Got burned/jacked/disrespected....

[octopus41092]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: nutxo

Originally posted by: takeru
as what everyone has said i say the same:
1. image server, wipe server, disassemble everything to the way you received it.
2. take down web site as of midnight tonight with a message stating "due to non-payment etc etc etc...."
3. from this point on EVERYTHING must be IN WRITING. you really should have drawn up a contract for all of this. email and word of mouth can only go so far. since there is no official paperwork almost anything goes.

considering you have all their domains and alternates under you name, they are your property entirely. it doesn't matter if they branded the site name already. if they want ownership of it, they have to buy ALL the names/alternates at once, and i would make them pay up the nose to get them. you hosted them for free all this time, remember that.

This.

I'd be a lot more vindictive but everyone here seems to think its okay to take it up the ass.

nutxo,

i am not trying to put them out for quite some time, as i think it would if they don't come up w/ their end of the pre-arranged agreement. i am trying very hard not to be destructive to a company in these times.


slight update - looks like i am in an even better position....

after looking at the server i rent, i forgot that when i setup their domain and email accts, they asked if they could use a webmail feature so they didn't have to be locked down to 1 machine. i said no problem.

so, after looking at the rented server, it appears i have ~400MB of their emails too



it would be funny if it wasn't true :disgust:

You could choose to completely fuck them over... but the way I'm looking at it is you should just take it down until they're willing to pay. I'm interested in seeing how this is all going to play out.

 

[Acanthus]

These guys are jackasses from your side of the story.

If that is exactly how it went down, I would nuke the drives and give them the server unconfigured with the software and keys as you suggested in the poll.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I don't understand why any of this is up for discussion or debate.

They didn't pay == They don't get what they didn't pay for

Take it down and put up a message about non-payment. If they eventually decide that they want to pay, the price should be doubled or tripled from what the OP originally had in mind.

 

[Pacfanweb]

People conveniently like to downplay someone else's knowledge when they their jobs quickly. They forget the old adage "It's not what you do, it's what you KNOW".

You should be paid for your KNOWLEDGE. Yeah, you might not have spent that long setting up the company's server. So? Did you go to their place to do it? That's worth something right there.
Did you do something that they couldn't do? Yep.

If they aren't willing to discuss payment, I'd take it down until they are.

I'm self-employed, and do jobs for about 13 dealerships in the area. My average charge is between 160-190. Many times, the jobs only take me 20 minutes. I don't give a break. The dealerships sometimes diagnose cars in less time than that, and they still charge around 100 bucks for that, regardless.

You should get paid for what you do, unless you agreed not to be.

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: nutxo

Originally posted by: takeru
as what everyone has said i say the same:
1. image server, wipe server, disassemble everything to the way you received it.
2. take down web site as of midnight tonight with a message stating "due to non-payment etc etc etc...."
3. from this point on EVERYTHING must be IN WRITING. you really should have drawn up a contract for all of this. email and word of mouth can only go so far. since there is no official paperwork almost anything goes.

considering you have all their domains and alternates under you name, they are your property entirely. it doesn't matter if they branded the site name already. if they want ownership of it, they have to buy ALL the names/alternates at once, and i would make them pay up the nose to get them. you hosted them for free all this time, remember that.

This.

I'd be a lot more vindictive but everyone here seems to think its okay to take it up the ass.

Wiping out all the work you've done while satisfying does nothing to compensate you for the work you've already done.

I'm going to assume here you've been invoicing these idiots?

My advice.. do not destroy the work, take them to small claims court and attempt to collect on the bill.

 

[OUCaptain]

Originally posted by: Geekbabe

Originally posted by: nutxo

Originally posted by: takeru
as what everyone has said i say the same:
1. image server, wipe server, disassemble everything to the way you received it.
2. take down web site as of midnight tonight with a message stating "due to non-payment etc etc etc...."
3. from this point on EVERYTHING must be IN WRITING. you really should have drawn up a contract for all of this. email and word of mouth can only go so far. since there is no official paperwork almost anything goes.

considering you have all their domains and alternates under you name, they are your property entirely. it doesn't matter if they branded the site name already. if they want ownership of it, they have to buy ALL the names/alternates at once, and i would make them pay up the nose to get them. you hosted them for free all this time, remember that.

This.

I'd be a lot more vindictive but everyone here seems to think its okay to take it up the ass.

Wiping out all the work you've done while satisfying does nothing to compensate you for the work you've already done.

