First off, do not commit suicide. You say you've been entertaining the idea so these problems are too serious for you to not seek professional help. You're ill, there's no shame in this, but treat it as seriously as you would any other illness. Call the Samaritans and speak to your doctor. Do not do anything that will make your health worse.
As to the legal situation, hire a lawyer. Seriously. You've said your client has hired legal aid in your country, you should immediately stop talking to the client and speak only through a lawyer. You could inadvertently make the problem worse by saying the wrong thing. Things like "I agree I am responsible for his losses", for example, you lawyer would stop you from saying. You aren't acting in isolation here and you're not in the business of insuring your client. If your client is spending $6k over the course of a year on something that, if it fails, will lose him hundreds of thousands and he doesn't act to protect his own interests then he is partially at fault.
You've made some mistakes here but you're not the only one. It's not the end of the world, everything can be salvaged. I know people that have been in a similar position and less than a year later it was sorted, they had a better job and were happy. Do not give up, do not try and solve this alone, you need help from people who aren't so close to the project.
So it looks like you took a job for a fixed price.
you could have opted for time and material but you did not.
When you work fixed price, you need to have a fixed scope.
It is completely normal to have discussions with the customer on the scope of the project. the key is to see this negotiation as a way to ask more money from your customer.
I have the impression from your description that at the start of the project you did not define the scope in detail and that now you battle with the interpretation your customer makes from your scope description and your interpretation of that same description. Every time you hear your customer saying something you did not expect, you need to formally put on paper that that was not your interpretation and that your customers interpretation will be seen as a (scope) change request and will result in a new offer (= added cash)
so you should stop coding and start better defining what the scope is of the work that needs to be done.
(and always make a contract with your customer that states he can not ask more damages than the contract value)
First, you have to get the pressure from yourself.
You need an imaginary stop-button in your brain go get away from all BS going on outside. Otherwise you are not able to think clear about your options.
Second, talk to a lawyer. I don't know where you are coming from, what kind of legal entity you are in (with your company? personal?).
Worst case, you messed up and your company files bankruptcy. Depending on your country you are free of debts after few years, if you are even personal liable.
Third, start new company and make sure you learned from this.
I think this client is misusing you and your friends. He is putting the preisure on you as high as possible to get you working for cents an hour.
From now on you have to play it harder.
Let a lawyer check your contract and legal situation. From my experience there are always large holes for interpretation.
Charge him a large sum for all work on features and changes not part of the initial project scope and bill them. You need a strong counterweight to his claim. I think 1,000 of hours are.
When communicating with him, overdraw everything you are doing for him, the amount of work, the extras, the pain, etc.
Do you have agreed to contract penalties when failing a dead line? If not. Just give your best and everytime you face a changeing estimate, just tell them. Take the time you need!
Deliver only the minimum required according to the initial scope and then tell them the project is finished.
For the future:
- dont work so much for more than two weeks in a row
- take time to refresh
- be selective with customers
From my experience with similar situations, I can say that you'll learn the most from this kind of problems. You'll be stronger and happier after it.
Keep in mind that, if you are a beginner who was taken on for a big project, then your client hired you to get a much cheaper deal than with an experienced developer, against the risk of a delayed or unfinished application. If it doesn't work out and he makes a loss, tough - it was his decision to take that risk in the first place. And it sounds like he repeatedly extended the scope of the project without offering additional compensation, which is very dishonest.
If you can't finish the job, don't. And don't let the client guilt-trip you: you're not responsible for his losses, he is. If you can't deliver, then the worst that can happen is for you to return the payment already received.
At this stage, stop working, cut off all direct communication, and hire a lawyer. And stop worrying - we have all had a failed project or two in our careers.
Hire a lawyer ASAP.
And, if you have some kind of a contract, you should consult with your lawyer how to fortfeit it. For example in my country, a contract can be fortfeit if it wasnt in good faith for both parties, so you are inexperienced and let into the project that is bigger than you can really do for 6k. Of course, you should have strong evidence for that.
Another red flag is that the client is threatening to sue you for $100k but you only billed him $6k. Your maximum loss should be the $6k he paid you. But you do need to consult with a lawyer.
You say you have another job? So you should be able to come up with the money to hire a lawyer. If he's sending you legal threat letters, you have to pay for a lawyer yourself. However, he could be bluffing. It seems weird that a guy would pay $6k on a software project and then $10k+ to sue those developers for not delivering.
I agree with the other people that walking away is the right thing to do. The lesson is that fixed-bid projects are usually a bad idea for small freelancers.
Its not your fault and you don't owe him anything. It is very common for projects to be under-budgeted and the ones that go overseas are the more extreme cases.
If that guy managed to lose $200k its not because you took too long to 'earn' your small $4,500. If he is 'losing' that much then he defrauded his own customer/partner. Obviously the project was massively mismanaged.
I have been freelancing for many years. I would be happy to review any details you have and testify on your behalf as an expert witness.
Relax. This has, or will happen, to every freelancer once. You're going to learn from it and move on. You do NOT need a lawyer. This guy knows you haven't got any way to pay damages and it's going to cost him $10k+ for his lawyer. He'll fume and threaten and make a lot of noise. Eventually, he'll go look for another sucker—I mean—inexperienced developer to take advantage of. Send an email with a sincere apology, a zip with the latest files, and a clear statement that you're unable to do anything further. Don't return any calls or emails afterwards. He might get a lawyer to send a letter. This costs $100. Ignore it. The only thing you should respond to is a court summons. You won't get one.
It wasn't very smart to offer $100k of work for less than $6k. This is stealing money from the mouths of professional developers who charge a fair fee for fair work. You don't have my sympathies.
Don't be harsh, please read through his post. 100k was his client's supposed business losses because the project wasn't done in time, not the true value of the project itself if it were done by a true professional like you.
