A shonky web developer is ripping me off. Help!

Hi Aunty B,

Please help!

In late March this year we commissioned a web design/development company to build our website as well as design our logo and stationery.

The estimate was that the entire project would take two months to complete… You guessed it – not finished and doesn’t appear near to being finished. To cut a long story short, the “project manager” promises a lot and delivers little, hardly ever returns calls, rarely keeps his promises and has never met a deadline in spite of extension after extension after extension. 

I have now “threatened” to cancel the project by Friday 31st if the project is not finished, which I am pretty sure it won’t be.

We have paid half the costs and to date the only items which are complete and signed off on are the stationery and logo. My gut feeling is that they are not serious about completing this job and very little time and effort has been put in.

My questions are: what would be the best way forward, what recourse do I have and what are my legal rights in terms of obtaining the source code, which is supposed to be passed on to us when final payment is made on completion of the project? I understand a new developer would need this to finish the project.

Andy B

Dear Andy B,

Gee. It is only two months late by my reckoning. That’s not late for some web developers who operate on “nerd time” – not real time.

I have asked our legal adviser Uncle P (Peter Vitalie) and he says these are the things you must do:

• don’t terminate or suspend the project without first obtaining legal advice about your options, and;
  
• make sure you have complied with your contractual obligations.

The bad news is that depending on the terms of the contract you may have trouble recovering the source code without a separate agreement.

I know how furious you are. But web developers are notorious for being poor managers. If I was you I would go over and see them. Sit down with them and try to come to an agreement over what has been done so far and the money paid.

What is their problem? Do they lack the expertise? Are they too busy with other jobs? Poor managers? Resources allocated to more lucrative jobs? Are they crooks? Try to get them to see your problem and ask them for a solution. Your aim is to come away with as much as you can to hand to a new developer.

But be aware that a new developer has you over a barrel in terms of price and won’t necessarily do a better job.

And be very careful about your selection process. It’s better to have a temporary website while you scope your project properly and conduct due diligence to ensure you get a good developer, rather than rush to complete what might be a flawed project plan.

Has anyone else got any suggestions?

Your Aunty B

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