[thelist] Worst Dev Project Of The Year Contest

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Warden, Matt
> 
> Seems like a lose-lose for me. If it wasn't for the kharma and the loss of a
> business relationship (and a good one, at that), I'd go with b. Plus, I have
> been given an up-front payment, so I'd have to return that as well (even
> though I've already built the DB and imported the data). What do y'all
> think?

my opinion? well...

if you allow yourself to get screwed now, you're jsut setting a precedent to get screwed in the 
future... so be careful how much you budge...

i assume you have no contract... and i assume even if you do, there is no statement about the 
client having to deliver the goods on time in order for you to meet your deadlines... did you at 
least convey that?

my response would be to talk to the guy... explain that when you had said it would take four 
weeks, that was four weeks from obtaining the *final* content... just walk him through it 
logically and calmly... make sure it is non-combative... make sure you are completely honest, 
this isn't a negotiation, this is explaining the situation to him so he understands the options you 
will present, and maybe he can come up with his own... if he doesn't understand that after the 
explanation, that's not a good business relationship anyway, and you may wish to reconsider 
it...

then you need to explain that you still need four weeks... if they need it sooner, they have 
some options...

- get a bare-bones version up and running and add the rest of the functional capability later 
(not always a good idea)...
- pay an out-of-scope or rush rate above and beyond what you quoted... it's the client's fault, 
not yours, so they pay... 
- take 4 weeks anyway after you've explained it...
- scuttle the job, turn over the db, the data, and the work to date, and keep the amount of $$ 
that was worth (don't pad it)... it's their problem now and you still get paid what you worked... 
there's nothing for them to challenge, and only a wanker would use a lawyer, but you'd be set 
anyway...

in the end, you are not in a lose-lose situation, it's just a difficult one... if what you describe is 
accurate, you did nothing wrong except not explicitly say that your deliverable date is wholly 
dependent on the client meeting the deadline...

i bet you won't make that mistake again in the future...