What do you do when a programmer wants more money then you agreed to?
 

Say you hire someone to do program a project for you and they agree to $1,500. Then about 60% through the project they talk about how much more work it was than they thought and how many more hours they are putting in and asking for more, without giving a specified amount.
We met today and I bought him lunch and he startd going on again about the time he's putting in.

What would you do?
Would you give them more? How much more? We DID agree on a price and I didnt ask for anything additional than what we agreed on. But he keeps mentioning how much effort he's putting in and its starting to bug me

been there.. project never got finished.. an i gave them the extra cash.. fucked up the poophole

Maybe you can offer him a bonus incentive for if he completes the project early? Perhaps, even with the extra work involved that will satisfy him as well as ensure your project gets finished. Good luck!

Personally though, I think it's poor form of the programmer. He should be able to evaluate the work involved in the project and set his rate accordingly. That's how most business professionals do it.

An experienced programmer always knows one thing for sure : It will take more time and work than we thought.

Our eyes are bigger than our code.

:1orglaugh


If you like the work the programmer has done so far then it's a good idea to finish the project with this programmer. It's not going be cheaper to start over with a new programmer.

I wouldn't pay. This is why I use escrow services or something like eLance where the escrow is released 'after' the job has been completed. It's their fault if they "thought" it would take less time. If the programmer is half of a man he'll keep his word and finish the job for the agreed upon price and do a better job next time of not making the same mistake. I would be suspicious of any developer who does this as they could just say it's taking longer to get more money from people.

:1orglaugh

happens all the time

I imagine the project was not properly scoped

Exactamundo. On BOTH accounts.

:thumbsup

If I do a project and agree to do it for estimate I complete the project for the agreed on price no matter what it leaves me out of pocket.

So, I rarely agree to do stuff on estimate.

but that's just me.

Estimating is more an art then a science still imho.

.

If he had finished the job in under the time would he have refunded some of the money back to you?

Of course not.

Same thing, different day. Tell him you will throw an extra 500 hundo and thats it... finish it up. Always be polite and let him kniw you like what you see so far. But def tell him he quoted $1500 and it really is not your fault.

Is he an honest straight-up kinda guy? Give him the extra if it's worth it. Some projects do become much more than anticipated.

if you think he's just blowing smoke... cut your losses, it'll never get done anyways.

Its just a bummer because I'd like to use him again. I met him today and he's kind of crazy, like autistic/aspergers crazy-smart. He could probably put a satellite into space but can't make a peanut butter sandwich. Thats an awesome programmer to get to know.
But if he's going to whine on every project and ask for more money then fuck that.

depends on the coder....

Pretty common occurrence, still annoying! This is why when you find a coder or designer who consistently delivers projects on deadline and within the initial budget, you keep them in the fold and treat them well!

So many programmers and/or artists out there who are extremely talented - like the dude your describing - but lack professionalism and don't consistently deliver what they promised, for what they promised it for. Just not worth the energy dealing with them. You might say "That's an awesome programmer to get to know" but it gets old quick.

Like beaner sez, go maybe 25% higher and get the shit wrapped up. But for the next one I'd look elsewhere.

go with development company with enough resources and knowledge and everything will be done in time and in budget..... but it will costs 10 times more.

If you honestly think he is going to be worth it in the long run, be a little flexible. Don't let him bend you over but if you have future work planned, it may more than pay for itself if you give him a little token of appreciation for him sticking it out. Give him an incentive.

If it is a one off deal, then be straight up. He quoted the job, if he underquoted it is on him, finish the fucking job.

Imagine you were renovating your bathroom and it turned out after they ripped down the drywall that there was a bunch of rotted wood and stuff. The work would end up costing you a little more, and you'd accept that because you want the job done right and you don't want rotted wood behind your new bathroom walls. The same goes for programming. If he underestimated the time - sure, it's his fault - but it's the quality of the work that will suffer. Everything will be done half assed if he works out that he's doing it for $6/hour at the end of the day. Taking a "nope, you said this much and that's all i'm paying" won't help you out much when there's a bug weeks down the line that needs fixing and he starts ignoring your emails. I'm not saying pay him double, but if it's a $1500 project then $1800-2000 won't kill you and it will make a difference in your end project and it will make him happier - this is a person you will need to keep contact with for the foreseeable future.

Keep in mind the amount of work it is might have changed... You might be creeping in features, changes, etc. Move this over 10 px, change this padding, can you make this work like this instead, etc all takes time to do. A 10 minute change still might take 20-30 minutes when you factor in communicating back and forth messaging you "ok check it now" and so forth.

This is such a stupid question. You do whatever the contract states should be done.

/thread

Very often things take me longer than I expected. If I saw the code (which should always be done first) and it is my bad, I eat the difference - HOWEVER if I have great ways to further improve functionality etc, I would ask the client if they want it and what more it will cost first.

I have had customers that I can charge $150 for something and make more of a profit than $300 for the same thing when dealing with a pain in the ass with tons of phone calls and chasing payments.

On the flip side I farmed work out only 4 times in 15 years and I have always been under or over quoted.

The last situation I over payed for a partial job. Gave out code and a clear scope of work on the full job and the only getting it partially done ended up being the price for the full job. The full job would have taken weeks longer than I could have put up with as well and the price would have been ridiculous.

Get quotes from others.

If they all quote a higher price then tell him that you agreed x amount and thats what you will ONLY pay. If he/she does not like that then inform them that you no longer want there service and use someone else.

Though to be honest if he/she is trying it on, I would not want to use them regardless as I would feel they could not be trusted anymore.

all it takes is a plastic bag and a cord
People see things differently when they have had their head in a plastic bag for 2 minutes

Did your programmer ask for more money to upload your sig?

http://blackmonsters.com/gfy/wtfsig.jpg

It's been like that for about 4 years now, you just now noticing?