Will not PAY!

[Al50]

Hi All,

Need a bit of guidance - Last year we had a customer approach us to make changes on there website. After looking at the website it was in a state as there previous website developer apparently abandon them. I advised they where better off starting from scratch but they insisted they didn't have the money and just wanted points on the website fixed. I asked them to send through a task list which we both agreed a price on. After spending days sorting the website out I get another huge list which wasn't in the original quote - I said this wasn't in the original quotation and would quote for the additional work. They did not proceed with the additional work. After sending them the invoice they complained and said some points where not fixed, which where out of my control due to licensing - I sent them instructions on how to get licensed. We are not really getting anywhere in resolving this as emails go back and forth. Where do I stand here? I am thinking of reverting the changes back to before I started the work - however this will prevent them from processing website orders? is this something I am legally allowed to do?

Any advice would be grand.

Many Thanks

 

[ethical PR]

Letter before action. If they don't pay Small Claims Court.

Does your contract with them allow you to reverting the website back to before changes were made in the event of non payment?

 

[Al50]

No official contract in place - all agreements have been done via email....

 

[Big G]

As Ethical PR has said above you need to outline your full claim within a letter before action informing them that you will issue county court proceedings if they do not pay.

What you can or cannot do with regards to the website will depend entirely on what your T's & C's say. If you did not produce T's & C's then I would strongly advise that you do not do anything that will potentially result in them making a loss as they may then have a very valid counterclaim against you.

How much is outstanding? Is it a limited company or sole trader?

 

[Al50]

It's a limited company - the outstanding is £500...

 

[Paul Norman]

As a general rule, if someone approaches you saying 'my previous website company abandonned me', it is worth investigating.

It is likely, as in this case, that their previous provider got to the point you are at.

You can chase the money legally, but its going to get complicated as they will defend. That is other people's area of expertise rather than mine.

But this is a reminder of why in the website business you need to get a substantial deposit before you start work.

 

[ethical PR]

@Al50

You really need to change your T&Cs it's poor business practice to take on a new client without getting them to pay up front for the work.

When I worked agency side we always credit checked clients before taking them on and charged up front. (Learnt the hard work after getting burnt badly).

 

[thelegalstop]

I would agree that you need to start from a letter before action and outline your claims in writing. You may want to consider other forms of settlement, for example via a third party on which you can both agree. If they decide not to engage with that, a small claims court would be your next step.