Whos responsibilty to upgrade scripts?

Shopping cart needs updating

[Karma]

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice really. I created a site for someone a while back which also included a shopping cart (Zen). As I was building up my portfolio, I created the site for a reduced rate – and in hind-sight, I shouldn’t have as the site took me a lot longer than I had expected.

Anyway, the shopping cart has been hacked a couple of times in the past few months due to security flaws, so I need to update the cart to the latest version. The upgrade is fairly complicated (at least for me) so will probably take me a while. So my question is, who’s responsibility is it to update the site? Do I do it for free or should I inform the site owner that it will cost £x per hour?

Many thanks

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

This is bit complicated. As I see it it's a bit like buying a car. If it breaks down out of the guarantee period then you can't go back the people who sold it to you. If you gave your client a guarantee then you will have to fix it, otherwise charge them for the work.

This is not just an open source software problem. Sites that are built using commercial products also require upgrades and it is wise to clarify who is responsible for this when the site is specified and a proce agreed.

[stever]

It's another area which illustrates the need for a proper contract between client and supplier.

I would say that generally you are paid for the work you do at the time and any future is billed separately (whether it is cart updates, any browser changes in the future or anything else). But without a contract neither you or the customer are sure where you stand.