If you do contract coding work online, get paid first

[cka]

I'm out a few hundred cause the guy I was doing this site for (PHP) "didn't like the way I converted it from ASP to PHP". Either do it at the place of business you were hired for, or get the money first and then do the code.

You wouldn't believe how mad I am right now.

[Master]

That sucks man.

Isn't it now customary to get half or more up front and the rest upon completion, or in stages when certain milestones are hit? Thats how it is for IT/IS projects.

[voltz]

What site was this again?

[cka]

It's not really important what site it was.

And yeah Master, I realize now that I should have gotten at least a fraction of the cost up front before doing the work. Thing about that project is, I had 5 or 6 days (all of which I was unusually busy during the nights) to convert 40 or 50 ASP scripts to PHP. I'm not some sort of miracle worker contrary to popular belief, but I did manage to scrape it together as best I could in the time allotted to me.

[sggg]

That sucks man.

Isn't it now customary to get half or more up front and the rest upon completion, or in stages when certain milestones are hit? Thats how it is for IT/IS projects.

Yeh, you usually get half up front. If it is CONTRACT work then it should be in the contract and you should be able to enforce it. That's the entire point of having a contract - to protect yourself.

I got screwed once too, ages ago. Live and learn.

[Gohron]

Kill somebody!

[Kenshin]

Ah yes, web business.

A few years ago a web contract went bad, and I was out $500 and a friend.

[Diff-chan]

Isn't it now customary to get half or more up front and the rest upon completion...

Yea... if you're a bounty hunter or a soldier of fortune.

[negitoro]

Take the company to small cliams court.

Sue them for fair compensation for your work.

Make them supply concrete evidence for their reasons for withholding payment.

You're entitled to your money if you provided work for them. Otherwise, you better ensure that your work doesn't make it onto their website.