Oral agreements, can they be enforced? my client bamboozled me

oral contracts

[eagle]

I had an initial meeting with a client, drove to them 4 hours out of my way, they were very happy and excited about me working with them, I then spent 3 weeks working on 3 mock web sites for them, they told me they loved the web sites, and were going to have a meeting about hiring me, one of the partners sent me an e-mail 2 weeks later, saying they love the mock sites, and will definately go with me, they just need 7 weeks, because things are pretty hectic with other matters, meanwhile, they had sent me the login codes for their host so tjat I can analyze and do some SEO work for them, to build them up in the search engines, 5 weeks later, I get a call from a friend who works at the company, who is just as shocked as I am, that the company hired someone else to do their site, I took a glimpse at the site, and it looks pretty similiar to the site, I made in one of my mock sites, same colors, concept etc.

Can I sue this company for time spent on their site? I would not have spent so much time, if I wasnt so sure it was a done deal, unfortunately their name isnt on the dotted line of a contract, but I have an oral agreement to the contract that I gave them.

It is now 2 months after they said they would contact me to resume the work, they didnt even bother calling me to let me know they hired someone else. What do you suggest I based on the factors above.

Much appreciated,

Tiffany

[moltar]

I am pretty sure there is little you can do. Not without a court decision anyways. And that will cost you money. Technically they didn't steal your design. They used your concept, which is very difficult to protect in court. How can you really prove that the concept is unique? I am sure there is a handful of websites that will look the same as yours.

Think about it this way: you got paid with a lesson. Life lessons are worth more than money.

Next time, don't do any work before signing a contract. And make sure that all agreements are in writing. If you don't follow these simple rules, you will be burned many times later.

You see, clients feel much easier when they have no obligations. They just talked to you "casualy" (as they perceive it). You showed them a few design. But why do they really have to pick you? You see what I mean? Nothing is tying them to you.

The situation could have been worse. You could have finished the website and then they would decide not to pay you.

This happens. Not all people are honest.

[eagle]

The difference here is that I have an e-mail from them agreeing to the contract, 2. an e-mail saying they are definately using my services within 7 weeks. 3. they sent me the FTP codes for their sitem to start doing work, that implies that they knew I was working on their site, would you send someone your confidential host passowrd, to some guy you MIGHT hire? no its obvious they hired me.

[Leosghost]

There is more than one lawyer on these boards ..at least one ( hi WW ) I suspect will chime in to say the same as I'm gonna say ( IANAL )..But ..Anything anyone tells you here isn't worth a dime ..Go see a real life in the flesh ( if one can say that of lawyers ;) lawyer ..and ask them ...
Here is a "barrackroom" made by Brett ..where we "chew on bones" etc ...

Thus ..you can get expert advice on just about everything to do with the web ..except the law ..on that one you can just get opinions ..more or less well informed ..but essentially useless to the real world you are in ..

However much we may sympathise with your post ...thats all it will be ..

BTW ..welcome to WebmasterWorld

[Leosghost]

Plus personally if I felt I had been screwed ..and had the server codes ..I'd be "tinkering"...we eat "cold" food where I come from ...;)

[encyclo]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, eagle.

Basically, you've been done over, and there's very little you can do about it. You could try suing, but it may well end up costing you and them a truckload of lawyer fees, you may well lose, but in the process you'd gain a reputation for being the kind of company which sues their potential clients if they don't get the contract.

It's a golden rule when you're working as an independent web designer: don't design on spec. Ever. The risks are not worth the reward, even if you're broke. You've got your portfolio to show the quality of work that you can do, but you've got to get them to sign up front before you give them so much as a sketch. I realize that it will be a tough thing to do, but you need to let this one go. Suing will hurt you more than them, and blackmail or revenge would be even worse.

[kpaul]

buy clientX-sucks.com

explain your case to the world.

SEO the site and beat them for their own terms.

i bet they'll answer their email then.

i think you can use their company name too if you add the 'sucks' to the domain.

how mean you got with it would be up to you (i wouldn't be mean, just explain the case). maybe the bloggers would pick it up en masse... ;)

it's late, though, and i'm tired so this might actually be really horrid advice. YMMV. ;)

best,
kpaul

[rocknbil]

The real mistake you made here (IMO, of course a contract would have helped) was not charging for your comp time. That's still design work and should have been paid for, period.

I would first do a face-to-face with the simple question of "what happened?" Things change A LOT when you look someone in they eye while they try to explain exactly how they are not a snake. It's so much easier to ignore a "problem" you can't see.

I then would send them a bill, and if they refuse to pay it, small claims court is a very good way to convince them to compensate for your time. It's cheap, lawyers can't be involved, and most of the time the defendant will just pay up rather than to fight it.