What Men Want in a Relationship celebrity discussion panel November 4, 2007

smartcommentss

MENAGE MAGAZINE: a magazine for cheating honest freelancers

This is to report a bad experience with someone who posted and is continuing to post and solicit work here. This was a straightforward case of web design; client approved of the work; client discussed ongoing maintenance and requested that I upload the site and supplied the account info in order for me to do so. The agreement to maintain the site was made on my part only in exchange for the unused disk space on the server, and free of charge; basically an act of good will and the best intentions on my part; Client also requested to pay half at that point, half after upload; here is when things got interesting. Although my policy is work first, pay later, upload last; on the assumption that I would be maintaining the site I foolishly thought I could trust the client.

The client never paid half first but I went ahead and uploaded the site. Agh. A few days later the client informed me that the site was "funky" and had reverted seemingly by itself to its previous state, which was a generic template that the client had made using the template builder provided with the web host. Hmm. This time client made a $50 payment, which was 1/2 of the 'half first' or 1/4 of the total payment; requesting me to again upload the site, and informing of the new password to the account, which had inexplicably been changed. Ok-? In an effort to be helpful I stated the obvious in asking the client whether they had used the template builder, which still had the old copy of the template stored, which the client denied as if being accused of something.

It was only a few days later when no further payment or instructions appeared from the client that I realized what was happening. The client had waited for me to upload the site, then promptly changed the password to shut me out. The client then stupidly attempted to use the template builder to modify the new website, instead reinstating the old one by mistake. I sent a two-page email, which went unanswered, patiently explaining the differences between the template editor and alternative means to edit the site, something I had contacted the client about two weeks earlier, requesting to set a time when we could put our heads together to implement a customized solution; a request that also had gone unanswered. I then wrote another two emails over the course of two days patiently explaining my position in our agreement, all the things I had done and were willing to do for the benefit of said client's website, and explaining that the agreed upon fee for the site was more than $50.

After a few days the client responded. This time I had apparently crossed the line and been irrevocably disrespectful in some with my 'smart comments'; and no further pay would be forthcoming. A copy of the letter follows.

Sadly, it is apparent that THIS CLIENT NEVER INTENDED TO PAY ME. It is unfortunate that so many take advantage of Craigslist's open market system to cheat and connive their way through the system. The link to the completed work for the client can be seen at: http dot nickysworld dot net. Thank you for taking the time to listen.