I think this trend is disturbing. I've seen a few "revenge revisions" here over the past few days, and though I understand the frustration of not getting paid (I've been freelancing for 8+ years), this is not the way to deal with the problem.
I'm a big fan of using a staging server that I'm in control of for changes to sites. We'll agree on a scope for an individual project or revisions, then I'll make the changes on my server and send you a link. If the changes are to your liking and the scope has been met, I'll bill you. Upon receipt of payment, I'll upload the changes to your live site, and we'll start again ad infinitum.
I've heard that when constructing fireplaces and chimneys, masons sometimes install a plate of glass partway up the flu. When the final installment on the work is paid, the mason drops a stone down the chimney to break the glass. Otherwise it's a house full of smoke for the deadbeat client...
I wonder what happens to the chimney sweep years later, the person that clambers down the chimney through unexpected shards of glass sticking out on the walls. Presumably they are aware of this as a possibility and take precautions.
Most residential chimneys nowadays are too small for people to climb into. Sweeping is done with a brush on a pole :)
Also, the glass pane would not have to be anchored deeply in the masonry, just set in slightly, enough to support its own weight. Thus any breakage would likely remove it entirely.
Sigh. I feel for web designers who don't get paid, but this is not the appropriate response. It puts you potentially in legal danger and loses you both this customer and anyone they ever talk to.
If you failed to pay a contractor building you a house, they can take a lein against the house or sue you, but it would be quite illegal for them to start tearing the house down. Similarly, unless you have a written contract saying that their website is merely a service you provide, defacing their property is not putting you in a stronger position, morally or legally.
Ok but what if they are providing web hosting as well?
Then the analogy is that your running a shop selling stuff, and then when people come in asking for product x you tell them you won't give them product x because the owners of product x don't pay their bills to you.
It all depends on who owns the hosting. You can't sued for libel if you tell the truth.
If you are providing hosting also, have failed to collect and are writing the debt off, I think it would be MUCH better to disable DNS or the host or something like that, rather than put up a public page like this. I'm a developer, not a lawyer though. If your lawyer tells you it's acceptable to do something like this, then I wish you all the best. Personally, I'd just take the site down and file a lawsuit, even a small claims suit.
No its not ... every business I know ceases to provide you business after a certain number of days of non-payment ... Cable companies turn off your cable, electric companies turn off your light, Your landlord evicts you etc etc.
If you're paying for hosting ... as long as I have your data backed up, I'm pretty sure I can stop hosting your site by removing your dns records from my system
"Recovering your goods" in the sense of a website is to take it offline or restore the original contents. I think filling the page with stuff like this goes beyond recovery.
"Court gives permission" are the key words, though. I don't think they get to deface your walls with giant messages spelling out their side of the dispute, and on their own authority.
BTW, I don't know why everyone assumes the facts are as described on the defaced website. It's not like we've heard the other side of the story. (Personally, I'm unlikely to spend any time to study it in detail, anyway). But if I knew who the web designer was, I'd certainly stay the hell away from him. This was ridiculously unprofessional and inappropriate.
I think this does more to tarnish the reputation of the web designer as an immature, spiteful person, instead of being a true business person. The best way to handle situations like these in my experiences is to take the site offline and say it is due to nonpayment, and provide a means to contact you discreetly. Then send the bill to a collections agency with a 33% markup to cover the collections costs. Most clients are honest, eager to correct what is most often a communication or clerical error.
I've experienced non-payment only a handful of times over 15+ years of freelancing. Barring bankruptcy, I have ALWAYS been paid by using these two tactics. If they go bankrupt, you will be just another creditor, and a low priority one at that, since there are no physical assets involved.
"Get bent", "This website is not yours anymore", "Deal with it"...
Frankly, I think a little "this website is offline because they didn't pay their bills" would be enough, given the web designer is being honest about the whole situation.
I'd like to build a service where unpaid web developers can point DNS or redirect to, that on every visit to the unpaid website, would send an email to the owner explaining that someone visited the website, but only saw text explaining that they were a bad debtor.
