Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Hi everyone! The title says it all. I have a client that has paid me a 150 deposit for a website design at a total price at 350.

Now after I have designed the site for him and have also customized it to his needs, he says that he wants to withdraw and is asking me for a refund. What do I do?

I was thinking that may be i can offer him another service instead for his 150, but not a refund. Please let me know your opinions and past experience.

Thank you,
Ron

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Do you have a signed contract with terms regarding refunds?

Personally I would give him the $150 back and wish him well. Better that than having a pissed of client bashing you on the web.

On the other hand - you could argue that the work requested was complete and instead of offering him a refund, request the $200 balance be paid too :)

Always have them sign on the line that is dotted.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

HAVE CONTRACTS FROM NOW ON .... SELLING THINGS 101

Adobe echosign works great for me

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Depends on the quality of what you produced for him?

If it's good:

Refund him & Offer the site to his competitors

If it's not so good - do better work

I'm not a lawyer, blah blah, blah ...

But at that pricing level, I don't see the value in having a contract, other than a handshake. It would cost more to enforce the contract than the contract value - in time, if not money.

tony

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

What's the reason for the refund request?

Did you have an agreement in place between the two of you for what would happen in a situation like this?

The fact that you have already done the work is a real concern for me. I want to know WHY they want a refund, before taking any other steps.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Pointless. For such low priced sales a contract is meaningless. Over a $150 deposit? The OP can sue for $200.. or the client can sue for $150. The reality is, in most cities in the US, the cost of filing would be more than the amount owed. Judgement in your favor? Cool... good luck collecting it.

The way I would play this out, is demand the remaining $200 payment. This at the very least puts you in a position to have him accept a non refundable $150 deposit and you both wipe your hands clean.

I most definitely would not give a refund in this case. If he is unhappy with the work you did, then offer to fix it, but make sure you get your remaining payment as soon as its fixed.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Others have already said some of what I am thinking.

1. Find out why he wants a refund.
2. The dollar amount is low so depending on the situation it may be in your best interest to refund to not have a pissed off client.
3. If they paid via a credit card they might still be able to chargeback so they can force the refund..

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Having a contract is NEVER pointless.

Now I agree the price is ridiculously low in this case but you still need to always have that as part of the checklist of things to do before you accept money from a client.

- This is what the agreement is
- This is what I agree to provide
- This is what you agree to pay
- These are the terms for refunds / late payment / terms violations etc

A contract would have prevented an argument in the first place, because it would have been reviewed by the client before money was exchanged. It could have outlined that no refunds would be offered.

I never have this issue because I follow very simple steps:

Step 1. I always thoroughly discussed with the client what he wants and what his expectations are from me and what I will deliver.

Step 2. I go over with him the contract and the terms of the sale.

This situation clearly shows step 1 and 2 were ignored or done badly. If he didn't get what he wanted then 1 or 2 things happened:

1. You more then likely didn't find out what he wanted before you started building, and just built something random and showed it to them hoping he would like it, which is stupid.

2.You didn't bother to make a contract and or review the contract terms with him that outline you don't provide refunds and what the terms of the arrangement are.

A contract is never pointless and theirs never a reason to not have one.

Not having one is lazy and foolish and that's not how you run a legitimate business.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Hey guys! Thanks everyone for your feedback. I think I am going to demand the remaining 200 as nameless has suggested. :)

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Hey cool, have fun with that! When you are done demanding the money back be sure to post a wanted ad for rep management/recovery.

Pick your battles wisely. A google search of your business from potential customers with bad reviews can cost you a fortune.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Is he unhappy with your work? That is the key question. If he is, I'd refund him. When I freelanced graphic design, my deposit was 50% of the project and was non-refundable. Never had anyone quit a project after making the deposit.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Think about this long term. Is $150 worth a pissed off customer, who can literally ruin your reputation in 5 minutes, that took you years to build up.

Take the loss, issue the refund. Move on to bigger & better projects knowing that this is behind you and won't be looming over your head.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Yeah I am with iAmNameLess on this one, assuming your work isn't complete garbage, demand the remainder of the payment. At the very least this will put you in the power position, with him defending why he shouldn't pay you the rest. The deposit will be forgotten about...

