I'm posting this here because there seem to be a lot of independent
consultants here. (You won't get anywhere if you accuse me of being
off-topic, because the story does involve PHP and MySQL.) I've taken the
trouble of writing up a tale of a deadbeat client and small claims court,
and you can read it at http://broughton.ca/content/view/38
My purpose in doing this is to help others avoid the same mistakes I did.

It's long, and if you don't want to read the whole thing, you can skip to
the recommendations on "page 7".

--
Bob Broughton
http://broughton.ca/
Vancouver, BC, Canada
"I am talking about impeachment... If (George W. Bush) commits oral sex in
the Oval Office, and I don't care with whom, that will be the straw that
broke the camel's back. Out he goes." - Kurt Vonnegut, Oct. 7, 2005

posts like that are always helpful. sorry you got burned bro but it's
happened to all of us. hopefully your post will blacklist these creeps with
other developers although have you not opened yourself to potential libel
claims?

one rule of thumb that keeps all that from happening is to develop on your
own servers and only release code when final payment is made. i only get
screwed when i ignore the rules.

besides, i though all the creeps were in the US. how does this happen in
decent, civil CA?

"Robert Broughton" finished with:
Wow. That's a lot of money and a lot of stress.

At least the other party is in the same city as you, so small claims
court was an option. You wouldn't be able to get anywhere if the
client was in another country.

Seeing as we're neighbours...if you'd like an audience for support,
let me know when there's a date for the hearing on p. 6, and I'll try
to make it.

To make the subject bigger, what precautions do you (the plural you)
take with large contracts with clients who don't live in your city or
country? I have clients in several countries, but my projects are
small in comparison, so my risk is small. Do you take different
precautions with local clients?

Lois
--
www.wordsweave.com

Sitting in the departure lounge at alt.www.webmaster, Robert Broughton
got bored and wrote:

An interesting read, thanks for posting it. Could you possibly post back
here if and when you update the article?

--
Dylan Parry
http://electricfreedom.org -- Where the Music Progressively Rocks!

Usenet: The first post is free, but the next will cost you your soul.

Carved in mystic runes upon the very living rock, the last words of
trevor of alt.www.webmaster make plain:

The statement(s) must be false to constitute defamation.

--
Alan Little
Phorm PHP Form Processor
http://www.phorm.com/

Look into the Graphic Artist Guild www.gag.org and their Handbook of pricing
and ethical practices. Mostly geared to GA but applies to web and software
as well. Look at the copy right discussion. The book is part of the
membership or you can buy from a book seller.

One key element is the license (note I do not say all rights or copy right)
do not transfer until the fees are paid.

Makes SCC almost moot as under DCMA the host isp is almost compelled to pull
the plug.

YMMV I'm not an attorney and don;to play one on the internet.

"Robert Broughton" <rbronews2@broug8hton.ca> wrote in message
news:dk95ug$qqf$1@venn.bc.ca...
| I'm posting this here because there seem to be a lot of independent
| consultants here. (You won't get anywhere if you accuse me of being
| off-topic, because the story does involve PHP and MySQL.) I've taken the
| trouble of writing up a tale of a deadbeat client and small claims court,
| and you can read it at http://broughton.ca/content/view/38
| My purpose in doing this is to help others avoid the same mistakes I did.
|
| It's long, and if you don't want to read the whole thing, you can skip to
| the recommendations on "page 7".
|
| --
| Bob Broughton
| http://broughton.ca/
| Vancouver, BC, Canada
| "I am talking about impeachment... If (George W. Bush) commits oral sex in
| the Oval Office, and I don't care with whom, that will be the straw that
| broke the camel's back. Out he goes." - Kurt Vonnegut, Oct. 7, 2005

yes, but all you need to drag someone into court is a hungry lawyer.