This client is essentially bullying you into indentured servitude and using mind games to motivate you into continuing to work for them indefinitely. Unless you've heard from this supposed lawyer they've hired in your country, I'd take a solid guess they haven't actually taken any action in that area and have no clue how to go about it.
As others mentioned, cut off all communication with your client. Find legal support or at least have someone ready to defend you if needed. As soon as they mention legal action all communication goes through legal channels, on both sides. If they haven't taken that step yet, they are bluffing.
What I would do is send a short very clearly worded email, with no emotional or personal language (this is important). The email would 1) state exactly what was delivered to date in terms of hours spent, equivalent hourly value based on my rate 2) assurance that the client has access to all assets and source files as a showing of good faith and 3) a short, very specific statement that the contract is now terminated with no further work delivered, payments made or communications outside of legal channels.
Then walk away and look for other clients. File every communication the client sends you, save somewhere in PDFs and make hard copies. Any response you send should say simply "This information has been retained for my attorney." Respond that way to the client for everything. Say nothing else (very important). Eventually they'll either get the message and walk away or take some sort of action. If they take action then you will need an attorney ready, but I'm guessing they're bluffing and you'll never hear from them again.
13 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 46.3 ms ] threadAs to the legal situation, hire a lawyer. Seriously. You've said your client has hired legal aid in your country, you should immediately stop talking to the client and speak only through a lawyer. You could inadvertently make the problem worse by saying the wrong thing. Things like "I agree I am responsible for his losses", for example, you lawyer would stop you from saying. You aren't acting in isolation here and you're not in the business of insuring your client. If your client is spending $6k over the course of a year on something that, if it fails, will lose him hundreds of thousands and he doesn't act to protect his own interests then he is partially at fault.
You've made some mistakes here but you're not the only one. It's not the end of the world, everything can be salvaged. I know people that have been in a similar position and less than a year later it was sorted, they had a better job and were happy. Do not give up, do not try and solve this alone, you need help from people who aren't so close to the project.
Good luck.
When you work fixed price, you need to have a fixed scope.
It is completely normal to have discussions with the customer on the scope of the project. the key is to see this negotiation as a way to ask more money from your customer.
I have the impression from your description that at the start of the project you did not define the scope in detail and that now you battle with the interpretation your customer makes from your scope description and your interpretation of that same description. Every time you hear your customer saying something you did not expect, you need to formally put on paper that that was not your interpretation and that your customers interpretation will be seen as a (scope) change request and will result in a new offer (= added cash)
so you should stop coding and start better defining what the scope is of the work that needs to be done.
(and always make a contract with your customer that states he can not ask more damages than the contract value)
Second, talk to a lawyer. I don't know where you are coming from, what kind of legal entity you are in (with your company? personal?). Worst case, you messed up and your company files bankruptcy. Depending on your country you are free of debts after few years, if you are even personal liable.
Third, start new company and make sure you learned from this.
Chin up!
I think this client is misusing you and your friends. He is putting the preisure on you as high as possible to get you working for cents an hour.
From now on you have to play it harder.
Let a lawyer check your contract and legal situation. From my experience there are always large holes for interpretation.
Charge him a large sum for all work on features and changes not part of the initial project scope and bill them. You need a strong counterweight to his claim. I think 1,000 of hours are.
When communicating with him, overdraw everything you are doing for him, the amount of work, the extras, the pain, etc.
Do you have agreed to contract penalties when failing a dead line? If not. Just give your best and everytime you face a changeing estimate, just tell them. Take the time you need!
Deliver only the minimum required according to the initial scope and then tell them the project is finished.
For the future:
- dont work so much for more than two weeks in a row
- take time to refresh
- be selective with customers
From my experience with similar situations, I can say that you'll learn the most from this kind of problems. You'll be stronger and happier after it.
If you can't finish the job, don't. And don't let the client guilt-trip you: you're not responsible for his losses, he is. If you can't deliver, then the worst that can happen is for you to return the payment already received.
At this stage, stop working, cut off all direct communication, and hire a lawyer. And stop worrying - we have all had a failed project or two in our careers.
You say you have another job? So you should be able to come up with the money to hire a lawyer. If he's sending you legal threat letters, you have to pay for a lawyer yourself. However, he could be bluffing. It seems weird that a guy would pay $6k on a software project and then $10k+ to sue those developers for not delivering.
I agree with the other people that walking away is the right thing to do. The lesson is that fixed-bid projects are usually a bad idea for small freelancers.
If that guy managed to lose $200k its not because you took too long to 'earn' your small $4,500. If he is 'losing' that much then he defrauded his own customer/partner. Obviously the project was massively mismanaged.
I have been freelancing for many years. I would be happy to review any details you have and testify on your behalf as an expert witness.
I would be suing him for the $1,500.
As others mentioned, cut off all communication with your client. Find legal support or at least have someone ready to defend you if needed. As soon as they mention legal action all communication goes through legal channels, on both sides. If they haven't taken that step yet, they are bluffing.
What I would do is send a short very clearly worded email, with no emotional or personal language (this is important). The email would 1) state exactly what was delivered to date in terms of hours spent, equivalent hourly value based on my rate 2) assurance that the client has access to all assets and source files as a showing of good faith and 3) a short, very specific statement that the contract is now terminated with no further work delivered, payments made or communications outside of legal channels.
Then walk away and look for other clients. File every communication the client sends you, save somewhere in PDFs and make hard copies. Any response you send should say simply "This information has been retained for my attorney." Respond that way to the client for everything. Say nothing else (very important). Eventually they'll either get the message and walk away or take some sort of action. If they take action then you will need an attorney ready, but I'm guessing they're bluffing and you'll never hear from them again.