Freelance Web Developer causing massive HEADACHE!!

[AMS]

The web developer I hired from a freelancing website is giving me a serious headache and killing my motivation. He is already 6 months behind schedule, and there are more delays every day. I have already paid him 90% of the cost he quoted for my project. I know this was a mistake, but these were the terms his company provided when they bid the project. His company provided the best bang-for-buck (or so I thought). Now, I don't know what to do to get this guy to get on track. He's already told me that my project is "costing him money" and that he "wants to get it done just as bad".

I'm considering just pulling the plug on him and finding someone else to complete the work - but I don't know how that works...how do I obtain the code that he's already completed? I know nothing about web development, hence why I hired this guy.

He keeps saying he's close, and I DO have a link to the website as it is in development, and it's almost there...but there is a punch-list of things that need to get done that he is just dragging his feet on.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of problem before? How did you resolve it? Any opinions on what I should do?

Thanks so much guys/gals!

 

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[AndrewNC]

I know nothing about web development

This is one of the issues. If you truly know nothing about web dev, than you may not be communicating the needs in the most efficient way possible. You don't have to be a pro, but just know enough. I forwarded this someone who was in the same shoes as you. He can help you more than I can

 

[AMS]

This is one of the issues. If you truly know nothing about web dev, than you may not be communicating the needs in the most efficient way possible. You don't have to be a pro, but just know enough. I forwarded this someone who was in the same shoes as you. He can help you more than I can

Thank you, I would be grateful if you forwarded this to someone with some first-hand knowledge.

I feel (as I'm sure most 'employers' do) that I have done a great job communicating what I needed/expected. He just consistently responds to my requests for updates with "Still have some work to do, will update you later today" but then never gives me an update. I have to contact him again asking for an update, and then the cycle repeats itself. It's almost as if he's just blowing me off at this point.

 

[exige]

Do you have a contract with defined deliverables, and have you received them? Even a ZIP file of the code-to-date on a periodic basis? Source control that you also have access to? Is it just an html website, or an app with a database? I'd try to get a zip file of the site and database backup or script so at least you've got something in case you need to move on.

 

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[Steve W]

As a website developer myself, I would be reluctant to attempt to work with another unknown developer's 1/2 completed work for several reasons. Just saying this as in your shoes I wouldn't be too hung up on recovering the code if you decide to fire the developer.

Having said that, if you have ftp or control panel access to your site you should be able to easily download the existing code. Feel free to pm me if you need a hand/advice.

Good luck.

 

[AMS]

Thanks exige, I do have a contract..or "Project Agreement" which stated deliverables and dates, but those have long been passed up. I don't have any physical copies of anything, as the site is hosted on his companies domain. The deliverables were just "walk-throughs" of various iterations of the site, not actual files or anything until completion. I'm not sure how I would go about getting any back-up from him, without him questioning why I would want it.

 

[AMS]

As a website developer myself, I would be reluctant to attempt to work with another unknown developer's 1/2 completed work for several reasons. Just saying this as in your shoes I wouldn't be too hung up on recovering the code if you decide to fire the developer.

Having said that, if you have ftp or control panel access to your site you should be able to easily download the existing code. Feel free to pm me if you need a hand/advice.

Good luck.

This is my chief concern with firing this developer, effectively losing $2500 plus whatever it costs to have a new developer start from scratch. I don't have access to anything, as it is all hosted on his companies domain. I'm unsure how to go about getting this information from him without tipping him off that I am considering firing him. My main concern is that if he realizes this, he stops responding and I don't get anything anyway.

 

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[Steve W]

Maybe you could politely tell them that they aren't performing as required by the terms of the contract and that you are considering pulling the plug in which case you will require a full refund (by legal means if necessary). Give them (eg) two weeks to fulfill their obligations or suffer the consequences. Alternatively, you may be able to obtain the code by saying that if they are unable to complete the job you will let them off the hook & terminate the contract with no further obligation provided they immediately provide the full code (be sure to test it on another server before terminating the deal).

Failing that, if the site is static it would be trivial for you to obtain each page, if it is Wordpress based it 'may' be possible to obtain any themes & plugins they have created, although any new database tables they've created will not be obtainable, for a proprietary dynamic site/app you would probably have to ask/demand they provide the code you have already paid for.

 

[johnp]

I'm the guy that Andrew is referring to.

Here is the best advice that I can give. Keep in mind, I don't know that much about your situation.

If you are thinking about pulling the plug, and if this thought that has crossed your mind multiple times because of a developer who hasn't come through, then listen to your gut. Don't get caught up in how much money that you put into the project.

I'm not going to dive into my story because I don't have the time and I don't want to relive the past. But here's the short version.

3 years ago I was sitting in a starbucks looking through my site having a nervous breakdown because my developers in India couldn't get a freaking wireframe right after 1 year of work.

3 years ago I was living in my bedroom day and night stressing over shit that developers were screwing up.

I was constantly looking toward the future and I was trying to stay positive. But it didn't help.

