Report Offensive Message

I think it happens to us all and forewarned can certainly help. It's one of the reasons I don't work "by the project" anymore -- I charge a flat hourly fee, and they pay it on time, or I stop working. (Well, I wouldn't do that to an established client who always paid on time -- that requires a bit of faith...)

I've been burned more than once. Once, the project was nearly finished, except for a few interface gadgets, and I'm convinced he had an in-house employee with Access experience finish it up -- never paid me, never answered a single call... nothing -- just flat stole it. Since my projects are mostly small, the idea of paying a lawyer is out -- simply not worth it. And that makes it easier to charge as we go too.

But then, there's the other side of that -- the people who insist on a retainer when they don't have any real work for me at the present time, or... now, this was sweet -- the guy who paid me for my time when I wasn't even going to charge him! I did a little research, talked myself right out of a nice project because the next upgrade was going to give him exactly what he needed. I told him no charge, he asked me how many hours I'd spent on it, I told him, and a few days later I got a check! Nice!