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Re: Round #4263 with the Client From Hell and what would Andrew do?
Subject:Re: Round #4263 with the Client From Hell and what would Andrew do? From:Elna Tymes <Etymes -at- LTS -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 08 Jan 2002 12:28:30 -0800
Just to provide a bit of hard data on the CFH contract:
The contract was for $30,000, with a completion bonus of $3,000 if we delivered all
the docs by August 27. Weekly milestones were spelled out, with a dollar amount
attached to each. The VP of development was to determine when each milestone had
been met. The contract also contained a provision that if there was a legal
dispute, the 'winner' would also be awarded any legal fees incurred.
We had previously scheduled and paid for a large family reunion trip for the first
two weeks of July, so the CFH agreed that we could take the time off for the trip
without penalizing the contract. The outlines, audience definition, and some
preliminary work had already been done before we left and we jumped back in as soon
as we returned. With some bickering, we met each of the milestones, including the
all important last one.
However when we asked for signoff, three of the developers sent us more material to
include. We protested, the development VP agreed that we'd finished the original
contract, the general manager told us to continue to include the new material, and
we finally finished things two weeks later, and billed for the hours it had take us
to finish things. At which point the general manager denied he'd ever authorized
the extra work. At which point things went to the lawyers. The CFH eventually
paid all money under the original contract, including the completion bonus, but
refused to pay anything for the extra work. That's how we wound up in court. We
won the court case, although not for everything we were due, then asked for legal
fees we'd already paid. CFH refused.
Annamarie Pluhar wrote:
> There's another element in Elna's story that hasn't been touched on.
> My own CFH was a bully. She liked throwing her power around, seeing
> people scared of her and pleading with her. I don't know what she
> might have been like if faced with a male person with significant
> authority who refused to be bullied by her. Elna's also sounds like
> a bully. There are times when it is good to have solid, male
> competitive testosterone to stare down bullies.
Been there, done that.<g> My business partner is 6'3" and looks like a linebacker.
He did his thesis on aspects of negotiating foreign policy, and has applied some of
those tactics in business situations. He and I have used 'good cop/bad cop' to our
advantage many times, and have used a number of other proven negotiating tactics.
Didn't work this time.
Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems
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