Hiring a graphic designer...

[Curve Appeal]

Here's my dilema..
I hired a designer last weekend. they said I'd get samples by sat aft... nothing. I email sat evening.. they promised that evening.. all weekend.

Then on monday.. I asked how it was going, my last email from them was.."Let me get those to you.."

I haven't received anything. Not even another email.

The last email I sent was.. did you send it, b/c I didn't get it.

What should I do? I understand it takes time, however, that's what they told me... so I am just wondering what to do.
Is this normal.. should a designer communicate even if it's not done, just let us know?

[Chris]

do you have a contract? has any money changed hands? if you answer no to these questions, i'd drop them like a bad habit.

if you have paid them, your recourse is limited except for taking a loss... however, you can always provide negative word-of-mouth about the folks you hired in a public forum or blog.

call them out by name if you are going to go this route.

[Curve Appeal]

Yes to money.. no to contract.

[Chris]

i hate to hear that because w/out the contract, you are indeed limited. first thing, i would cancel the job. if they are of any character (which i kinda doubt) then perhaps they give you a refund although i wouldn't count on it.

second of all, if they don't give a refund, then i would definitely call their practices out and like i said before, i'd do so in as public a place as you can. blogs and forums are quite effective.

as for getting your work done, there are a number of good designers that post here. you can always post something in the freelance section of WPW. but, i'd be really hesitant to provide payment until some work is shown... unless you are under contract because contracts give you legal recourse.

good luck with this and hopefully the guys you hired won't be complete deadbeats, but it doesn't sound good to start...

[arbie]

If you paid online using a credit card - get in contact with them and

1. Cancel it
2. Report the theft of your money and request a chargeback.

Then - don't send all the money (best not to send any until the work is done)

With luck you'll get your money back AND learn a valuable lesson.

[Curve Appeal]

man.. I wish I knew not to send all the money first.

[sofakingdabest1]

Hey Curve I'll do it for you. $20/hour billed monthly.

[swirt]

Sounds to me like you might be rushing things a bit. If I understand the timeframe right, you hired the designer on Saturday and now less than 72 hours (one business day)later you are ready to fire them for not sending you a design? Weekends happen.

I would be a little concerned that they promised something so quickly. Good work takes time. I would be only a little concerned that they have not written back right away. It might be a little premature to go demanding money back especially since you have no contract...it has the potential to end badly. I would be concerned that you payed without requesting a contract, and that they took money without requiring a contract. Did your verbal agreement include extra payment for a super rapid response?

[Dinghus]

I am definitly in disagreement about 1 point here. When to pay. I've been a freelancer for 10+ years now and I will not deal with a customer who refuses to put some money up front. NOT ALL! There has to be some trust on both sides. BUT you must also have a contract of some sort. Never put all your money up front. Never turn over completed work until paid. Simple as that.

Now if you don't know if you trust them or not then use a service like GetAFreelancer.com where you can put the money in escrow and pay it out only when the job is done and there is some arbitration ability since you can't just yank the money back either.

A few tips. Get references. Ask them for email/phone whatever of previous customers. Even if you don't check them, the fact that they are willing to give them out speaks volumes.

In this case, drop them like a hot rock. They should at least be telling you why there is a delay.

[halfmexi]

Been freelancing for 25 years (first print, now web...) if I tell the client I will contact them by a certain date - I do, if I need more time I tell them. With or without a contract nothing moves past the conversation stage without a deposit.

Sounds like you unfortunately found some amateurs - I usually tell the client I will get back to them in a week, never a day or two - not enough time to research the project.

Sorry to see this happen, hope you didn't invest too much money and can write it off to experience.

Most of my jobs somebody contacts one of my current clients because they like what they see and most clients will gladly reply to an email if they have had good service from their designer.

[arbie]

I've used freelancer.com repeatedly in the past - never paid a bean until the work was done.

As for not trusting a client that wont put up any money...well the designer hasn't done anything and the client lost out - QED

[craigmn3]

Unreliability is a Character Trait, If it shows up in some of their work it will show up in all of their work. Run, don't walk to the nearest exit and get your mney back. I won't comment about the practice of putting up money with no contract...but if you paid with a credit card you might have some recourse there.

Usually a half and half contract is best....half up front, so the designer has some security in his protection and half when complete and SATISFIED. Do not complete the payment until you have what you want, exactly the way you want it.

[EditFast]

Unfortunately, I have some experience with what you are talking about and now I have a system that seems to work for me, but it takes time to find the right programmer/designer.

