Other Software > Developer's Corner

Strange customer...

<< < (2/12) > >>

Veign:
Another option is to use a service like http://www.escrow.com and let it provide the protection.  Or have him pay through PayPal where you never get his payment information.

I would not send my passport.  And, you've probably been told this before, you should have had contracts drafted before the project started.

What is the value of the project?

John2k:
Hi Ralf,

I havn't delivered the code yet, or took payment.

The customer contacted me to expand on a previous program that I had written. He stated that he was starting a software security company and needed an application to get up and running with. So he made an offer of a lump sum payment, and also a percentage of the software's revenue. After 2 weeks of wrangling out a design with him, I had come to the conclusion that he was asking for the impossible, so I suggested that another much simpler design which required small changes to the original code. We agreed on a price, and I got to work on the new design.
Yesterday I virtually finished the program(minus a few tweaks) and informed him. So up to now the last contact I had with him is asking for the passport, address etc.. He does want me to sign a contract and stop distrubuting the program that his is based on.

@Veign - Payment by his request, would be by bank transfer. I believe it's the safest way?

Thanks,
John.

Ralf Maximus:
Passport requirement is a bit weird, unless you're a non-US citizen.  What's your citizenship status?  (Assuming you are located in the States and he is elsewhere.)

"Stop distributing the program that his is based on"?  So you have an existing product, and he wants you to stop selling that too?  Unless this was expressly agreed to before hand (doesn't sound like it) that's a rather bold demand.  Especially if you derive income from the existing product, have an installed base of users, etc.

If the money's only so-so, I'd consider taking a walk.  It's not worth keeping a business relationship going with somebody who'd make these kind of last minute requirements.  Chalk up your time/work investment as a lesson learned and move on.

On the other hand, the money might be so tempting that you'd be willing to stop selling your existing thingie.  Assuming HIS business model supports income for you, is successful, and you trust him to pay you in the future.  All real concerns, especially more now since he has seemingly modified your informal agreement without consultation.  That's a sign of bad faith, based on what I understand so far.

At this point, I wouldn't sign ANYTHING without passing the proposed contract through the hands of legal counsel.  A contract review would take a few minutes and is worth whatever you pay for it to avoid future headaches.

mouser:
an escrow service might be a good solution in general, but if he is wanting to be sure who you are, it seems to me like a bank transfer should give him that assurance and would be safe for everyone.

i would not send a passport scan.

it's probably just that he wants to be sure you are who you say you are so that he knows who he is dealing with, but there has to be a better way to give him such assurances besides sending confidential information like passport details.

Veign:
To be honest, I would never supply bank routing information to a client.  If a client wanted a 'bank transfer' type of payment I would have them use PayPal and I would eat the cost of using PayPal.

What sounds really fishy to me is he wants your passport, bank routing information and all personal information (address and such).  That sounds scary.

Another thing I have learned doing freelance work is to have all contacts signed before starting a project.  Signing a contract after work doesn't make sense since the purpose of the contract is to define, for lack of a better term, this-for-that.

How much is this project worth?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page