What to do when a client screws you over?

racerx105

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Had a client try and screw me over. He hired me to build his website then asked for so many more tasks then what we signed for. I build the website on his server because it was going to be 3000 pages plus. Now this client has locked me out of his ftp, hosting, and backend website.

He still owes me $1200 and is not emailing me back or picking up my calls.

His website is complete except for some pages that need to be added.

Negative SEO? Hacking? Not sure what to do but since he screwed me over I want to do the same to him.

Any suggestions?
 
another case of penny wise, pounds fool

Y u no milestone payment request in the first place?

My suggestion is move on, spend your energy and money towards something beneficial rather than putting effort on something that doesn't really benefit you.
Just my 2 cent :)
 
Revenge is a bad thing bro! That's why it goes like this : Money -->> Work ! not Work -->> Money !
But you can still take down his websites,if he has any monetization it's way better,but that's a bad thing,you won't get any profit from it,he won't pay anyway! Try to talk to him,if he refuses to pay the money,than feel free to destroy him :D
 
Destroy him, hit him in the money. Forget hacking unless you know how. Remove all posibility of payment processing. Look for all methods used to monetise and take them away forever. It can be done with little effort and feels great to destroy the life of somone who did exactly the same to you first.

I should add, I only did this only once to a company who early on in my consulting career screwed me so bad I lost my home.

I hear all 150 lost job later that year for some reason.
 
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Destroy him, hit him in the money. Forget hacking unless you know how. Remove all posibility of payment processing. Look for all methods used to monetise and take them away forever. It can be done with little effort and feels great to destroy the life of somone who did exactly the same to you first.

I should add, I only did this only once to a company who early on in my consulting career screwed me so bad I lost my home.

I hear all 150 lost job later that year for some reason.

Yes,he'll understand what is when you get scammed,but think clearly : What's the point? what will he get from it? A start-up of a war,right? That's a bad advice,pretty bad bro :)
 
I know that for sure, have to admit was not thinking strait at the time was working loads and could not sleep for worry.

I used my spare time to do that, I know its bad but fuck it, its done.
 
I would advise you to move on and reflect on the lesson learned from this experience. It will reward you in a great way spiritually when you forgive someone who harms you or causes loses for you. Taking revenge (the thought itself) will make you on the same boat with himself.
 
Well Im not into revenge I believe in karma, but he went out of his way to block me and intentionally not pay me and now is ignoring me. I would at least like to be able to take the site down I built for him not necessarily ruin his business.
 
Destroy his rankings in a way that can be undone. That way you can call him up and ask for what you're owed and offer to fix his rankings as a bonus.
 
if you can quickly mess with his website i would do that, if its going to be a lot of effort to mess with him its not worth it, use that energy on being productive
 
Had a client try and screw me over. He hired me to build his website then asked for so many more tasks then what we signed for. I build the website on his server because it was going to be 3000 pages plus. Now this client has locked me out of his ftp, hosting, and backend website.

He still owes me $1200 and is not emailing me back or picking up my calls.

His website is complete except for some pages that need to be added.

Negative SEO? Hacking? Not sure what to do but since he screwed me over I want to do the same to him.

Any suggestions?

Where do you live?

Small claims or similar. $50 in many US states - free in the UK. Do it legit. Do it legal.

Revenge eats you up and leaves a bad taste. Try and get what's owed to you the proper way and then win or lose..move on - lesson learnt.

Scritty
 
Talk to a lawyer. If the law can't do anything, I'd run a reputation "management" campaign against him and his website if you are motivated enough.
 
Never do your work unless they pay for 50% upfront and 25% per milestone. With BHW, you can get a lot of revenge if the law fails to come through for you.
 
In future you should add some temporary javascript + css that you can trigger remotely to lock down a clients site.

I have used a script like this on a problem client before. Upon being told I would not be paid I completely locked down his site, every page appeared black with large yellow writing that said

THIS SITE IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE AS [NAME] HAS NOT PAID....... You get the idea.

Needless to say the client paid up very quickly.

I done a quick search and found a site that does this for you. I would still code it myself but this is a quick solution for next time.

http://csskillswitch.com/
 
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I say mess up his website anyway you can.
Just dont waste a lot of time.
Then move on and use the experience.

Personally I've had ppl make me build an website and then in the end not want it. Or even threaten me about payments and shit.

If you think you can forgive and move on the do that, else mess him up if you think that'll let you sleep.

I personally just move on...
 
Thanks for the advice MAXTucker I will definitely use that in future reference. I should always have something like that. I do use a flash ftp uploader I put in there hosting right when I get into it so I still secretly have access to all his files without him knowing, but a web developer could go delete the folder that allows me access. But this is cool because it would be hard to find. I like the idea. Thanks guys for all the tips. I will let you know what happens.
 
It's really sad to hear a story like this. Next time you do another work; please ask for an upfront payment. I wish you well mate.
 
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