Bad contract or stubborn developer

1 points by videoappeal 14 years ago | 1 comment

Whilst travelling I agreed to do a contract for a company I worked for previously, they knew after a few months travelling that I decided to live in asia (trip to thailand = fall in love) and we agreed a fantastic flat rate per month (so I could continue) under the condition they dont muck about with invoices (they said fine), I charge GBP2.2k a month and they do at least 15 full working days per month. I've contributed to various open source projects and previously I was on 327-400 quid a day in london (means nothing if you see the numpties Ive worked with), I continously strive to better my understanding and program in clojure, python, c# and whatever else takes my fancy etc..

Now instead of the usual 7 day invoice turn around (condition of rate) its been 55day and now 30 minutes ago the website is down and Im going to bed.. Bad idea? Ive sent 5 automated reminder via invoice SAS and 3 emails, so I figure Id wait until I have 5 emails back?

kls 14 years ago |

Did you take the website down or did it just crash? If it just crashed and they are past due on an invoice, then that is their issue and I agree it's not your worry if you are not getting paid. Payment is a huge issue in our industry and a lot of it is due to ignorance or inexperience on the clients part. That does not excuse the issue but it is a real issue. If you are inclined you can try to educate the client or you can look to broaden your client base so that you are not at the whims of political decision making on their part. Either way, if you did not take the site down, and you had an agreement as to the terms of payment and they are not meeting that agreement then you are under no obligation to support them. Doing so just deepens the hole you are in with them. Any client that cannot see this is being unreasonable and you should look to find new reasonable clients.