If this list is going to be created, you can probably break it off into groups. 1. Dead Beats 2. Slow Pays 3. Partial Pays (Partial invoices, not partial jobs)
I, personally, think this would be a grand idea. I also think that the company/client, should also be able to list on a similar system the names of those consultants that left them in a lurch, walked away from the job, or did something that specifically jeopardized the job. I have recently been speaking to a client who has had 3 people walk away. As much as this is a red flag for me to work with him, it also says something about consultants. Unfortunately, I don't know if it was the client, the consultant, or the job that was too obtrusive to be completed with. I know for myself, such a list may not stop me from working with a client, but it will make me 'stick to my requirements' harder. (If my agreement is weekly invoices, the first missed payment has all work stop until a satisfactory explanation or payment has been received, if it is by 'milestone', no work until payment has been received based on the milestone, etc.) The unfortunate thing about a list like this is that it can't be 'amended'. Once an email is sent on this list, it is forever searchable by the search engines. If you make a 'typo', or if a company name is the same for different companies across regions, then there has been a 'mistake' that cannot be 'redacted'. I think this would be better served using a database similar to the BBB system. I know, for instance, that there is at least 1 client out there who would say some poor things about me, and I about them. What it comes down to is a bad communication issue. (the specs were, apparently, unclear (I had thought that the client meant something, when they had meant something else.) Even though I have billed her for the hours I worked on it, she has never paid, and never responded to additional contact. I have written it off and I hope that we both took a lesson away from it. For me, even if you have worked on a similar project before, address every project as if you have never worked with them on one previously (get all the facts from scratch). Hers, be very clear in your specification documents. And one for both of us; don't just read and confirm each part of the specifications, review them all with the other party to verify the verbiage relates the intent. William -- William E. Seiter Have you ever read a book that changed your life? Go to: www.winninginthemargins.com Enter passkey: goldengrove Web Developer / ColdFusion Programmer http://William.Seiter.com =30099.21321.11 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3621 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
