Customer invoiced me for poor work !!

smallzoo

After waiting for months for a customer to pay me for some software development work one of my customers suddenly started ignoring my emails. Then after 3 weeks I suddenly get an 'interim' invoice in which the customer is claiming charges for poor standards of work.

He has never mentioned this throughout the whole project and is now claiming aorund £4000 for this and £120000 for loss of revenue due to delays in the website going live.

What can I do !

I am a limited company with no assets and no cash in the bank and only my wife and I as shareholders.

First, can he do this ?... he owes me money , not the other way round. He has continually changed the specification of the system but for some reason has suddenly decided he is not happy so wants money out of me. I have never had this in over 20 years developing for many companies. He is a millionaire who live is the USA but his business is in England.

I dont expect a detailed answer from anyone but if someone can give me some pointers that would be great

Thanks

Peter

DKLS

Whose fault is it that the website launch was delayed?

Does the website do what it says it should do in the spec?

Did you manage the expectations of the client due to his scope creep?

tyllwyd

Is there a written contract between you for this work?

Derwent

1. Were there any penalty clauses or liquidated damages clauses in your contract ?

2. Do you not have professional indemnity insurance ?

bap98189

He can invoice you for whatever he wants, but it won't do much good. At this stage I would ignore it, especially the part about loss of revenue.

The important thing you need to focus on is getting paid for your invoice. Whether he has to pay you is going to depend on what was contractually agreed, and what was delivered. Nobody on here can comment on that as we are not privvy to the contract that was agreed between the two parties.

The best suggestion is to get on the phone and talk to them. If this can be solved amicably without resorting to lawyers then you are both going to save an awful lot of money. Go back and read what was agreed in the contract. Then check what was delivered. if you have demonstrably delivered what was agreed then you need to pursue the debt in the normal manner. Whether you need legal council to do this, and which court deals with it, depends on the amount owing, but the first stage is to verify that you have delivered what you were contractually bound to.

smallzoo

Thanks for all the great replies.. I'll try to answer them all

Whose fault is it that the website launch was delayed?

....Both of us for not understanding what was wanted as it changed..

Does the website do what it says it should do in the spec?

...The original spec was a very simple two page representation which is a lot simpler than was produced

Did you manage the expectations of the client due to his scope creep?

..I guess not !


Is there a written contract between you for this work?

...No written contract

1. Were there any penalty clauses or liquidated damages clauses in your contract ?

..No


2. Do you not have professional indemnity insurance ?

..No



Thanks

phill99

smallzoo wrote: »

Thanks for all the great replies.. I'll try to answer them all

Whose fault is it that the website launch was delayed?

....Both of us for not understanding what was wanted as it changed..

Does the website do what it says it should do in the spec?

...The original spec was a very simple two page representation which is a lot simpler than was produced

Did you manage the expectations of the client due to his scope creep?

..I guess not !


Is there a written contract between you for this work?

...No written contract

1. Were there any penalty clauses or liquidated damages clauses in your contract ?

..No


2. Do you not have professional indemnity insurance ?

..No



Thanks

So in 20 years of trading you have never considered the need for professional indemnity insurance or to operate with standard terms and conditions?

More fool you.

smallzoo

I asking for help not criticism..

Derwent

phill99 wrote: »

So in 20 years of trading you have never considered the need for professional indemnity insurance or to operate with standard terms and conditions?

More fool you.

Indeed, PII is an essential thing for small businesses and is relatively cheap to buy. If the OP had insurance he could just hand it over to his insurers' legal people and they'd deal with it.

smifffy1989

Many tech firms get this as a result of someone trying to get out of paying a bill. Essentially you will need legal advice and you need to ensure that your documentation is in order.

Derwent

smallzoo wrote: »

I asking for help not criticism..

Ok well firstly you need to treat these as two separate issues. Your overdue money from him is a different issue to his supposed claim against you.

Regarding what he owes you, you need to be thinking about a letter before action and putting him on warning that you will take legal action if payment isn't received imminently.

Regarding what he is claiming from you, the fact that there is no written contract actually works in your favour, as it is his obligation to prove you have breached any contract. If the existing agreement simply says that you will provide a functioning website for an agreed price then all you need to demonstrate is that you have provided what was requested. If there is no defined scope of work or timescale then he can't prove that you didn't meet them !

But keep the two issues separate and concentrate on recovering your debt for the work performed. Your case against him is one based on fact and proof of existence of the end product, his against you is based on spurious grounds.