Customer has a deposit on a logo but want's to go another route

[TyrantDesigner]

So even without having a lawyer and all it's still going to help get me paid if this comes up?

I always thought it didn't mean jack if a lawyer wasn't overlooking it.

short answer yes, long answer ...

It won't help you get paid, but will tell the customer if he wants to kill the job in the middle what he will expect to owe or expect back, what his deposit pays for and what rights he has to incomplete work. I've used contracts for almost a decade when I hit the same thing you are encountering now. dude put half down on a logo, quit in the middle cause I designed him what he liked, wanted his money back and then wanted to use the logo ... ever since that mistake (and subsequent cease and desist filings sent on my part to him) I've used contracts that state that I own the art until final payment is made, that deposits and art fees are non-refundable and that if no real work has begun and the customer wishes to go another route, that the deposit is transferable. (basically if I didn't send him his first proof I will consider and art fee or deposit paid for later work.) I also have a few check boxes to their end product for logos and the such, it basically states that they either do not get the files or they get the final exported files on a cd. (never the originals) oh and Art fees have contracts too ... those are just straight layout & copy editing so no real design work but will state pretty much the same thing. all of my contracts also state the rates, how many proof designs he/she/they will get and how many revisions come WITH the proofs before more money will be charged and states that too. It has taken me a white to get them to the point I like, but front and back, is only 1 page, so all I need to do is fill in their name, total price they are expected to pay, deposit, remaining and have them sign.

 

[signswi]

Any written contract, as long as it's legal (doesn't say require first born children or payment in blood), is useful if you end up in small claims court. Use the AIGA Standard Agreement I linked above as a framework and look around the net for various designer contracts, they're all over the place. Assemble your own, if you're feeling fancy have your lawyer look it over, it's worth the 1 hour lawyer fee vs. doing business unprotected.

 

[Gino]

If your quote, contract, estimate or invoice have normal conditions and you don't get out of hand with your requirements, it will hold up just about anywhere. If you have unreasonable demands and still the customer signs it and it eventually goes to court, you WILL lose. In the good ol' US, you are only allowed by law to make conditions which follow a normal procedure of doing business. Making huge demands or creating your own requirements will be viewed as being unfair and the court could very well demand you change your conditions while ruling in favor of the defendant and issue in their favor, although you initiated the lawsuit to retrieve the money you thought owed you.

Having a lawyer look over your documents and written policies would be to your favor most assuredly so.

 

[john1]

You guys would have been proud of me today, The customer called and stopped by to pay the invoice. They said they wasn't expecting it to be this much for "those little things" but i received the check and deposited it. They said they were just "playing around with ideas" when i was sending proofs.

It feels great to stand my ground and get paid. I simply told them, you ok'd the last concept in the emails and the logo has the same value whether your using it or not since the works done.

May have lost future business with them but at least i stood my ground. They may be back, i am hoping so because they were great to work with previously and heck, they even paid me this time around when i thought all hope was lost. They are good people for that right there.

 

[binki]

good deal. an honest dollar begets more honest dollars. they will be back.

 

[GAC05]

Good going.
Another Happy Ending on Signs101.

wayne k
guam usa