I'm going to assume here you've been invoicing these idiots?

My advice.. do not destroy the work, take them to small claims court and attempt to collect on the bill.

If it's imaged and easily restorable, what the problem? Court is a pain in the ass. personally, I would take far more satisfaction stalling until the last minute. Then hand them back their hardware stating they are getting exactly what they have paid for with a sidenote that they can have a fully operation system tomorrow if they pay up.

 

[bob4432]

well, i guess this is the perfect time to test the disaster plan.

 

[IGBT]

put a under powered power supply in it and let him deal with the random restarts.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Geekbabe

Originally posted by: nutxo

Originally posted by: takeru
as what everyone has said i say the same:
1. image server, wipe server, disassemble everything to the way you received it.
2. take down web site as of midnight tonight with a message stating "due to non-payment etc etc etc...."
3. from this point on EVERYTHING must be IN WRITING. you really should have drawn up a contract for all of this. email and word of mouth can only go so far. since there is no official paperwork almost anything goes.

considering you have all their domains and alternates under you name, they are your property entirely. it doesn't matter if they branded the site name already. if they want ownership of it, they have to buy ALL the names/alternates at once, and i would make them pay up the nose to get them. you hosted them for free all this time, remember that.

This.

I'd be a lot more vindictive but everyone here seems to think its okay to take it up the ass.

Wiping out all the work you've done while satisfying does nothing to compensate you for the work you've already done.

I'm going to assume here you've been invoicing these idiots?

My advice.. do not destroy the work, take them to small claims court and attempt to collect on the bill.

i understand what you are saying and yes i have put in a lot of time into this. have learned quite a bit in the process too. haven't done a deployment like this before. sad it is ending up this way.

i really don't think i have enough to stand in court - emails? do they stand up in court? i mean if i could make the court get their computer and see the emails they would know they were on there but i highly doubt that would happen in reality.

i am hoping that tomorrow or the next couple of days this shit gets worked out and we can come to a finalization - i would actually like them to use this as it works better than even i thought it would, but they won't get it from me for free.

also, fwiw, the disaster recovery test all worked well too, so the system has been fully tested and restored in less than 20mins. i didn't think there would be a problem on that end, but whenever i have to restore a hdd i am always a bit worried something won't work correctly, but so far the acronis products have not failed me in over 6+yrs of working w/ them. good stuff, worth the $$, even the server stuff

 

[IEC]

Marked for impending LULZ.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Does this company have clients already? If so, how much do you want for the domain?

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
Does this company have clients already? If so, how much do you want for the domain?

yes they have clients and i have not even thought about selling it out from under them. i am just hoping this goes nice and away, of course after i am taken care of for our original conditions.

 

[Praxis1452]

for the lulz man. for the lulz. Wreck theeeeeem. lol.

Then post about it here.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: bob4432
i really don't think i have enough to stand in court - emails? do they stand up in court? i mean if i could make the court get their computer and see the emails they would know they were on there but i highly doubt that would happen in reality.

E-mails alone were enough to convict Martha Stewart.

MotionMan

 

[rasczak]

I vote for the take this to court route. There's going to be a point where neither of you will want to give an inch (I agree with what you've done so far, but we still haven't heard the other side's story) and court will probably be your only option there after if you want to get paid. If you don't care to get paid and want this thing over with, then by all means nuke the box. I love the position you are in at the moment, but don't be too confident as one mistake could be very costly. Also, back up those emails and create a paper trail in case you need them for court. It would be very inconvenient if some thing happened to the server they were being stored on. These are just my thoughts as I have never been in such a predicament.

Good luck man. I seriously hope I am never in your position. Ever.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: wiredspider
Don't understand how they are burning you?

Make a backup, clean off the system, and give it back to them with the clean hdd.

this. if they arent willing to pay for the service, they dont get the finished product.

i help out a friend that owns a custom shop all the time, we are abouot even with computer/ network fixes and stereo equipment. i recently installed and configured a 5 lic finance program for him in exchange for a planetaudio 200w amp in my truck. he knows if he renegged on his side i wouldnt help him next time his shit doesnt work, and he will end up paying real cash for someone else to follow up and figure out what to fix. that how relationships are built.

 

[Mide]

This seems pretty simple fix. If this was a vocal agreement of services rendered for payment and they are not paying up the money in the end, then nuke it. Blacklist these people and never do business with them again...they will do the same to you. Since there is no data involved then they can't really sue you for anything...again...no signed contract.

