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Should I be charging for this?

  • 05-12-2011 6:55pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 4,946 ✭✭✭red_ice


    Im in a bit of a moral grey area right now and I'm just wondering what you would do in this situation...

    I did a website migration from a windows box to a linux box. There was a few things that needed to be reconfigured in order for the site to work, php config files etc directing various parts of the system to whatever directories that are needed.

    Everything seemed to be running fine, orders came in, payments made, the customer process worked.

    A month or so after the migration a few new items needed to be added to the catalog and I noticed a problem, the images for the product didnt go to the desired directory, infact, as far as the system was concerned the directory didnt exist at all. No problem, change a line in a config file, fix the problem, thats working now, grand.

    A few days later I get a call from my client saying that there's an order in and no payment... So I look in the payment account, nothing... i look at the orders - the orders there... hmm...

    Made an order myself, noticed that the whole payment screen had vanished! It was being completely bi-passed.

    Don't get me wrong, I know the system inside out, I've been working with it for years. I've just spent the last 4 hours reworking the system completely overlooking 10 lines of code that was the problem. A complete brain fart of the highest order!! So I restored the system to how it was before i started this, changed the code, it works again.

    My problem is, I've just wasted an entire evening, doing my job, but the fix was simple... too simple... i completely overlooked something so obvious. In all my years on the job I've never done this. Im embarrassed about it. I apologized to the client in question who i've been working with for five or so years and he just laughed it off. He could tell this was a first and in fairness he knows it because I do good work for the guy.

    Whats no laughing matter is the bill hes run up for my time. The moral part of me says dont charge, but the business end of me says I've worked an evening when I have other deadlines to meet and if I was asked to solve this problem for someone else I would more than likely charge the lot... then again, it would usually have been fixed in 2 minutes...

    What would you do?


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 8,488 ✭✭✭Goodshape


    Hate those situations.

    Simple answer is that I'd charge the client for some of it. They hired you to maintain their website and this is how long it took you today to do that. Someone else might not have made the mistake which caused everything to drag on (and on), but they didn't hire someone else.

    But I wouldn't charge for all of it. As you say, it's just not right. It's your fault you wasted the day, not theirs, and particularly if they're a long-standing client that just doesn't seem like good manners.

    Charge them for a few of the hours and, if you can, let them know you're covering the rest because you're a great guy :). You'll just have to write the rest off. IMO.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭GetWithIt


    It depends on your existing relationship but if it's good then I wouldn't charge. Goodwill and honesty go a long way in business.

    Put that time against sales and marketing.




  • I usually ask myself:

    Is the work I'm doing required because of an error I made, a change required by the client or a problem introduced by a third party.

    If it's my bad it gets fixed with no charge.

    If I'm working to change a system that functions as per the client's requirements, but now the requirements have changed, I charge.

    If it's a third party causing the extra work I need to do, it gets awkward, and it happens a lot. I've been left in the firing line over mistakes caused by the hosting provider, payment gateway issues, etc. While I'm not at fault, the client often looks to me for the resolution. In those situations, I usually end up taking the responsibility. A fairly recent hosting screw up cost me close to a week's work.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,119 ✭✭✭p


    Migrating a website is a difficult task. It's entirely possible there will be issues that you can't forsee. In my mind, I would expect someone to charge by the hour for work that has an undetermined timeframe. That should be the expectation set up with the client in advance when you're asked to migrate something.

    My only question is why did you migrate, if it wasn't requested by the client, then i'm not sure why you'd charge at all, but you might be able to bill it as ongoing maintenance.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27,857 ✭✭✭✭Dave!


    Goodshape wrote: »
    Hate those situations.

    Simple answer is that I'd charge the client for some of it. They hired you to maintain their website and this is how long it took you today to do that. Someone else might not have made the mistake which caused everything to drag on (and on), but they didn't hire someone else.

    But I wouldn't charge for all of it. As you say, it's just not right. It's your fault you wasted the day, not theirs, and particularly if they're a long-standing client that just doesn't seem like good manners.

    Charge them for a few of the hours and, if you can, let them know you're covering the rest because you're a great guy
    :). You'll just have to write the rest off. IMO.

    This!


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