Securing payment for site you developed

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psyc

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I had to design and build a site for a company, now the problem is that from the start I tried to get them to sign a contract stating payment term ect.
Yet I still dnt have a signed contract from them.
When to their offices on Wednesday to transfer the site over to their hosting company. They stated that a deposit will be payed as soon as the site is live and then there will be a 7 day period where changes can be made as requested after which the full amount have to be settled.
So sitting in their offices they just wasted time "looking for a username and password". After about an hour of just hanging around I said Ill be leaving and they can just mail me the details and Ill get to it asap.
I uploaded the site to their servers and made it live (still no contract signed).
Now today I requested that the deposit needs to be payed and there is another story, they want me to come in tomorrow morning and discuss the site, which feels to me like they just buying time to copy the code and then just dnt pay.

I have since moved there site to a domain i own and redirect their site to mine and removed the code from their servers to protect myself.

Now what are the legal way to get them to pay or am i now stuck with a site that took me weeks to develop(250 pages)?

Is it legal to put a image of their site with red lines through saying please pay your developer?

Really confused about what is the right path to follow
 
Just take the site down, leave an "Under construction" page up and see what happens when they notice.

No contract, no work, no pay
 
Do not put it live until you get full payment. Surely such a large site would have gone through internal testing before live deployment? They should have paid you basically as soon as testing was completed, and let their internal IT staff handle deployment.

I would tell them that unless you receive a 50% deposit immediately, you will not help them anymore. No change requests, no coming in for a discussion, no nothing.

Its already on their servers, which is a problem. If it wasnt, I would tell you to simply sit on it. They will pay because they need it. But because its there, I'm not sure whether you can legally delete it without getting into hot water. Those servers are their property, and there is no contract proving that the software is your property. So if you delete it now, without their permission, they might be able to charge you with something. Not sure of that though.

In future, get hard ball about it. Do not let clients do this to you.

Tell them that they must pay you a deposit immediately, and sign a contract guaranteeing the rest 7 days after go live, after bugs of a certain severity have been fixed. You need to define carefully what you mean by bugs, otherwise they will have you doing free maintenance for the rest of your life. They must pay you for the work you have done, and if they want more, they must pay you for that too.

Incidentally, what is the name of the company? Just curious. You can PM it to me if you prefer.

EDIT: Oh, you have already removed the code? Okay, dont stress about what I said about legal trouble, I'm sure they wont try that. They owe you money, and they know it. Tell them you wont lift a finger to help them until you get your deposit and a signed contract. Leave the ball in their court. Dont chase them.
 
Never start a project until you have a signed quote/contract. But, i guess you've figured that much out already.

I personally would go see them tomorrow and tell them you'll finish the site and go live once full payment is received. Though you might not have a contract you probably have some written emails confirming some of the details? This could always back you up if they don't pay.
 
I have now removed all my content and put up a under construction sign.
All my mails, smses and calls have bin ignored since the site was made live.
Think my next step if i dnt get a reply soon will be to post all over the net as shady people like this shouldn't be doing business.
Or do you think im in the wrong as I wasted 2weeks of my live on this?
 
You arent in the wrong, you were just too trusting. Sad that there is such a thing as being too trusting, but there is.

No, they shouldnt be doing business. Still want to know who it is.
 
So my girlfriend just got a message from them saying that they are firing her since we are so persistent (forgot to say that she works for them).
Im arranging a meeting with them for tomorrow morning.
What are my legal rights as now Im determent to take them down.
And dnt worry you will hear soon enough what the name of this company is.
 
Well they just did over an sms to her.
They are just fueling my fire
 
Thought as much.

Dont even waste time, get your GF to go directly to the CCMA. Whatever you do, do not give in to their demands regarding the website until you have at least part payment and a signed contract.

The CCMA will laugh and then throw the book at this company. And its a heavy book!
 
For me half the job for websites is getting the quote out of the way and getting them to sign off/half payment up front +-, this means it's a commitment from both sides.
It's rely important to come across fare and upfront, so they think your a professional and from there on having respect goes both ways. Most of the time people don't think coding a site is hard, they just see the final picture.
Coding is the fun part, hope every thing works out for you psyc

Inspirational video on getting what your worth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE
 
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What ever you do, dont delete the sms- that is no grounds for a dismissal- the ccma will own them.

In future, never start a project until you have a 50% deposit, even if its a big lucrative contract. rule of thumb, if they're not willing to pay the deposit, you're going to have problems with payment later on.
 
Im not sure what grounds you have for anything if you have no contract in place. But likewise, they dont have any grounds either, and firing your gf is probably the only thing they could do to pressure/bully you into a corner to just deliver. People like this are scum and dont deserve to be in business. Despite the mistakes you have made (huge, huge errors in judgement) you should take it upon yourself to teach them a huge lesson in doing business.

Importantly, you must name and shame them. Sounds like it would suck if anyone else had to work with them!
 
Sorry bro,

It's never cool when someone tries to pull one over on you.. We live and we learn..

Not to be to judgmental but after this incident and the way they have treated your girlfriend, does she really still want a job there. Tell them to go Fck themselves. Get a labor lawyer involved and they will soon start shtting themselves, Most small family owned businesses theses days can't afford to deal with issues like these in court and quickly change their tune.. They are bully's and they are just hoping you will go away quietly. Don't give them the satisfaction. Get your girlfriend to start looking for a new job either way.

The state of the average small business annoys the sht out me, In my opinion people that can't manage there businesses properly should be forced out of the industry they are in by business that put a bit more effort into management in general.

I see 2 types of bosses in this world, the ones that try get you to work by instilling fear into you and the ones that provide a nurturing environment. The latter makes you respect the person more which in turn makes you more productive.. Good people managing skills can improve your productivity easily by 25 to 35%.

Good luck dude.. Take what you can from the experience so you don't have to repeat it... ;)
 
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