let down by potential client

neil_hosey

Hi Guys,
I was supposed to have a meeting today with a guy i was going to do a website for. We spoke during the week on the phone, and said we'd meet today at 2. I drove 1.5 hours to a hotel he runs and when i got there, he was no where to be seen. I tried ringing him but the phone was off. I was fairly pissed off, so ijust left a message with the bar-woman.

I am still very annoyed about this and was just wondering how other people would deal with this. At the moment i feel like telling him to F off as im really busy, but maybe the more professional guys here could give an idea how they would deal with situation.

Any suggestions or stories is greatly appreciated..

thanks
neil

information

neil_hosey wrote: »

Hi Guys,
I was supposed to have a meeting today with a guy i was going to do a website for. We spoke during the week on the phone, and said we'd meet today at 2. I drove 1.5 hours to a hotel he runs and when i got there, he was no where to be seen. I tried ringing him but the phone was off. I was fairly pissed off, so ijust left a message with the bar-woman.

I am still very annoyed about this and was just wondering how other people would deal with this. At the moment i feel like telling him to F off as im really busy, but maybe the more professional guys here could give an idea how they would deal with situation.

Any suggestions or stories is greatly appreciated..

thanks
neil

if your really really busy, let him go say "he missed his chance and you have now taken on other business, but you will contact him at a later date, when you have more free time".

If you need the business, wait until he calls you back and here what he has to say, could have been a genuine reason. Personally I wouldn't do business with him, you committed your time and effort to be at the meeting.

This is what sales is all about, people will string you along say ok I'll buy next week, or give me a call and you'll never here from them again.

DublinDilbert

Wait and see what he says.... if he doesn't contact you, i wouldn't bother chasing it....

But he might have a good excuse too... I don't know why anyone would make someone drive 1.5 hours then not be there...

If he doesn't contact you, i'd just chalk it up to experience...

neil_hosey

Thanks guys,
I'll go with your advice and wait until he calls (if at all) and see what he has to say. If its a reasonable excuse sure I'll take it on.

Thanks again,

Neil

ron_darrell

Hi Neil,

to be honest even with a reasonable excuse I'd be very wary of taking a client like this on. Why didn't he (I'm assuming it's a he) ring/text/leave a message to say he was delayed/unable to make the meeting? A 'reasonable' excuse can be easily manufactured.

If you do decide to take him on as a client, make sure you write up a contract stating what you will be doing exactly (leave no wriggle room), when each payment is to be made to you based on deliverables you have provided and I nearly would look for an up-front deposit as well.

It has been my unfortunate experience that there are more chancers than genuine people out there especially when it comes to web-design clients. Unfortunate but in my experience true. Protect yourself so that you won't have to 'clock this up to experience'.

RD

matrim

ron_darrell wrote: »

If you do decide to take him on as a client, make sure you write up a contract stating what you will be doing exactly (leave no wriggle room), when each payment is to be made to you based

I'd also say that in the contract any travel by you has extra cost \ expenses. So that even if he doesn't turn up, you can still bill him for it as it will be in the contract.

spadder

do the job, but add in a 10% rudeness surcharge.

neil_hosey

thanks again guys for the replies. He still hasnt got in contact with me so I think ill tell him to stick it up his arse when he does call..

I dont think I could do a job for someone who is an ignorant c*nt.

Thanks again, and liek you wsaid Ron, maybe just better to put it down to experience.

Cheers
Neil

is_that_so

Had an experience similar to this when I was working on a web project except that the guy took advice of someone who hadn't a clue. Thankfully not too much lost on it but what you learn is that you get money up front and all clients have to sign a contract before anything happens. If he hasn't come back to you this week and you don't need the money then (lots of hassles there by the looks of it) I would make a call/email to say that job is off.

pauldiv

Hi Neil,

If I made someone drive all that way and let them down I would be ashamed.
Unfortunately some people dont seem to have any common decency these days and I sympathise with what happened to you here.

Even if it was an emergency then any decent person who needed to cancel a business meeting would call or at least text to say that they had a pressing engagement.

In future maybe you could cover yourself with potential clients by making them pay up front for each project deliverable. In this economic climate I would not work for someone I didnt know without making sure the client was a good payer.

Life is full of little knocks.

Randomswinger

Bill him for your time anyway - while he'll most likely ignore it it may stop him doing it again

neil_hosey

he called me just there and said he was sorry, he forgot..

I dont think i can do it, i was on the verge of telling him to f off on the phone but said i'd get back to him.


Now I'm thinking of just not getting back to him. I'm just thinking, we were supposed to meet on Saturday, today is Tuesday, how long does it take you to realise, i think its compete rubbish and he didnt forget, just couldn't have been arsed.

Sorry for ranting, I'm just pissed off about i.

seamus

My Dad's been a long time in business working for himself and his basic advice was that you shouldn't turn down work (unless you're out the door), but be wary of people like this.

If someone is late to meetings, seems disorganised, tries to do things on the cheap, is constantly trying to "renegotiate" fees and charges, then you are going to have a hard time getting money out of them when it comes time to get paid.

Your two options are to either charge them an arsehole premium or turn down the work. The second is obviously the less stressful option.

The Corinthian

Take a deep breath. Relax. It's part of business - get used to it.

Firstly, never tell a client, potential or otherwise to piss off - at least not simply for something like not turning up to a meeting. Word of mouth spreads and you simply don't want someone out there who can badmouth you because you gave him lip, regardless of how justified.

Secondly, if he comes back to you, then do the work. Pretend nothing happened. Then add the value of the missed meeting to your bill to him.

Thirdly, structure payments so that you are least exposed - if this guy is willing to not bother turning up for a meeting and then not apologise, then my guess is that he'll be a slow pay at best.

Finally, if he never gets back to him, put it down to experience. Personally, I also (privately) pass on the word about tyre-kickers to others (see first point) and have known them to have difficulty getting suppliers as a result.

The Corinthian

seamus wrote: »

Your two options are to either charge them an arsehole premium or turn down the work.

Double your quote and look for 50% up-front. If the guy's reputation is bad enough, he won't get any better quotes - I've seen this happen.