177

Rant
Why do shithead clients think they can walk away without paying us once we deliver the project !!!

So, here goes nothing..
Got an online gig to create a dashboard.
Since i had to deal with a lot of shitheads in the past, I told them my rules were simple, 20% advance, 40% on 50% completion and 40% after i complete and send them proof of completion. Once i receive the payment in full, only then i will hand over the code.
They said it was fine and paid 20%.
I got the next 40% also without any effort but they said they also needed me to deploy the code on their AWS account, and they were ready to pay extra for it, so i agreed.
I complete the whole project and sent them the screenshots, asking for the remaining 40% payment. They rejected the request saying my work was not complete as i had not deployed on AWS yet. After a couple of more such exchanges, i agreed to setup their account before the payment. But i could sense something fishy, so i did everything on their AWS account, except registered the domain from my account and set up everything. Once i inform them that its done and ask for the remaining payment.
The reply i got was LOL.
I tried to login to the AWS account, only to find password had been changed.
Database access revoked.
Even my admin account on the app had been removed. Thinking that they have been successful, they even published ads about thier NEW dashboard to their customers.
I sent them a final mail with warning ending with a middle finger emoji. 24 hours later,
I created a github page with the text " This website has been siezed by the government as the owner is found accused in fraud" and redirected the domain to it. Got an apology mail from them 2 hours later begging me to restore the website. i asked for an extra 10% penalty apart from the remaining payment. After i got paid, set an auto-reply of LOL to thier emails and chilled for a week before restoring the domain back to normal.
Dev : 1
Shithead Client: 0

Comments
  • 41
    Lesson, if they ask for extra, make a separate contract for it clearly stating its not part of the original agreement.

    And always have written contracts.

    Sure, it might not always prevent them from being jerks.
  • 11
    Sweet story!
  • 7
    This is amazing.
  • 10
    I love this!

    Clever thinking on your end!
  • 7
    👌🏻
  • 6
  • 20
    My hero. 10% is too small though, I would go scorched earth on their ass and askfor 50%
  • 4
    Damn son 🔥
  • 23
    You are awesome.

    What I liked is that you did not settle for the normal payment but charged them 10% extra and fucked them for another week before settling down.

    You serve as an inspiration to me.
  • 7
    Sometimes I am glad for having a full time job.
  • 8
    I’m with @aviophile, 10% was too low. I’d have gone for 30% 😁

    And like @Floydimus said, you serve as an inspiration to us all :)
  • 3
    @Root @aviophile Noted for the next time. Not the first one i encountered, for sure not the last one. 😀
  • 2
    @rEaL-jAsE Invoice ? Next time this happens, i will sell the domain for 10x to them
  • 2
    @rEaL-jAsE! No, thanks ! I think as developers we do work very hard and some people tend to undermine us. I don't refrain from taking a stand or giving a fight for what"s rightfully mine.
    Also modern problems need modern solutions 🤭
  • 1
    You went easy on them. I would have included bugs that gods won’t be able to find.
  • 2
    @coldfire consider changing your nickname to “hotfire”. You earned it 😂

    On a serious note, congratulations. Some “businessmen” think that developers are inferior beings. This is nothing but peak Dunning-Kruger.
  • 0
    Music to my ears.
  • 0
    Haha clever!
    This gave me some inspiration
    Thanks
  • 0
    @rEaL-jAsE they are a standard when you freelance
  • 0
  • 1
    an extra ++ for the middle finger emoji :)
  • 0
    Why ask for 10% only? Also, when deadling with clients always have a safety measure and back up plan in case they don't pay.
  • 1
    You sir are a Legend
  • 0
    @rEaL-jAsE Most client dont want to go through the hassle of payments in shorter spans because of either reasons
    1. Payments go thru multiple people for approval
    2. They process multiple payments all on a specific date to maintain a system.
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