Linux etc... And most important, what is the page supposed to do? There are plenty of good programmers all over the world, the differ only on concepts of TQC&H (Time, Quality Assurance, Cost and Honesty).
This will depend on your initial agreement/contract. If they said that final payment would be required upon 100% completion, and you deem it to not be complete (according to the agreement) then you have the right to not pay them the final amount. HOWEVER, you have to understand that a great deal of time and effort was put in place and even 90% completion is very close, they still deserve to get paid, but a slightly smaller amount seems to be warranted in this case. They can't justify 100% payment for something they spent 4 times as long doing, and didn't even finish. That is simply incompetence, so you shouldn't have to pay them, but you should refer back to your original agreement and sort it out with them directly. Also, as for getting someone else to finish the project, it is at your discretion depending on how much time they quote you and if there is any additional costs (hopefully they aren't since they stated that it should only cost a certain amount, so they should hold to their agreement). And in the mean time, you can always go and get a quote from other companies/individuals to see if you can get a better price to complete the work. There might be programmers who are willing to do it.
Seek some legal advice, if a project goes nine months overdue I'm pretty sure you would not be expected to pay up the total amount especially if any of the issues were forseeable? You could probably find a company who will offer a consulatation on the project and how to proceed, even if they do charge a might end up cheaper if get a clear plan of action now.
you should go back to your contract and see if any of the extra payments are in there, if they are then you might need to pay them. it's harder for other people to continue with someone else code unless they have done a good job documenting their process.