I would tell people about my situation, and even make excuses for them. Like..."They aren't done yet, but I think they are getting there!!" Bullshit. They blow.

3 years ago I walked away from the project and took a 10K loss and started from scratch. I took a gamble on someone from this forum who actually took the time to meet me and I even took the time to learn all about this stuff and it paid off big time.

Dont get hung up in how much you invested.

Don't make excuses for your developers.

Don't waste any more time. If you are stressed about saving the code then stop, because another dev probably can't use their code anyway, especially if it's shit.

The only person who is accountable is you. You are accountable for what does or what does not happen. You can make the change. Stressing about it doesn't not help.

The fact that you came to this forum and posted about it, tells me that you really know that you want to move on. It's like a cry for help. So just move on...

 

[healthstatus]

Offer him $250 + the remaining 10% to get the punchlist done by a specific time on a specific date with delivery of the source code.

 

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[damien275x]

Cut your losses and move on. Also, if you know nothing about web-dev, are the requirements getting lost in translation? Projects stuff up easily between two natively english speaking people if one is non-technical.. add to that the language barrier and you've got a recipe for disaster. You may need to write more detailed specifications, or the developer could be shit.

But generally as a developer you never set out to complete a project wrong. Unless you are dodgy and want them to come back and pay more and more, which could also be the case.

 

[Guest12120]

I was going through the same with the developers I hired. It didn't matter if it was a single freelancer or a big company that dedicated a team to my project. Everything took very long with my websites. I think the fact that you can't speak face to face with the person you hired makes all the difference (Skype is not the same)

Did you use a credit card to pay your contractor? If so, just close the project, dispute the credit card charges and move on. I did it successfully on Elance even though they were telling me I couldn't do it because I agreed to their terms and conditions.

"Please note that we will dispute the chargeback with your bank providing our Terms of Service which you agreed to as well."

I bank with Chase and 100% my money was credited to my card. They didn't dispute the chargeback.

By the way, Elance closed my account for not adhering to their terms I use oDesk now

 

[AMS]

Thanks for all the input gentleman. I sent him the following e-mail. I originally included a couple sentences about opening up a dispute against him to get some of my money back, but decided this may reduce my chances of getting ANYTHING from him.

Matt,

I will pay you the remaining 10% + $250 + glowing review on Guru if you can have everything completed by October 31, with delivery of the entire source-code and all other materials, as well as live hosting as discussed.

Completion is:

-Payment gateway's completed
-All login/registration bugs fixed
-Sub-Contractor profile doesn't work following registration
-Sub-Contractor is able to register without first selecting a payment option; they shouldn’t be able to have a profile without paying first.
-Register/Login buttons improved graphically as discussed
-Optimization for different web-browsers
-General completion of all items in the original Project Agreement


I think this offer is very reasonable based on the significant delays we have seen through the course of this project. I feel as though my project has been put at the bottom of your list. If you do not feel that this agreement is enough to see the project through in a timely manner, I would ask that you send me all source code, markup, art (including the master vector art and layered PSDs, if you used any) and any other materials so that I can give another developer the best chance at bringing this project to completion.

Obviously I would prefer your team completes the work and we continue with paid hosting on your servers. But, any more delays are going to be costly as we enter the slow-months for construction, and I need a strong initial roll-out.

Thank you for understanding my position.

 

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[john20]

That's always the case if the website/recruiting firm does not have a way for clients to test their staff (in case you wanted to make sure he is the "right person" to hire). Something like a screening procedure that allows you to test their knowledge in just a short period of time, not just pure interviews that might lead to hiring the wrong person.
...In your situation, I think you should continue forcing him to finish the project since it's almost near to completion than wasting more and more money to let somebody to fill out his mess.

By the way, where did you hire him? Have you tried Odesk or Fiverr for freelance projects?

Or next time, you can also try hiring web developers from Staff.com. They have a better system in recruiting freelancers from all over the world. On Staff.com some of the workers offer a “10 hour trial†where you can test their skills in 10 hours of work and see if they are okay.

 

[AMS]

That's always the case if the website/recruiting firm does not have a way for clients to test their staff (in case you wanted to make sure he is the "right person" to hire). Something like a screening procedure that allows you to test their knowledge in just a short period of time, not just pure interviews that might lead to hiring the wrong person.
...In your situation, I think you should continue forcing him to finish the project since it's almost near to completion than wasting more and more money to let somebody to fill out his mess.

By the way, where did you hire him? Have you tried Odesk or Fiverr for freelance projects?

Or next time, you can also try hiring web developers from Staff.com. They have a better system in recruiting freelancers from all over the world. On Staff.com some of the workers offer a “10 hour trial” where you can test their skills in 10 hours of work and see if they are okay.

That's a good point, I should have held out until I found a company that allowed me to vet their talent first. I hired this guy on Guru.com, which I would never use again. I found out that their freelancers have the ability to remove negative feedback from their profiles...totally defeating the purpose of a rating system.


