Post #172,429
9/2/04 12:47:09 PM
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Good recap, but...
What do they think you OWE them?
Anything on paper / email with promises of support?
Have you been billing them ongoing or is there an
expectation that since you did the orginal system,
you owe them some type of ongoing support?
An if so, does have the usualy caveat that when someone
else changes the system support is withdrawn and
needs to be renegotiated?
And does support == modifications?
And would you be willing to deal with them for some serious
$$$ anyway?
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Post #172,434
9/2/04 1:17:48 PM
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First time was a favor
For a friend (whom was the one I chatted with on the phone)
$0 cost for them.
I needed things to keep me sharp.
There was never any type of support planned or even offered. Sure when they got stuck once, I offered my opinion on what needed to happen. That was only 1 e-mail.
The deal was, I do this and get something to keep me sharp and they get a system that works and was supportable by the IT Department. As everything else was homegrown, this fell right in line.
Upto this point I have not billed or gotten any money from them.
I don't plan on doing it a second time for free.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwetheyNo matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]Here is an example: [link|http://www.greymagic.com/security/advisories/gm001-ie/|Executing arbitrary commands without Active Scripting or ActiveX when using Windows]
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Post #172,435
9/2/04 1:37:02 PM
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Ooooohhhh
Do you have the time to give what it need?
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Post #172,436
9/2/04 1:38:34 PM
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@$400/hr? *grin*
Imric's Tips for Living
- Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
- Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
- Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.
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Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.
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Post #172,437
9/2/04 1:54:00 PM
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I don't know if I want to, given the amount of...
Stick they have used so far...
It'd take something like that $400/hr for me to do it with CLEAR terms.
Hell, the problem is, I don't even bill companies that I *have* an agreement with...
We shall see. The outlook is it probably will come down to another favor for my friend again...
At least I have already done it once. I did document most of the stuff I did for them and gave it to them.
We shall see.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwetheyNo matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]Here is an example: [link|http://www.greymagic.com/security/advisories/gm001-ie/|Executing arbitrary commands without Active Scripting or ActiveX when using Windows]
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Post #172,440
9/2/04 2:29:30 PM
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Get a contract
Clearly define the scope, time commitment, support and compensation. Run it by a lawyer of your choice, and then send it to them. If they agree to the terms, you have a job. If not, you owe them nothing.
Unless there is significantly more to the story that what you've told, I don't see where they have any claim on you.
From the sounds of it, you must definitely have a contract. If you do it for free as a favor to your friend again, you'll only make the situation worse, they'll always expect you to do it for free.
And if you DON'T want the job, price yourself way high, so that if the DO decide to accept, you'll be well compensated.
Email me and I can help generate a "starting point" contract.
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
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Post #172,441
9/2/04 2:33:49 PM
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I'd still suggest thinking carefully about terms
If you can see your way through to do this for pay, it could be very lucrative. (And recall, you are only working for, say, $70/hour. The other $330/hour is not for the quality of your work, it is an apology for having brought lawyers into the picture. I know you, you always overdeliver. But you only need to overdeliver on the $70/hour...)
And it opens up the following way to avoid trouble: indicate that the more lawyers they apply to you now, the higher your rate will become. That would be doubly convincing if this can be backed up by a lawyer indicating that they don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning in court. Make sure that this indication is made directly to all key decision makers in the company, particularly anyone who is equal or higher than the new ops director.
If you can't see your way clear to a solution like this, they become trapped rats with no escape route. They see no way out but through you, so no matter how bad their odds are, they have to try and force you.
Give them a better escape route and their instincts will be to stampede towards it.
Cheers,
Ben
To deny the indirect purchaser, who in this case is the ultimate purchaser, the right to seek relief from unlawful conduct, would essentially remove the word consumer from the Consumer Protection Act
- [link|http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?NewsID=1246&Page=1&pagePos=20|Nebraska Supreme Court]
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Post #172,597
9/3/04 10:59:35 AM
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^^^^^^^that is the answer
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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