PenguinPrincess

i work at a law firm and i just spoke with one of the lawyers. she says verbal contract is just as good as written. but she says it sounds like you got a good case, and this woman does not. she said to be sure bring anything and everything you have to court...ANY kind of documentation...maybe prototypes of the website that you did as she changed her mind? don't get mad or sound hot headed, be sure to be well spoken and seem educated and just...nice. sounds like this lady is crazy tho, so you shouldn't be too worried =)

evsoul

iTrader: (1)

The way I see it is, she is the only one who broke the contract if there was any. Which I think the only contract was that I would make her a site and use paypal as her shopping cart.. she then told me no we are going with linkpoint online cart and you have one month to finish this.

She put a deadline on it suddenly.
And an FYI only her and I were around for any kind of verbal contract.

STi_4_Keri

See...watching Judge Judy is beneficial. But business law and learning about torts was interesting too.

STi_4_Keri

You really have nothing to worry about. She could make any claim she wants about your work ethics. You are obviously being underpaid for the amount of work she is asking to be put into her website. Take your work and all documentation to a professional and get an estimate of how much they charge to make a website for her and the estimated time it would take for them to finish it. If it is to your liking, use that in court in your favor and prove that you are trying to put that much amount of time between 2 jobs and school. The judge will find it in your favor if other people/places charge way more for web design. She's basically "getting her money's worth."

evsoul

iTrader: (1)

Ya, I would maintain a professional appearance and attitude in there.

I have the website but no old versions really because i saved over them.

er sucks. cause I am sure she would lie too. But she has less documentation than me.

And even if we agreed on a deadline... that wouldn't hold up in court.. correct me if i am wrong.. because she added more to the plate as we went along correct? So asking me to keep the same deadline yet she added more work.. how is that supposed to be fair?

and -j- i did it cheap because I wanted to be fricken nice. I am an idiot. Never Again.

tamashi523

iTrader: (2)

yeah man I watch those court shows all the time during my lunch break at work. She can't get you for anything. No contract plus its more of a he said she said. she is saying she gave u a deadline u are saying you guys never talked about a deadline. most of the time the judge can tell who is lying.

ldivinag

iTrader: (3)

good luck dude...

verbal contracts can be a *****, even though it looks like you have the ball on your court...

defending lawsuits... arrggggggggg......


on a side note, if you have any lawyers on your family... or friends who are lawyers, might as well be a good time to start getting chummy with them, just in case...

tamashi523

iTrader: (2)

yeah man get a second opinion go find a website building company and find the cost, length of time and all that other stuff to bring into court as proof in ur defense. You would totally win!

DetailAddict

iTrader: (52)

i think you'll be okay, but also make this a lesson for yourself. always put it in writing to protect yourself. always backup your sources (some kind of source safe control would be nice).

i thought of going into web design/maintenance once. had a client that was just as bad as yours. Good thing I had everything in writing and source safe. We terminated the contract early (agreed between both parties) and we went our separate ways.

last i heard he switch webmaster 3 times and the site has gotten worst and worst. and now he is looking for another webmaster...

Shazam321

iTrader: (1)

i would say that you should probably meet with a lawyer and see what he says. the lawyer might be able to write a letter to her telling that she has no case and you might counter-sue or something like that. may save you a lot of headaches and time. also realize you are loosing money every day that you spend in court or dealing with her, because you aren't working.

huck

iTrader: (25)

tell her to suck it

TurnWRX

iTrader: (3)

if u win the case, just quit the website thing for her and leave her stranded

Ipecac

iTrader: (11)

Delete all of the files of her site. Give back any money she paid you, and tell her to **** herself.

I do some freelance myself, and I know it can be a ***** dealing with people. Seeing as you are already in the red on this project, you should just dump and tell her to work with someone else. There is no way she can get this project completed by another designed for any less than 6k.

Either that or write up another invoice outlining all hours you were going to devote to the original project. Divide that by the agreed price ($500), ex: 20hrs at the $500 would be $25 an hour (more than reasonable for a designer). Then outline where ever the scope of the project changed, add additional hours for the work plus any additional hours on drive time, as a contractor you can legally bill for all additional costs. Times all the additional hours by your original rate of $25 dollars. Include that no deadlines were agreed upon for the additional work and bill her. When she refuses to pay, sue her.

Just make sure you get all of your paper work tight. There is no way she should be able to beat you. Go for the small claims max or $7,500.

evsoul

iTrader: (1)

^^thanks for the advice man.

I put in well over 100 hours into this.. between talking to her in person, working on the site, making changes.. not to mention the driving time or money spent on gas.

I have definitely learned my lesson here.. I am going to work up a contract after all this is done and use that template for all jobs from now on. I will touch base on everything in the contract.

DetailAddict

iTrader: (52)

here is a good start... good luck!
http://www.lawdepot.com/