Real story we see hopefully not so often!

I would like to share this experience with everyone in the industry especially web designers in Egypt because we share the same culture and we face many of this problems everyday!

As always I was contacted for a freelance website with one of my satisfied clients, he asked me to go and meet him to discuss an opportunity to make a website design for him.

Everything went fine and I gave him my proposal and he accepted it without any negotiations and I got my first payment (The half of the offered price) and everything just sounds great! so I started to make him a design and he liked the first design I did with some revisions. We agreed on the design but he didn’t have the text content so I started helping him with the content till we finally make it happen.

I finished making the website and since he was out of Egypt I wrote to him an email that the website is ready for review. He didn’t come back to me! I tried to reach him for a month (meanwhile I finished another freelance project) and I was so upset from the way he ignored me even that I know he saw my email from the delivery and opening notifications of my emails.

So I decided to write him another email saying:

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Dear ….,

Hi I hope this email finds you very well. It’s been 1 Month since my last email and so far I haven’t received any response for PROJECT NAME website.

This project should have taken around 2 weeks and now is been more than 2
months due to delays of content and payments from your side Please check
our first emails you will see my deadline for PROJECT NAME was Monday
April 7, 2008.

During these 2 months I have finalize (from negotiations to upload
websites online) 3 projects which were larger than your website.

Also Note that the Website is finish since 29 of April and ready to go online, more time website doesn’t go online is more time losing money or not generation possible business for you.

I suggest we move forward on this and I am always ready to do so, this project is not resulting in a benefit for me anymore. I am sure you understand my situation and that besides my current formal job in office I have my own company that keeps me always busy.

Please let me know how we can resolve this at your earliest. and as always, send you my best wishes!

Mohammed Alaa
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I think the email did the impression I wanted, because after this fair email the client contacted me that he will be back to Egypt next week, so all what I can do is to wait for him to come.

The time has come for paying back!

When he came back he asked me to meet him, and he told me there is no need to wait for the website and he want to go online, so I uploaded the website online (he also have the hosting in my reseller and the domain) and I went to meet him in the agreed date.

And here is the Important Part:

I go to meet the client to collect the final payment after I already finished my work and waited him for 2 month to pay me, he goes saying “Oooh I’m sorry I will not be able to pay you’re the complete money now because I have to move out of Egypt and I will just pay you a part of the money now (which is10% from the last 50%) and we will be in contact and I will pay you but on long shots”

I heard that and I was so shocked from the way he treated me and for all the work I have done to make his succeed.

So I had to make a decision in these 5 minutes I was sitting with him! I had to choose between accepting this money and stop working with him OR to get angry and refuse to take the money!

What i had to do?

Actually I took the money he paid since this payment is for already finished work and I left the meeting, after 1 week I send him an email saying I will need the complete money within 2 weeks to be transferred to my bank account and since this email he didn’t reply me!

what you will do in this situations?

What do you suggest me to do! Should I suspend his website till he pays me? What you will do if you are in the same situation?