[consulting] Gouging Stupid Clients

[Sam Tresler]

When it comes to ethical issues I draw a fairly harsh line.  I don't 
feel that the a discussion thread on when and how to charge clients for 
more work than was performed(or agreed upon in a minimum billing or 
retainer), or when and how to give the client a false impression of the 
work required is worth discussion, because it lends creedence to the 
notion that such practices are acceptable. They are not.

I also don't feel anything in my post was particularly insulting.

Sorry to have wasted your time, Sam.

Regards,
   Sam Tresler

On 02/23/2012 01:06 PM, Sam Cohen wrote:
> Sam,
>
> Your post was the only one in this thread that made me feel like I
> wasted my time reading it.
>
> There's no need to insult the poster and the 15 or so responses indicate
> that others felt it worth discussing.
>
> Sam
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 1:01 PM, Sam Tresler <sam at treslerdesigns.com
> <mailto:sam at treslerdesigns.com>> wrote:
>
>     Are we actually having this discussion? Like for real? This isn't some
>     trick or joke to root out the people who 'Gouge' their 'Stupid' clients?
>
>     Yeah, the subject line got my attention, but not because it was
>     exaggerated. You are gouging clients you think are less intelligent than
>     you. That is precisely what your subject line indicates.
>
>     Let's make this abundantly clear:
>
>     Charge what you and the client agree upon, on the basis you agree upon
>     (hourly, flat rate, skill trade, I don't care).
>
>     Don't lie or obfuscate about what you did or did not do, the difficulty
>     of a task, or the amount of time or skill it takes.
>
>     Produce a product you feel good about, and confident has the value
>     proposition that you are getting for it.
>
>     Don't be a jerk.
>
>     Don't work with jerks.
>
>
>
>     Good grief! Seriously?
>
>
>     Regards,
>        Sam Tresler
>
>     On 02/23/2012 12:49 PM, Christian Pearce wrote:
>      >
>      > ----- "Fred Jones"<fredthejonester at gmail.com
>     <mailto:fredthejonester at gmail.com>>  wrote:
>      >
>      >> From: "Fred Jones"<fredthejonester at gmail.com
>     <mailto:fredthejonester at gmail.com>>
>      >> To: "A list for Drupal consultants and Drupal service/hosting
>     providers"<consulting at drupal.org <mailto:consulting at drupal.org>>
>      >> Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 11:26:52 AM GMT -05:00
>     US/Canada Eastern
>      >> Subject: [consulting] Gouging Stupid Clients
>      >>
>      >> Now I have a client myself who has no understanding whatsoever about
>      >> what I do. When they ask for a change (and I even ran a training
>      >> session with them (twice) to tell them how to do little things
>      >> themselves, but anyway they like to ask me) they ask how much
>     time it
>      >> will take and what's the price. Usually I say it looks like a half
>      >> hour job and so I will charge you for a half hour. I don't want to
>      >> discuss rates here, but let's just say my rate is 100 Yen per hour.
>      >> So
>      >> I charge them 50 Yen.
>      >>
>      >> But I realize now that if I would say two or even four hours, I am
>      >> fairly certain they wouldn't flinch, and even if they did, I could
>      >> whip out a few big words and explain why it's complicated and they
>      >> would accept that. They would then pay me four hours for a half hour
>      >> of work. So what I could do, to be honest, is to say, "This will
>     cost
>      >> 400 Yen" and not mention that it's a half hour job. They don't
>     really
>      >> care about the time--just the price.
>      >>
>      >
>      > Put simply, this is unethical.  You need to explain them them it
>     is 30 minutes and I charge 400 yen an hour.  Clearly they will balk
>     and you know it.  In your scenario you said they ask how long it
>     will take.  But then you suggest that all they care about is price.
>       I don't think that is true.  I competent person wants to know how
>     long.
>      >
>      > Now if you think it isn't worth you time, tell them you have a 4
>     hour minimum to do requests.  For us and our steady clients it is a
>     18 minute minimum.  We take the good with the bad and have virtually
>     0% customer turnover.  Think about it.
>      >
>      >> I'm sure others have such clients.
>      >>
>      >
>      > We all have sweetheart clients, the last think you want to do
>     with them is be dishonest.
>      >
>      >
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