Goodday House, am quite in a fix, i completed a job for my client, after being satisfied with my job, he hasn't paid my balance which
is meant to cater for the design itself, is going to 2weeks after submitting my invoice, do i keep disturbing them and hope they will
pay or i remove my design from the server, i want to know whether is professional to do that, and how long do i wait that is considered
long enough before i begin to take action.

I will be glad to here from people that have experienced such situations.

All your fault bro. I cannot advice how to get out of this and I dunno why a thing like this still happens? There's more to web development than just the finished site. Maybe you should start looking to do some study on the business aspect of web development. Below is an excerpt that is included in all web design contracts I embark on and I follow the contract document to the last letter.

The document is signed by all parties involved before and after completion.

Dual Core:

All your fault bro. I cannot advice how to get out of this and I dunno why a thing like this still happens? There's more to web development than just the finished site. Maybe you should start looking to do some study on the business aspect of web development. Below is an excerpt that is included in all web design contracts I embark on and I follow the contract document to the last letter.

The document is signed by all parties involved before and after completion.

Well we learn everyday, i have already made that mistake not stating that in my proposal, but now that the mistake has been made what do u advice i do next to rectify the problem.

hi, give him/her some weeks or months and see his/her reaction
pray to GOD
if no respond call 08035057766
i know how to deal with such people

It's advisable to host sample websites on your server.

If time permits, you may read the following short article

How web developers can better handle website projects

Posted by abcn on 2009-09-09 12:10:51 PM

http://afamnnaji.com/articles/article_detail.php?id=67

taking off your job from the site doesnt guarantee your pay,but does them more good because they will have the right to say you took off your job. The mistake has already been done, all you can do is keep pestering, give them some time, and if they still refuse to come up with your pay, you can start trying "funny" stuffs. there are whole lot of ways to make them regret!

But next time, you 've got to adhere to principles. like Afam stated in his write up, 70% is enough committment for a job to start, and 30% balance on completion and satisfaction shown by the client.

I wish you good luck bro!

Give them a little time.

Are you providing hosting service to them or are they hosting with someone else? If you are providing hosting, then you have nothing much to worry about. If they have paid part of the money, they wouldnt want to forfeit everything by not paying up.

If you are providing hosting, give another three weeks then send them an official mail telling them that the hosting service(which you provide through your partners abroad), has expired its one month test/grace/trial/ period and as such, the payment for the hosting(which incidentally is part of the amount they owe you) needs to be paid immediately or the hosting service will go down since you need to update your hosting partners on payments and invoices.

I need to tell you though, that some companies can owe you up to a month or two after job completion and thats not always a reason to go fighting.You are apparently just starting and need all the goodwill you can get. You need to build your portfolio and you can only do that by having your references up and running for all to see.

I have same experience now, just have patience my dear.

Lol. Funny tread. Honestly Dual is right, i had to also learn most things from him (Indirectly) Business branding and good business skill.

But the way forward is patience, cause i think if you remove it, they may as well not contact you again, and all your mindset, effort and stress will be in vane. Since you said they are satisfied with the job, just keep softly appealing to them, and also try lobbying one or two staffs there.

@Donline. You and this your call this and that. Abeg help this guy here, many others may fall into the same scenario.

@Afam. That write up is hilarious but highly useful.

I usually tell clients that throw insults around that the money they paid was for the project and does not give them any right to insult me and that if they want me to forward a quote that will cover insults they should just let me know and I will send to them.


Never do a free demo or presentation - I have lost projects due to this but at the end of the day some of them return after bad experiences with others and for those that don't come back to you they respect you even though they don't like your guts. I tell them time is money and that I could develop a static website from start to finish by the time I come back from any free demo or presentation.

Men Demos are bad idea ohhh. Clients always never come back after a demo!!!

