I am not sure is this the right section for this thread or not. Anyway here is my problem. This guy had a thread in sitepoint and he was looking for a template designer. I contacted him and discussed about the price and all. He told me to start. I made template like exactly what he said. When I finished the template and he had nothing else to modify on the template he told me that there is 5 more templates designed by other guys and he have to choose one from them. He never told me that there is the contest between 5 people until I finished the template. Now he said me that he took some other design , not mine. He have two websites. http://www.mindless-self-indulgence.com/ (This is the site for which I made the template.) http://heroesnbc.net/ This was the sitepoint thread from where I contacted him. http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=486949 I am not too much worried about the money but this is really very disgusting. He hired me for the job and didnt pay me even after when I made the template like exactly what he wanted. Any idea what should I do with him? I really want to do something against him .
He used others template. But he hired me to design the template and didnt say that my template might not be taken.
Did you guys have a deal when you contacted him? An agreed upon price and everything? If so, then you have a contract and you can demand that he pay pursuant to that contract. Enforcing it, if he refuses, is another issue.
There is nothing you can do unless Sitepoint have rules regarding your specific issue. Go out and sell the template so its not a total waste of your time.
there is nothing you can unless you both signed documentation. also think of this example: you go to mcdonalds..burger they give you is crapy are you going to pay for it i dont think so. same rule applies on the internet
Irrespective of where you negotiate on a job you should always get a contract signed and we would certainly require a deposit to be paid. If you dont you leave yourself open to all sorts of problems.
1. Don't do work until you're paid. 2. If you're not going to do a contract, at least get email correspondence back and forth about what EXACTLY is to take place. Here's a message to the people. Never EVER do contests. They are a waste of time and usually limited to the bottom-of-the-barrel talent and people. The only time I'd even begin to advocate doing them is when they are held by highly reputable companies like Google, Microsoft, and so forth. For talented people, they are almost always a waste of time. More money can be made simply servicing clients. It's too bad this guy didn't tell you it was a contest, but it sounds like there's a whole lot of "assuming" going on. Had you told him that he'd pay you immediately on delivery, I'm sure he would have spoken up. It looks like there's fault on both sides. I'd learn from this mistake and move forward. "Doing stuff" to people is only going to waste your time and bring potentially negative energy back on you. Take your template and sell it off then walk away.
IMHO, He shoulda told you that he was doing a contest. When I bought a design from someone, And I Disliked how it looked, I Told my designer "I don't like it, Fix this, Fix that, etc, etc" and he did it. And I ended up paying him the promised amount. Don't think you can do anything about it though. He shoulda been clearer on his terms before offering the work to you
The problem with this is that nothing will get done as if you paid first then it's normally the person doing the work that then doesn't come up with the goods or says they will do it really quickly and put all their effort into it and then you are left nagging for it months after words and they keep giving excuses.
if he really never told u that he use another 5 guy that he offer for the job. than he is really stupid. coz the benefit for telling that there are other competitor would encourage u to make better product
You should ask her/him for up front payment and that would give you atleast a good security that you own the project and no other designer will. Well, I have the same experience on what had happen to you but what can I say, atleast now you know, no more mistakes or misunderstanding like this will happen again right? I think you should sell the template that you've made and get a chance to recieve a much higher offer. who knows... That's ok coke you can still sell it...
I am not a lawyer but if you have everything written, you should win. Ask him to pay you and the others.
Well, you should take this as a good lesson for you and if you can't get a contract at least have something in written. For ex, prepare a list of questions including payment terms and have them reply to you in clear words. Once you have something in written you can not be duped.
he has 0 posts so thats also quite dodgey, but yeah get some payment even like 30% before starting a job, do you even ahev a screen shot of his post? becuase I notice he has edited it out.. but yeah sell the script make some cash off that.
What a bummer... But truly speaking there's nothing you can legally do to him as there were no agreement/contract, or any other document between you two. And forum post is not a valid proof, unfortunately. I agree you should have asked for at least 30% before even starting a job. For the future, be more careful...
Dude, it sucks, but a lot of people do business like that. He knew exactly what he was doing. He is an unscrupulous business person. It wasn't a mistake, or a mis understanding. I firmly believe he did it on purpose. I run across people like that all the time. Believe it or not, there are people in the domain game, that request to "test" the domain on their servers, before making a purchase, and unfortunately people fall for it. People like this do not last long in this business. Constant shortcuts, and unscrupulous behavior, will get them eventually, because their arrogance will make them take more and more chances, until they came across someone who is not to be played with. Nothing pisses me off more than someone assuming that my time is not valuable, or that I will accept what ever bull they throw at me. The only thing that you can take from the experience, is "The Experience", and never do it again. I personally would "out" him on every webmaster board so that he doesn't take another web professional for the same scam. If he is looking on the forums for this type of work, odds are, he will be back for some other services.
Yes cocaine, As hmansfield and others have said! It’s the nature of the beast (the good, the bad and the ugly) and sometimes we have to roll with the punches when doing business on the Net. I have had the same thing happen with a template I designed, thinking I would be getting money for it and did not. I spent a good amount of time on it as well, I know how it feels! Just try not to take it personal. It is most likely noting you did wrong. I have learned to screen my clients a little better before embarking on the actual work. Ask a few more questions, feel them out in a sense. We all like to consider our personal time as valuable and rightly so! It is valuable. I would do as others have said and utilize the time and work put into that template by, either selling it to someone that appreciates it. Or, by using it in your personal portfolio as an example of your work. We all learn as we go! Boulder