 

[xanis]

Seems pretty simple to me. They didn't pay for the services rendered, and since there was no written contracts, you're not obligated to do anything. Kindly tell them that you're wiping the drive and that they can kindly go fuck themselves.

 

[roguerower]

Originally posted by: RichUK
Fill the case with bulk beef.

Fixed.

But seriously, you agreed to do something and you were stupid enough not to get it in writing. You didn't get burned, you were stupid. Give them their stuff and move on.

 

[Krazy4Real]

I would make a backup and wipe the drive. Then if they come back with their tail in between their legs I could just do a restore and get paid.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: roguerower

Originally posted by: RichUK
Fill the case with bulk beef.

Fixed.

But seriously, you agreed to do something and you were stupid enough not to get it in writing. You didn't get burned, you were stupid. Give them their stuff and move on.

Contracts are for spineless ass wipes. It used to be a persons word was as good as a written contract. I wouldn't use a contract with "friends" either.

The more I think about the situation, the more I'm inclined to keep everything. I like the mechanic analogy. You already put in a good amount of effort, and should be payed for that work. I'd just keep the hardware, and tell them to fuck off. If they want it back bad enough, they can take you to court. You wouldn't even need a lawyer. The real purpose is to be as big a PITA as possible. Best case is you get to keep everything. Worst case is you give the stuff back like you were going to do in the first place.

 

[zebano]

Originally posted by: LucJoe

Originally posted by: amdhunter
I hate people like that. One person I fixed a computer for decided to get all uppity about paying me 100 for the work I did for her. She was a friend of my brother-in-laws. The computer would not boot at all for almost 3 months, and had to remove tons of spyware when I did get it started. We had agreed on $100 before I started.

I drove there, and had made it completely usable and faster than it has ever been, but she said because I fixed it so quickly, she couldn't justify paying me so much. In the end she agreed to pay me $25 dollars (she wanted to give me $15.)

I spent about 30 minutes there -- I was so pissed off, I told her to keep her money, and to NEVER ask me to fix her computer again. Needless to say, a few months later, she needed help again, and offered to pay me what I wanted, but I told her to fuck off. lol (Felt bad for my bro-in-law though, he really wanted me to help.)

EDIT: Nuke the shit. Fuck them.

This was a friend of the family? Poorly played...

I would feel terrible accepting $100 for 30 minutes of work from an acquaintance. Demand it? Never. Take the $15 with a smile and if you really hate helping this person don't do it again.

You sir are a fool. Read the bolded part again.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: roguerower

Originally posted by: RichUK
Fill the case with bulk beef.

Fixed.

But seriously, you agreed to do something and you were stupid enough not to get it in writing. You didn't get burned, you were stupid. Give them their stuff and move on.

Contracts are for spineless ass wipes. It used to be a persons word was as good as a written contract. I wouldn't use a contract with "friends" either.

The more I think about the situation, the more I'm inclined to keep everything. I like the mechanic analogy. You already put in a good amount of effort, and should be payed for that work. I'd just keep the hardware, and tell them to fuck off. If they want it back bad enough, they can take you to court. You wouldn't even need a lawyer. The real purpose is to be as big a PITA as possible. Best case is you get to keep everything. Worst case is you give the stuff back like you were going to do in the first place.

Contracts are the foundation for businesses. In today's day and age, a person's word means SQUAT, as displayed here.

 

[bob4432]

well a quick update. my desire not to answer a couple of their emails over the weekend has got them into a bit of a panic. i needed time to cool off, so i took. this thread has also helped me out a lot too and i appreciate all the response regardless of whether or not you agree w/ me or not. they are going to be going away on a long week/weekend for the 4th - must be nice to start your 4th weekend, well last friday, so we have decided to talk when they get back. for the time being, the machine is off and no use of it, the site is currently still up in its original state. i figure i do have time on my side, and well, sometimes domain names are priceless if it comes to it, hell if i really want to be a dick if things go south i could just re-route all of the domains i have that they could use to their competitors. again, i hope it doesn't come to this.

will keep updated, but the thread will probably be quiet in regards to any real updates till after next weekend.
bob

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: bob4432
they are going to be going away on a long week/weekend for the 4th - must be nice to start your 4th weekend, well last friday, so we have decided to talk when they get back. for the time being, the machine is off and no use of it, the site is currently still up in its original state.

fucking fail

Why is their site still up? lol