Re: FN-FORUM: no payment !!!

date posted 7th August 2004 23:25


> Well, here is the situation.
> I finished an animated project and submited it to my client.
> He is not happy about it but will use it anyway.
> I personnaly think it is OK
> He doesn't want to pay me.
> Any suggestion how to deal with this situation?

hi victor,
it sounds a tricky situation.
why does he want to use it if he's not happy? have you discussed reworking
any of what you've done? (that way you can both salvage something from the
situation - he'll be happier with the animation and you'll get paid - but
you'll obviously need to negotiate timescales and extra costs and come to
some sort of compromise).

did you show him the work at different stages during production? i've learnt
from experience that it's always best to do storyboards and static visuals
and get them signed off first before producing animation, however
straightforward *you* think the job is.

how many hours work is involved overall? if it's a substantial piece of work
you might choose to be bullish about him paying up (and probably lose future
work from him if that's an issue).

the other thing to be wary of is "mr. shrewd businessman". it may be that he
actually really likes what you've done but this is a ploy to avoid or reduce
payment. if you think this is a possibility you will need to be strong to
avoid him getting away with this.

have you asked him to clarify what he doesn't like about it? i've had
situations where the client doesn't know the technology very well and was
expecting hollywood style animation on their flash website. if you then talk
to them about bandwidth, download speeds etc. and educate them about what
the technology can and can't do they then often look at your work from a
different perspective and the problem resolves.

in future cover all your bases by getting sign-off (in writing) at various
stages during production. managing client expectations is vital for this
sort of thing.

good luck!