Contracted developer demands obscene hours payment

Surely neither party has a leg to stand on there is literally nothing in writing anywhere, no contract, no proof of hours worked, no proof of the actual task, nothing. How could this possibly even get as far as court in the first place? Basically, this guy has gone to see a solicitor, and verbally told him he has worked X amount of hours, and his solicitor has taken on the case with no proof to back him up on this? sounds legit!
 
kitkat9933 said:
the person involved did definitely not tell the taxman I know that much.
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Then I agree with wez130 above. Neither side had a quote, written agreement of hourly rate or agreement of the number of hours that could be worked nor agreement of what this app should do or the state it should be handed over in.
The whole lot sounds like a mess and both sides could be in the pooh with performing foreigner jobs.

It sounds more and more like the 'cash-in-hand contractor' can go and suck one :p. The attempted blackmail for the code won't go down well either.
 
Kindai is right

For that small amount of money he would need to take you to small claims court and without a written contract or even something recorded he would struggle to prove that you wrote him a blank check for a product that is not fit for purpose.

He would also need to prove that he has effectively provided 53 days worth of work. He would get laughed out of court.

To streamline any future court action send him a written figure that you would be happy to settle along with an estimate of any legal advice you would need to obtain that you will charge him if he pursued you through SCC and you won.
 
The sad thing is I am willing to pay the original £2000 just to be able to walk away from it all, but the extra £700 demanded for nothing has irked me.
 
You don't need the code, just get a professional opinion on it to make sure there's no blowback and don't pay him anything.

You're being taken for a ride.

Spend that £2k getting someone competent to do the job. Well and the lawyer.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
I hope that is a joke! I wouldn't get out of bed for that for a job that requires qualifications.
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https://www.nhsemployers.org/pay-pensions-and-reward/agenda-for-change/pay-scales/hourly
 
Tell him you'll pay him, but you will go through the correct channels so he is taxed accordingly, assuming this would then be a 2nd job, he'd get taxed at a higher rate (40%?) and end up with a lot less than even the £2000, with his bill for his solicitor to pay too.
 
If you're happy to be shot offer him the £2k as 'full and final settlement' and insist that if the offer is accepted he rescind any and all legal action and that you are not liable for his legal costs. Bet he accepts.
 
wez130 said:
Surely neither party has a leg to stand on there is literally nothing in writing anywhere, no contract, no proof of hours worked, no proof of the actual task, nothing. How could this possibly even get as far as court in the first place? Basically, this guy has gone to see a solicitor, and verbally told him he has worked X amount of hours, and his solicitor has taken on the case with no proof to back him up on this? sounds legit!
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I'm going with this. Not having a contract is stupid enough in the first place; as a mimimum I'd expect a clear scope, defined deliverables, and an acceptance criteria clause which allows for go/don't go to payment.

For 2 grand I'd suck it up and move on with my life, noting a fairly large life lesson about not intentionally sabotaging yourself.
 
kitkat9933 said:
It was the agreed rate in exchange for equity in the future of the product.
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How complete is the product? £2700 sounds very cheap for a product you wish to profit from even if not finished. I can see how they might have tolled up 425 hours. I've been looking at a product recently and I'm amazed at how much it's cost (in time & £££££).
I'd just pay up and try to get someone else to complete it.
Not sure what you mean by Best Practices? If you didn't give them a standard to work to there's not really a best practice IMO, although explain a bit more on this if you can. Developers often have their own "best practice" unless you give them something to work to :D.
 
Giving no scope is a crazy notion. How could you ever get to the point of completion without a statement of work?

I'd walk away, not pay a thing, then write some actual requirements and hire someone better.
 
randomshenans said:
Giving no scope is a crazy notion. How could you ever get to the point of completion without a statement of work?

I'd walk away, not pay a thing, then write some actual requirements and hire someone better.
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We have a scope etc but it was all verbal and on peoples personal notes (not shared with each other except verbally) as it was all mates rates etc..
 
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