Contract work problems
by DarqueLord · in Jobs · 08/13/2009 (2:09 pm) · 4 replies
Greetings,
I recently did some animation and modeling work for a company. The owner agreed to pay down and balance upon completion but did not like the work. I was sent very nasty emails and he wanted a refund. I explained that I do not work for free and the problems he was having were not Maya related. He did not care and told me he would bash me on all forums, call the IRS and send down galactic invaders to suck out my brains. My question is to the community is am I wrong for keeping the down payment after delivering the work that is in my knowledge sound? I modeled, textured and rigged a character. The character was posed and placed in a car that I also rigged and animated. So am I wrong? Is my time worthless? Could use some advice on this because I want to keep my name clean. Thanks!
I recently did some animation and modeling work for a company. The owner agreed to pay down and balance upon completion but did not like the work. I was sent very nasty emails and he wanted a refund. I explained that I do not work for free and the problems he was having were not Maya related. He did not care and told me he would bash me on all forums, call the IRS and send down galactic invaders to suck out my brains. My question is to the community is am I wrong for keeping the down payment after delivering the work that is in my knowledge sound? I modeled, textured and rigged a character. The character was posed and placed in a car that I also rigged and animated. So am I wrong? Is my time worthless? Could use some advice on this because I want to keep my name clean. Thanks!
#2
You are not in the wrong, you had your knowledge base and the other had theirs. The employer should have incorporated the possibility of unforseen circumstances. If this is not done, it is just stupidity or a lesson quickly learnt. Read any management textbook (project or otherwise) and one of the prime rules is have an adaptable plan incorporating unforseen circumstances. An unchangable plan is a bad plan.
Time is the greatest commodity you have, that is where the money is.
If done all that was asked of you and the person still wants their money back I would recommend never working with them again and notifying the community about them. They sound quite unprofessional or just mean. Contract jobs rarely go smoothly and the ones that do incorporate clear negotiation, not scare tactics.
08/13/2009 (2:25 pm)
Don't worry you are in the right. If that company/person is trying to blame you for something outside of your control, that person/company is just being ridiculous. Trying to recover any money that they have spent to try and get it done somewhere else.You are not in the wrong, you had your knowledge base and the other had theirs. The employer should have incorporated the possibility of unforseen circumstances. If this is not done, it is just stupidity or a lesson quickly learnt. Read any management textbook (project or otherwise) and one of the prime rules is have an adaptable plan incorporating unforseen circumstances. An unchangable plan is a bad plan.
Time is the greatest commodity you have, that is where the money is.
If done all that was asked of you and the person still wants their money back I would recommend never working with them again and notifying the community about them. They sound quite unprofessional or just mean. Contract jobs rarely go smoothly and the ones that do incorporate clear negotiation, not scare tactics.
#3
08/13/2009 (2:57 pm)
Thanks guys I have agreed to send something by tomorrow but have refused to send a refund. I feel that my model and animations were awesome and I should be paid for that. Thanks! 
#4
1) Account for this kind of stuff in a contract. If you don't have a contract with your customer (even an email at least that outlines things so you have some sort of agreement at all), you can find it harder to deal with problems like these, and it gives the bad people wiggle room to out-maneuver you.
2) I don't know about other countries, but here in the States you usually have legal recourse in small claims court to get a judgment to recover funds not sent, as well as recoup the legal fees spent on recovering the funds. It's not something people like to do, but it is an option for when the customer just insists on being a jackass.
08/14/2009 (9:23 am)
And remember two things:1) Account for this kind of stuff in a contract. If you don't have a contract with your customer (even an email at least that outlines things so you have some sort of agreement at all), you can find it harder to deal with problems like these, and it gives the bad people wiggle room to out-maneuver you.
2) I don't know about other countries, but here in the States you usually have legal recourse in small claims court to get a judgment to recover funds not sent, as well as recoup the legal fees spent on recovering the funds. It's not something people like to do, but it is an option for when the customer just insists on being a jackass.
Torque Owner N R Bharathae
The trick is to determine whether he really just doesn't like your work or if, in some cases, he's one these jerks that's trying to weasel his way out having to pay you the balance. If he really does need the work done and just isn't satisfied he should be willing to work things out with you.