Client refusing to pay citing ‘substandard work’ - WWYD?

Marcon

ARenter said:

thanks for these helpful replies.

Let's say the client honestly feels that the work is not up to scratch (doubtful on that front tbh - I think he's just tying to get more work out of me for free tbh), could I not still charge say 1/2 or 1/3 the fee for the time I spent on it or something like that? 

Depends whether the work is usable. If he's saying it's not good enough to use at all, then it's hard to see why he'd agree to pay anything.

Always worth trying, though. See if he's open to a compromise - and I suggest you ring and have a chat rather than battling it out via email. 

Dakta

I don't know the specifics of your company, so let's just assume the amount is more than you're prepared to write off to get rid of a bad egg of a client.

What I'd probably do, is firstly look over what was agreed, then initially engage with the customer, for two reasons - one because if the work is not what they wanted then it might be on me to sort, and also even if that is not the case you want to be able to say down the line that you did listen the customer, you did work out specifically what their issue was, and would have given the opportunity to rectify had it been the appropriate action. 

One reason for it not being appropriate to take further action in favour of the customer may, for example, be the fact it was accepted by the client initially. Or that you did fulfill the contract as stipulated, etc etc.

What is important is you don't just write off the customers concerns, and show that you know what they say is wrong with the work, and have considered that in either accepting or rejecting their demand.

If you are satisfied you have done the job to the required standard, then you can take it to small claims. This is quite easy and cheap, I've done it myself - you don't always get the payment though you can cause them a bit of bother.

I run a small company aside of my employment and whilst I won't actively persue every bad payer to the very end (we do get a few) we will always go as far as obtaining a CCJ as a matter of balancing principle vs stress. 

Offering further discount etc by the way, could be construed as accepting your work was substandard should there be future issues. 

robatwork

Sue, Grabbit & Runne

ARenter

Long story short I do freelance graphic design as a side-gig.

I've done about 7 jobs for this one major PITA client (constant calls, aggressive tone, ridiculous deadlines etc). Was borderline thinking of ending it anyway. The last job I did for her however she wasn't happy with and refused to pay, claiming that it "wasn't good enough" and the client wasn't happy.

I then pressed for payment after a month or so, with the aim of possibly pursuing a small claim if she still refuses to pay - however now she is threatening legal action - because of "my substandard work" she claims has now lost that client, costing her future business.

I'm 95% certain this is just a bluff to scare me and avoid paying and tbh at this point I'd be glad to just get shot of her and take the hit (which at £600 is not nothing), however that 5% - does she have any legal basis here? I find it very hard to believe it would hold up, as clearly *she* thought my work was good enough to pass on to the client (and if not, she should have corrected this before passing it on). However let's just say the client was unhappy and she has lost them because of it - can she blame this on me? What does the law say on this?

Hoenir

Call her bluff. Remain calm. Follow due process in order to recover the monies owed. 

bluelad1927

Isn't this the same post as 2 weeks ago?

ARenter

Yes but this is a new development in this sorry saga

mebu60

ARenter said:

Yes but this is a new development in this sorry saga

What is new? 

400ixl

Then why not post it into the original thread at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6486571/client-refusing-to-pay-citing-substandard-work-wwyd#latest

DullGreyGuy

Always easier to add the new updates to the original thread so someone can read the whole story. 

What does your contract with her state? What caps have you included on liability?

In principle there is a potential for a claim, doesn't mean she'll win, but it will be difficult for her to substantiate what future work she'd have gotten, what margin it would have made etc. It's easier if she was a major client and had years of records showing her ordering a dozen jobs a month but then a client of that standing is unlikely to break the relationship for one duff job.