Round #4263 with the Client From Hell

[Elna Tymes <Etymes -at- LTS -dot- com>]

A bit of background.  Our company, hereafter known as Our Heroes, took a fixed
price contract for the Client From Hell (CFH) to write five manuals and two help
systems in six weeks.  There were almost no specs whatsoever, and the software
was not frozen.  Our Heroes negotiated a $30,000 contract with milestones and
carefully specified and explained process steps, complete with explanations as to
what would happen if any of the steps were not done or were late.  CFH signed the
contract and paid a small percentage of the contract as a down payment.  Our
Heroes delivered a more complete process document, which all developers read and
discussed in a meeting with us, delivered tentative outlines for all documents -
the two help systems would generally use text developed for the documents - and
delivered audience definitions for each document and help systems, all within the
first week, and got approvals from CFH to proceed.

CFH personnel began disregarding the process immediately thereafter, ultimately
requiring 5 or 6 iterations for each of the three reviews specified, and finally
requiring a total of five formal reviews, largely to add material they hadn't
indicated would be there or to rearrange material they had previously reviewed.
The first couple of times Our Heroes protested but went along with things in the
interests of teaching a small, new company comprised mostly of new H1B's the
cost-effective methods of software development and documentation long in use in
Silicon Valley. Our Heroes had been able to negotiate 7-day payables because the
total contract time was so short, but as the abuse of process escalated, found
that withholding deliverables for nonpayment wouldn't work. Our Heroes delivered
all five manuals and both Help systems on time (with one exception, which CFH
agreed to), and  invoiced the completion fee. Whereupon CFH deemed all the
manuals and Help systems unacceptable and "garbage" despite many interim
approvals from developers and from the VP of development.  Our Heroes called in a
large legal firm, so did CFH, and the resulting negotiation eventually led to
Small Claims Court.

If you want the longer version of this, it's in the archives, probably during
November and December.

When we last saw Our Heroes, they were waiting for a Small Claims Court date so
the judge could approve their suing the pants off the CFH (well, not really -
just the maximum $5000).  That happened December 14. Our Heroes had saved all
email and paper communications, and had taken notes during all meetings, and
presented a very thorough case in court, complete with copies of all email,
tabbed references to the most important ones, a brief tutorial on why the
seven-step documentation process is cost-effective and what happens when it's not
used, and background on why Our Heroes had hired a private investigator to
determine the current name and ownership of the CFH. By contrast, the CFH simply
maintained that they had never agreed to the work.  On December 21, Our Heroes
received in the mail a copy of the judgment, saying they'd won the case (although
for less than they asked) plus court costs.  It being late in the day when the
mail arrived, Our Heroes waited until Monday to call CFH.  However that was
12/24, and subsequent calls and emails revealed that the CFH had taken off that
week and part of this week.  So the first response from the CFH was Wednesday,
Jan. 2.

IN this week's exchange of heated email and phone calls, CFH decided that (1)
they had 30 days to decide whether to appeal the decision, (2) since Our Heroes
had won less of a dollar judgment than they'd requested, therefore the CFH had
"won" the case and thus owed no legal fees, as specified in the contract if there
were a legal dispute, and (3) threatened Our Heroes with triple damages if they
found that the investment community was in any way influenced by the judgment or
anything Our Heroes said about them.  California law allows the 30 day decision
period, but if they appeal, it goes back to Superior Court, where this time
lawyers are allowed and the winner can get triple damages plus the additional
legal and court costs. In other words, what might have cost CFH about $5000 would
then cost CFH about $100,000 if Our Heroes win. Further, Our Heroes don't have to
lift a finger to have CFH's credit record "influenced" by the Small Claims
judgment, since it's a matter of public record.

If you're an employee of a company which hires technical writers, be kind to
gray-haired managers - they earned those gray hairs!

Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems


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