- Original Poster
- #1
Hello,
This is my first post, so sorry if its in the wrong forum.
I have been running a part time web design business for the past 12 months. I have a lot of happy customers, but one customer has cut contact and has ignored my first invoice. I have never ran my own business before, so a lot of this is new to me.
I quoted the customer 4 to 5 weeks to complete a website, including a few static pages, an e-commerce area to the site, and a seperate section to sell number plates using the code he provided (to keep coding costs down). The customer specifically asked for the site to be completed within 5 weeks.
The customer provided me with the code for the number plates, and I agreed to make small changes to the code so it didnt look out of place with the rest of the website. The code didnt function or look how the customer expected it to, and he asked me to make change after change to this code, which I did, and have not increased the quote for, out of good will.
The site is now almost complet. But it is around 4 months after the initial quote, through no fault of my own, but because the cusomer kept requesting changes to be made to the code he supplied, and he took weeks to reply to emails and to send information I required to continue work on the site.
I am still waiting for the remaining text from the customer to be displayed on certain pages. This text will be no more than half an A4 page of writing (to give details about the company, and the products). Once I receive this text, the site will be complete. But he is holding back this text, because I dont think he wants to pay for the website.
After sending many emails, and speaking to the customer on the phone I waited weeks for this information to be sent, I received bits and bobs but not everything, so I sent an email explaining that if I didnt receive the text to complete the site within 14 days, I would send an invoice for the work completed to date.
The customer didnt send any information, so I sent an invoice asking for 85% of the remaining amount which I feel is more than fair (I received a £100 deposit before starting the site). The invoice stated 30 days to pay, and gave payment methods.
It has been over 30 days and I have still not heard back from the customer.
I assume he does not want this site any more, leaving me with a useless website, and a lot of time spent working on his site/code with only a £100 deposit received.
What is the best thing to do next?
1) Send a 2nd and final payment reminder? Although Im sure he will ignore this too.
2) Start legal proceedings. If so, is Small Claims Court the best bet?
3) Give up and put it down to a learning curve because I am not likely to get the money, whatever I do.
Sorry that this post is long, but I thought it would be best to put as much info as possible.
Thank you,
Neil
This is my first post, so sorry if its in the wrong forum.
I have been running a part time web design business for the past 12 months. I have a lot of happy customers, but one customer has cut contact and has ignored my first invoice. I have never ran my own business before, so a lot of this is new to me.
I quoted the customer 4 to 5 weeks to complete a website, including a few static pages, an e-commerce area to the site, and a seperate section to sell number plates using the code he provided (to keep coding costs down). The customer specifically asked for the site to be completed within 5 weeks.
The customer provided me with the code for the number plates, and I agreed to make small changes to the code so it didnt look out of place with the rest of the website. The code didnt function or look how the customer expected it to, and he asked me to make change after change to this code, which I did, and have not increased the quote for, out of good will.
The site is now almost complet. But it is around 4 months after the initial quote, through no fault of my own, but because the cusomer kept requesting changes to be made to the code he supplied, and he took weeks to reply to emails and to send information I required to continue work on the site.
I am still waiting for the remaining text from the customer to be displayed on certain pages. This text will be no more than half an A4 page of writing (to give details about the company, and the products). Once I receive this text, the site will be complete. But he is holding back this text, because I dont think he wants to pay for the website.
After sending many emails, and speaking to the customer on the phone I waited weeks for this information to be sent, I received bits and bobs but not everything, so I sent an email explaining that if I didnt receive the text to complete the site within 14 days, I would send an invoice for the work completed to date.
The customer didnt send any information, so I sent an invoice asking for 85% of the remaining amount which I feel is more than fair (I received a £100 deposit before starting the site). The invoice stated 30 days to pay, and gave payment methods.
It has been over 30 days and I have still not heard back from the customer.
I assume he does not want this site any more, leaving me with a useless website, and a lot of time spent working on his site/code with only a £100 deposit received.
What is the best thing to do next?
1) Send a 2nd and final payment reminder? Although Im sure he will ignore this too.
2) Start legal proceedings. If so, is Small Claims Court the best bet?
3) Give up and put it down to a learning curve because I am not likely to get the money, whatever I do.
Sorry that this post is long, but I thought it would be best to put as much info as possible.
Thank you,
Neil
