Client complains about hour of service

Hi there,

I have a colleague who helped me with web maintenance support. Our client asked him whether he can add blog to his website. So, my colleague did some research and explained everything to my client.

It turned out that my client actually had somebody else, who is not part of our team, assisted him creating the website. Without even telling us anything, the blog is already up and running on the website.

FYI: in our contract, we clearly specified "During the duration of this contract, client agrees that the company is the sole provider of maintenance services for the website".

To the fact that we know he had somebody to assist him without letting us know, so we charge him for one hour research. And in fact my friend spent one hour to research how to implement the blog.

And yet, the client complains why we charge him one hour for the blog. He said we didn't do anything to the website etc etc. What should I say to this client?

Thanks!

When you specified that you were to be the only ones to touch the site, did you specify any actions if breached? They are in breach, there is no doubt about that, but unless you are looking to nullify the contract you need to have specified some sort of actions. If it took your company time to implement the blog he needs to pay for for it regardless of that clause in the contract. This gets harder if you gave no tangible goods, you may have to defer that charge to the next time he wants you to do something with the blog, no matter how small.

I agree this is tricky and I can imagine how you must feel right now but I think this can be a perfect opportunity to teach such type of client how not to behave.

z_kagenotora

So, my understanding is:

• your client asked you about adding a blog to his site.

• You hired a colleague to research this and to explain the process to your client.

• The client then took that information and had someone else create the blog.

• Your contract states that your firm is the sole supplier of maintenance services.

• The client is now objecting to payment for the research time.

I agree with VG, first thing you need to do is check your contract.

1. Is it clear from the way it's written that activities like adding a blog are considered site maintenance? Whether or not your client is out to cheat you, he may be thinking of a blog as not part of the site proper, and so not subject to your contract.
2. As VG asks, does your contract state what happens if one you violates the contract?

My next question would be:

do you have a paper trail (so to speak) outlining the client's request? Did you have an exchange--email, text or recorded phone conversation--in which the client asks you for the information you ultimately provided? Is there a trackable exchange with your friend/colleague that directly references the client's request? An verbal agreement, as the saying goes, is not worth the paper on which it's written.

And finally: what outcome do you want? What results would be unacceptable? Decide before you approach the client. Are you after payment? Acknowledgment by the client of his violation? Cancellation of the contract? Even after presenting your case to your client, you may find it more expedient to absorb the charge (or part of it), and plan to recoup later.

Guys,

Many thanks to your reply

@VG: I do specify what happened if the contract is breached. One of them is to terminate the contract. However, like you said, what makes it harder for me to talk to the client is to the fact that we don't give a tangible product to him. Things like this maybe something that I have to anticipate in the future. Your comment is really helpful. Thanks!

@FreeStylencer: True! And it's also a situation that I can learn from. Good education for me

@Lowengard: One thing that I can see is that I need to improve my communication to all clients in general. I need to be more transparent to what's going on. If the client keeps doing the same thing again in this month, I have to terminate the contract. Because it's kind of "rewarding" him if i keep tolerating the "abuse" that he did to me. But yeah, your insight is really helpful, thanks a lot bro!