He e-mailed me back last week and basically said he thought finishing by the end of the month was in everyone's best interest, and he was going to try his best to achieve that goal. He's supposed to be ready for a 'soft-launch' today, we'll see if he meets this deadline though.

 

[nextgen]

First mistake. You paid 90 percent upfront. You should have paid it based On milestones.

Second mistake: you didn't do you homework

Third mistake: I'm assuming you didn't get a contract.

Edit: alright, I will admit I was a bit harsh. I own a web development company and I personally do NONE of the development I outsource it all to local and a few non-local employees. In the future, make sure they have a portfolio, ask for references, get a contract, do not hire from websites in which they can delete things from reviews I would highly suggest that you use either elance or odesk. Make sure to setup milestone payments and do NOT pay anything upfront. When possible use escrow. Offer a small bonus maybe $100-500 depending on the project size if the contracted employee meets all of the milestone deadlines, if they don't they don't get the bonus. Know when to cut your loses as well.

 

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[Esquire]

After I (first) read the Four Hour Workweek, I immediately hired an Indian V.A. intending to outsource as many tasks as possible. This was long before I read TMF and my focus (then) was on my (trade time for money) law practice. The outsourcing was a disaster. The language and communication barriers were far more challenging than I had anticipated.

So what did I do ...?

I quickly pulled the plug on the delegation and owned the problem. Rather than blame the Indian V.A. ... I blamed myself for not anticipating and overcoming the language barriers ... and set about to solve the problem.

So ... when Round 2 came along (after TMF ) and I outsourced my programming to India ... I was prepared. I realized that I had to be exceptionally clear in my communications and rely heavily on visuals. It was MY responsibility to make sure my instructions were impervious to misunderstanding ... not HIS responsibility to make sure he understood me.

The results ...? Amazing. Everything done perfectly ... every time.

Delays ...? Yes ... I've experienced that too. By my estimate delays have (easily) set me back a good four months ... but damn if the quality of this work isn't dazzling me (so I am sticking with him) ... but I have also accepted responsibility for the delays as well ... and have gotten more proactive to try to seek out the reasons for the delays. Your programmer, for example. might be confused about a task, and hesitant to seek out clarification. You need to know if this is happening and get proactive. Likewise, a code modification might have the programmer stumped ... again, you need to know this ... if so, you might say, well if A is giving you fits ... what if we tried B instead ... or abandoned A (for now) in the interests of getting B C & D done ...?

The bottom line is that as frustrating as delays and delegation may be ... it is up to YOU to find the solutions ... and finding the solutions does not necessarily mean "just" complaining ... but doing everything you can to communicate your intentions clearly, know what is going on behind the scenes, and to get involved with the problem solving process.

Or, of course, you can throw up your hands in frustration and give up ... but if you do that ... well ... the fastlane might not be in your immediate future.

Hang in there.

~ Zenas

 

[AMS]

After I (first) read the Four Hour Workweek, I immediately hired an Indian V.A. intending to outsource as many tasks as possible. This was long before I read TMF and my focus (then) was on my (trade time for money) law practice. The outsourcing was a disaster. The language and communication barriers were far more challenging than I had anticipated.

So what did I do ...?

I quickly pulled the plug on the delegation and owned the problem. Rather than blame the Indian V.A. ... I blamed myself for not anticipating and overcoming the language barriers ... and set about to solve the problem.

So ... when Round 2 came along (after TMF ) and I outsourced my programming to India ... I was prepared. I realized that I had to be exceptionally clear in my communications and rely heavily on visuals. It was MY responsibility to make sure my instructions were impervious to misunderstanding ... not HIS responsibility to make sure he understood me.

The results ...? Amazing. Everything done perfectly ... every time.

Delays ...? Yes ... I've experienced that too. By my estimate delays have (easily) set me back a good four months ... but damn if the quality of this work isn't dazzling me (so I am sticking with him) ... but I have also accepted responsibility for the delays as well ... and have gotten more proactive to try to seek out the reasons for the delays. Your programmer, for example. might be confused about a task, and hesitant to seek out clarification. You need to know if this is happening and get proactive. Likewise, a code modification might have the programmer stumped ... again, you need to know this ... if so, you might say, well if A is giving you fits ... what if we tried B instead ... or abandoned A (for now) in the interests of getting B C & D done ...?

The bottom line is that as frustrating as delays and delegation may be ... it is up to YOU to find the solutions ... and finding the solutions does not necessarily mean "just" complaining ... but doing everything you can to communicate your intentions clearly, know what is going on behind the scenes, and to get involved with the problem solving process.

Or, of course, you can throw up your hands in frustration and give up ... but if you do that ... well ... the fastlane might not be in your immediate future.

Hang in there.

~ Zenas

Thank you for the insightful post. That's definitely a good way of looking at things, and at the end of the day...I am ultimately the only one responsible. Next time I take on something like this, I know I need to take a more proactive approach and anticipate the delays and problems, and have a game plan before they come up. I appreciate your stories.