Thanks for all your replies, its good to know you people care about each other, as for the client, i was planning to remove from the server at the end of this month, but after reading ur comments i will be patient and take it as a life experience and use it improve my business side of the business, but its so frustrating after having series of meeting to fine tune the work and you don't get paid, well i will be patient for 1 month max, after that i will remove the design to another server and still reference that job as part of my portfolio.

@DualCore Gr8 point on having a CONTRACT I just can't stress the importance of this.

@Afam gr8 article u have there bro.

MY SIMPLE UNWRITTEN RULES:

1.Make ur clients Sign CONTRACTS - "If its not in PRINT its NOT that IMPORTANT" - Make ur potential client sign this before u begin any work.

2. Never do any demos or samples - its a waste of time, the client will look for someone cheaper to do the work eventually. If he/she insists on having a demo or sample tell him/her to have a look at ur portfolio.

3. Discuss the amount and mode of payment before hand - I have found that having them pay 100% before the work begins avoids unnecessary problems. Trust me a client that is ready to pay 100% or 80% before the job is a serious one. U pay 100% for ur air ticket before u board the plane so why should web design be any different?

4. No Refunds - Let them know in the contract that if they decide to stop the web project for any reason that there will be no REFUNDS at all. Again this helps u get only quality clients that know what they really want.

5. Don't be Cheap - If u follow the above rules it can be really hard at the beginning to get clients as they are TOUGH. But once u get good clients make sure to charge them reasonable amounts. Its better to do 2 websites for 500k each than 10 websites for 100k each. The former is less stressful as u r dealing with just 2 quality clients.

6. Don't Be Afraid to fire the Client - if any client becomes stubborn e.g doesn't pay on time or simply stressing you don't be afraid to get rid of him/her no matter how long u have been together. Staying with this client will even hinder ur performance on other clients' projects.

NOW TO MY ADVICE
If u feel u have given that client enough time. Just be bold and walk away such clients aren't worth it at all. Don't look at it that u wasted ur time. In fact u have saved urself a lot of time in the future following up such a client to pay. Now since you have learned a vital lesson don't repeat such a mistake with the next client.

Welcome to the Real World of Web Design! Good Luck

500K that's a wooping sum. I will stop web development and pack to my village.

Donpuzo:

500K that's a wooping sum. I will stop web development and pack to my village.

LOL just an example though its possible to get that if only you find the right client!

Sure and depends on the nature of the site naaaa.

Shoo but, seriously i been fear ohhh. i go just go one house my papa build 4 edo state, Go marry one girl dey sleep there.

Donpuzo:

Sure and depends on the nature of the site naaaa.

Shoo but, seriously i been fear ohhh. i go just go one house my papa build 4 edo state, Go marry one girl dey sleep there.

Haha! once you have such goals u won't be afraid to ask for such kind of payment!

Men, I go dey bill 2wice of that now self, Make i know say things go level uppp.

Both hope say no be slap i go get from client, cause Nigerian clients are not smiling ohhh

@Dualcore, you try sef, most times i collect 70% to 100% of the fees before starting any web dev. job

bros help me unlock my mtn 3g modem IMEI-353443042963210.
send give me for larrygates97@yahoo.com

mikkyphp:

@Dualcore, you try sef, most times i collect 70% to 100% of the fees before starting any web dev. job

GBAM!!! 80% upfront or nothing for me.

Been faced with stubborn clients (2) of late and i just had to kick their b-u-t-t and let them go.
I felt bad initially but mehn! life goes on afterall. Good radiance to bad rubbish.

The more you charge a client, the more respect you get from the clients.

That's why i feel so sad when people charge as little as 20k for a website.

I charge according to THE TIME SPENT ON A JOB

Well have bigger targets rather than the guy in that pharmaceutical shop or the woman who runs that bukka down the road.

larrygates:

bros help me unlock my mtn 3g modem IMEI-353443042963210.
send give me for larrygates97@yahoo.com

@larry: I've snt ur unlock code to your email ad. Hv fun!