Weirdly enough, I have a chiropractor client who owes me for hosting, and has been extremely rude about it. I have to resist the urge to redirect his domain to ChiroBase.
I think the main intent of this isn't to simply seek revenge, but to hopefully pressure the chiropractic office into paying. I could be wrong, but that's what my intent would be.
The situation is one of the designer's own creation.
If the client never paid anything up front, that's just bad business practice. If the designer delivered and launched the site without having yet collected a dime, that's more bad practice. And if the designer continued to host the site while never getting paid, that's just stupidity.
Rather than being controlled by his emotions, this designer would have been a lot better off kicking those pesky feelings out of the building and viewing the situation as a learning experience, then creating business practices as a result.
For example, adopt a policy of getting 50% down at project start with the other 50% due within 30 days of site launch. If a client starts dragging their feet on payment, remind them of the clause in the contract where the penalties for non-payment were outlined. You did get a signed contract, right?
Sometimes clients don't want to pay and unfortunately nobody starts out in business with great judgment about who is and isn't going to pay. That judgment comes from experience, which is unfortunately built through exercising bad judgment.
I'm not sure that's the way to respond. Wouldn't it scare away any potential future clients? We don't know the whole story, maybe the designer was asking for too much, or changed the price at the end. At any rate, it doesn't matter now, but future clients might hesitate if they knew the designer did this in the past.
This is why you set up milestones to get paid instead of waiting for your complete payment at the end. Develop on a test server and then after the final payment, move to the production server. This is a highly inappropriate response to a problem, and I would never work with this designer because of it.
I've contemplated this measure a few times but the fear of legal repercussions is a little too overwhelming to go through with it.
At the same time - I feel sympathy for this designer and don't blame them. One overwhelming gesture of disrespect (devaluing ones work and not paying) sometimes deserves another.
To the designer, that is definitely not the way to go about your business. You are begging for trouble and doing more harm to yourself than the guy that is stiffing you on payment -
That said, after a quick double-take, I have to admit I laughed when I looked at the site.
If I was in this situation I would just erase/kill the site, as the web developer is clearly in the position to do so, and most clients wouldn't have the know-how to do anything about it. Some of us try to maintain a little bit of class.
Please, don't do this... If you are a webdesigner, just take down the site or put up a note saying "This customer did not pay their bill." This is never the right way to solve your issues.
It's the "nice way" to go by replacing your stuff with the original design when you decide you're really not going to be getting paid. Can see just removing the page entirely, kind of. However, I don't think it's good for either side of the table if you do something like this.
If you take away what they gave or took down the site entirely you would be justified and perhaps quickly pay. Doing something classless like this is just going to make the client bitter and perhaps damage your personal reputation.
The worst part is that the internet hive-mind may take hold and turn this chiropractor's life into hell for a little while. We're only getting one side of the story, and we can't be so quick to take sides without knowing a larger story. For all we know, the designer was lazy, late, charged unfair overtime, anything. But we can't jump to that conclusion either.
This web designer is reflecting badly on him/herself and the webdesigner industry as a whole. The webdesign industry doesn't need a reputation for vengefulness and immaturity.
In business there are norms for how to deal with non payment. If freelance web designers want to be seen as 'real' business people then.......
Now, I'm not ever going to need his services; I can handle the tech stuff just fine myself thanks and I know plenty of graphic designers. I also tend to pay bills when I receive them :-)
But there's no way I'd take a hosted service from someone who's pulled this stunt in the past. Let's say we have a small disagreement - happens in business, doesn't necessarily mean either of us is a crook. But how do I know he won't fly off the handle and do this to me too? That's not a liability I want to think about.
If he does great work and it's what I need I'd use him
To be sure, the site design as displayed is only average. Sure, he may do average work very well, but I'm not sure this is the best way to advertise that.
I'm a big fan of using a staging server that I'm in control of for changes to sites. We'll agree on a scope for an individual project or revisions, then I'll make the changes on my server and send you a link. If the changes are to your liking and the scope has been met, I'll bill you. Upon receipt of payment, I'll upload the changes to your live site, and we'll start again ad infinitum.