Notify website visitors of not paying bills?

[Puritiana]

Hello everyone..

I'm a web designer and have been in business for about 3 years now all together. As lovely as our profession is, just like any other business category, we are bound to become a victom of non paying customers sooner or later.

I have this website of which the owners are late (or not) paying every single time.

It was because of them I started late fee's, which they do not pay either.

Last time they appologized and set up a meeting to pay in cash.
When the day had come, the said they couldn't make it an hour before.
For me, this was the drop that overflowed the bucket.

To make a long story short, their website is pulled offline, however they still are promising on paying bills without doing so.

I now found out they owe just about everyone money that ever did a service for them.

Now my question! Sorry for the long introduction..
Am I allowed to put a message on their website saying something like:
"The owners of this website wish to not pay their bills, therefor it is currently offline."

Of course, I will keep it clean and professional like this, no swearing or offensive language.

Is this somehow illegal due to some publicity/rights law? I've googled but can only find dead ends..

Thank you!

 

[leroy30]

Yep, I've been there. It's a major pain! Especially when the customer is happy with what you did and there is no dispute but they just never pay.

Unfortunately it comes down to your trade agreement that you had them sign. For me it took a first before I had one drafted up but now all new customers pay a 30% deposit and sign my trade agreement. If the customer defaults then I send them to a collection agency at their cost.

If they don't want to sign a trade agreement or pay a deposit then it's a good indication of what kind of customer they might be when it comes time to pay the bills.

Now to get to your questions..

I'd say no. You could find yourself with problems if you post a message like that. If you do that you arent just pulling their website you are potentially scaring away their customers which they could prosecute you for. The fact that they haven't paid you yet will be a seperate case.

My lawyer said that without a signed trade agreement that stated exactly what would happen I couldn't legally 'pull' their website or take it back - but I could press legal charges. What I could do was deny them services with a reasonable notification. At the time I was hosting their website so I gave them 2 weeks notice and stopped hosting for them. At that stage it was more effort for them to find someone else who could stitch it back together than it was to pay me.

Hope that helps! Good luck with getting them to pay you.

 

[Phreaddee]

I've thought about doing this so many times. but leroy is totally correct, what you personally may gain in satisfaction by rubbishing their business you'll also lose from as well as it will come over as unprofessional, and ultimately your name is attached to the site and your name will get tarnished and your work coming in the door will dry up.

 

[notarypublic]

Do you charge them for hosting/site maintenance?

I only charge for active, visible changes (i.e. your site isn't updated until payment is secured). I let the client worry about paying for hosting/domain registration out of their own pocket.

 

[Puritiana]

I'm charging them for hosting/changes, de website itself is already payed for.

I've warned them I would make a late fee, which they ignored.
After sending them the invoices again for the 5th time with late fee's (started to consume more time then the actual updates), I treatened to pull the website offline. As I hold the codes, hosting, everything, there's really nothing they could do but pay.

So they said usual "ok, we're so sorry." This time the excuse was "I had surgery on my arm."
That's fine and dandy but I don't see how that keeps you from paying your bills for 3 months.

What just bugs me the most is that it's not just me the owe money.
The investor walked out and is pressing charges, they owe the DJ money, bartender, a professional studio that made a small introduction video,.. Who knows who else they owe.

For this specific reason I DO want to scare of customers, and for them to know what kind of people they are.

The sadest thing of all is that it was one kick ass looking website, that took me plenty of work and effort, and pretty much turned their business around for the good.

Oh well, I will take leroys advice and give them 2 weeks notice that if it's not payed by then, I will give up the hosting with the website offline and they kind find someone else to put the pieces back together.

Shame though.

Thank you everyone for your advice, feel free to discuss.

 

[anna]

Did you have a contract with them? What did it say about payment?

If not, I'd say to take this as a valuable learning experience.

And always, always, use a signed contract!

 

[Puritiana]

Hi Anna,

No, there was no contract. They were pretty much the first people I've had troubles with concerning a payment.

I guess I was naive thinking I wouldn't have a need for contracts.

I now add to each invoice some terms of agreement, they have 7 days to contact me if they have a problem with them, if not, they are considered to agree with them.

One of them for example is if an invoice is 2 weeks overdue, a late fee of 10% will be added with a minimum of 25 euro.

 

[anna]

Hi Anna,

No, there was no contract. They were pretty much the first people I've had troubles with concerning a payment.

I guess I was naive thinking I wouldn't have a need for contracts.

I now add to each invoice some terms of agreement, they have 7 days to contact me if they have a problem with them, if not, they are considered to agree with them.

One of them for example is if an invoice is 2 weeks overdue, a late fee of 10% will be added with a minimum of 25 euro.

I've had the same thing happen- what a bummer!! It sounds like you found a good solution, though!

 

[leroy30]

Glad you found my advice useful

It's unfortunate that pulling their website is unethical considering they are potentially being unethical as well.

I'd say just grit your teeth, cut your losses and learn from it (seems you have!)

Also If they ask for more work I'd say you can no longer give them credit, they need to pay in advance. If they do that then you are happy to do work. It sounds like they are having big money issues and are trying to use everyone else to invest in their last ditch effort to stay affloat. You'd be surprised how many people are comfortable doing this.

Good luck in collecting the money!

 

[Janja]

I have had my share of difficulty with customers getting my money. I did have a contract and usually take a 50% deposit with the rest due before upload to the server. When I went to sign the contract, they could only give me $400 instead of the 600. As we went ahead they wanted a paypal shopping page which was going to add another 500.
When the site was done, they delayed and asked me to upload before it was paid. I declined.They said business was bad. Then I made a payment plan for them which a weekly schedule which they didn't honor either. I have been waiting since April now....
Bottom line is, even with a good contract I don't have my money. Their site is not up yet. Sure I could take them to small claims court but even with a win, they still have to write that check.
Now, I changed my contract again: I charge 3/4 upfront with the rest due in 30 days. If more work is authorized, that amount becomes due immediately. And I have a part where I claim the right to remove anything from the internet until it is paid in full.
I guess, you learn every time...