First, in this case if you have not paid any money, send them a message stating your agreement is void and you will find someone else. If you have sent them money, wait for them to reply or send the files. When they do, find someone else to continue the work.

I strongly recommend that you do not pay any money to a designer/programmer until the work is complete to YOUR satisfaction. There will be lots of people who will not accept this type of project but that is fine and they are telling you upfront that you should stay away from them. Anyone who will not give you this kind of security is not worth the effort.

There are far too many people out there who will accept any job, even if they do not really understand what it is you want. Stay away from the people who accept a job without asking any questions and who do not communicate well with you in a professional, and inquisitive manner. (of course too many questions should throw up a red flag also.)

Define your goals very carefully and in great detail. A good programmer will intuitively understand the overall picture, but you have to give him/her the opportunity to see the goals you have in mind. Create a document that clearly defines the parameters and specifications of the job. Think of everything and put it in this document in a well organized format. Use this document as your base point and refer to it in all discussions with the person you hire.

This may sound like a lot of work and a lot of time but I can assure you it will save you time, money and heartache in the long run. You have a vision of what you want to achieve. The programmer has no knowledge of that vision and must be made aware of what it is that you want. The more detail you put in the job specifications document, the easier the work will be for the programmer and the better the final result.

[EditFast]

Originally Posted by arbie

I've used freelancer.com repeatedly in the past - never paid a bean until the work was done.

Why would you advertise a parked domain/spam site with no content except PPC links... unless it is yours or on your server. But to give you the benefit of the doubt, perhaps you gave us the wrong URL?

[arbie]

my mistake - the URL should have been

http://www.getafreelancer.com

the other site has nothing to do with me and if a mod would kindly obfuscate the URL I would be obliged!

[arbie]

PS: Any particular reason you chose to rush towards the suspicious approach? In the 80 odd posts I've made so far I haven't posted a spammy link - but then you would have known that if you'd checked....

[EditFast]

Originally Posted by Dinghus

I will not deal with a customer who refuses to put some money up front. ... Never turn over completed work until paid.

From a client perspective this is just the wrong approach. No one buys a product without at least taking it for a test drive (except perhaps when you purchase food at MacDonald's, but we all know what that food is like and can expect to receive the same garbage for our money at any of their dispensers). Never pay any money until you are satisfied with the work. That is common sense and what every customer wants. I cannot state this strongly enough. NEVER pay for something until you are completely satisfied with the final product done exactly to your specifications. Any freelancer who does not accept those terms is afraid of their own work, not that the client won't pay. The onus is on the programmer to trust the client, not the other way around. It is not a two way street. As freelancers we are dealing with customers and as such they have the power, and rightly so.

[arbie]

Really editfast?

The why is this in your terms

"(Depending on the scope of the project a small deposit may be required before the editing process begins)"

??

[Akashic]

Originally Posted by EditFast

From a client perspective this is just the wrong approach. No one buys a product without at least taking it for a test drive (except perhaps when you purchase food at MacDonald's, but we all know what that food is like and can expect to receive the same garbage for our money at any of their dispensers). Never pay any money until you are satisfied with the work. That is common sense and what every customer wants. I cannot state this strongly enough. NEVER pay for something until you are completely satisfied with the final product done exactly to your specifications. Any freelancer who does not accept those terms is afraid of their own work, not that the client won't pay. The onus is on the programmer to trust the client, not the other way around. It is not a two way street. As freelancers we are dealing with customers and as such they have the power, and rightly so.

Well I would never take you on as a client. I insist on a deposit being made before I will even look at the work. I learnt the hard way, clients who wanted the work done but didn't want to pay for it on time, or at all. Any designer who starts a job without some sort of commitment from the client is insane.

I do agree that full payment should not be asked for upfront. I ask for 30% to 50% depending on the job and the client. The balance of the payment must be made before the work is handed over to the client.

As far as the power being with the client, that's blatantly not true. They have the power to hire us or not. We have the power to expect commitment from them or not do their job.

[EditFast]

Originally Posted by arbie

PS: Any particular reason you chose to rush towards the suspicious approach? In the 80 odd posts I've made so far I haven't posted a spammy link - but then you would have known that if you'd checked....

I am sorry if you have taken offense at my pointing out that you posted a spam site. I do not know you and I have no intentions of researching your background to find out if you are a good guy or not. I assumed you are a good guy, as I do with everyone, and gave you the benefit of the doubt and asked for you to post the real URL. No offense was intended but I can see how you might take it that way.