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

I can't believe people are giving such bad advice, especially sense its such a pathetically low amount. Just give him a refund don't build a business off of providing bad quality service and not offering a refund. Almost any business you go into today has a refund policy for people that are not satisfied with what they received. All your going to do is make them more angry and tarnish your reputation and positively receive negative online reviews.

This would be a different discussion if it was more then 150 but I mean really....

1. You didn't truly know what he wanted obviously because he's not satisfied.
2. You either didn't have a written agreement or didn't review it with him.
3. You should want to be reputable business not something people start to think of as a scam or rip off

Just give the guy his money back. Focus on making your business model prevent these types of things in the future. Take your licks and move on

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

I totally get the guys who say demand the money, professionals dont work for free.

You however are NOT a professional yet else you would not be in this position.

I say just chalk it up as a learning experience and go from there.BUT.....
It would not be a bad idea to explain to guy that you did the work and he changed his mind out of no where. Perhaps he can be reasoned or you can appeal to his sense of fair play and keep the deposit but if he is adamant and you sense that he's a trouble maker type then just give money back and move on.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

A verbal or written agreement (such as email communications) most likely existed. And, so long as you delivered what you said you would, then he has no reason for a refund. You could offer to tweak the site for a few days. Still, you've probably spent a week or more on this project, so spending any more time on it would be a waste of your time.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Find out why he wants a refund.
Work to remedy the situation.
Or, if he still insists on the refund, just give it to him and move on.

Make sure you get more deals in your pipeline so you don't be a jerk over what may be a large amount personally, but a small amount for the website business.

Learn from this in terms of what and how you delivered.

IF you do good work, charge more. How long did it take you to find the client, get the
deal, agree on deliverables, create and deliver the work...?

Under a $1000, get full payment up front. Over a $1000 get half up front - non-refundable - and then the rest in chunks upon completion of each agreed upon milestone.

Don't become desperate for money and try to do business.

Dan

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

OP, do yourself a favor & listen to the people saying to issue him a refund.

I do reputation management for clients. You don't want a pissed customer over $150. As a matter of fact, depending on what actions he takes, it could cost you 10x or 100x the cost of the dispute.

Imagine if he sprays his bad experience over the internet & then as you look for new customers, they like everything & then look you up & find his bad experience posted all over the internet.

It costs companys big bucks in lost sales.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

I still wouldn't give a refund if the work was complete. If he is unhappy with something... fix it.. but no refund. If this went to mediation with the BBB or AG of the state he is in, they would side with him. If he posted a bad review based on that, and said it was a scam or rip off, then that is libel and defamation.

You think that these things don't happen when you have a contract? A company I consulted and did reputation management for (not ORM, not the crappy stuff, but REAL reputation management) had 10 page contract for everyone that bought, $150 to the thousands, with a separate 6 page contract for hosting agreements. Last year they had over 500 refund requests. A contract does not protect you like you think. A contract does not stop a client from being unhappy. It does not protect you in court like you would think.

You recommended echosign, but in court it doesn't really hold up. If you do not have a contract that is notarized, then it often times will be thrown out. The exception would be websites or online services, software, etc. where you can operate with a TOU or TOS.

1.) We don't know the position the OP is in. We don't know if he is doing this on the side, or if he started out of desperation with very little bankroll or no bankroll at all. We don't know if he is sitting on millions of dollars, or barely being able to pay his bills. If he has plenty of money, then yeah, refund the lowlife. If he doesn't, then don't.
2.) If you get in the habit of refunding people when work is complete, then you will be in a habit of getting walked on by many clients you find in the future. This isn't just about refunds, but general scope of work, communication, everything.
3.) The time spent with the client, and receiving less than 50% deposit for the work, is ridiculous. If this went to court, which it never will, the court will view the deposit as a down payment to get started on the project, if the project was never started then they would likely rule that he needs to return the deposit, if the project was not only started, but completed, and the client demanded a refund of the deposit, it would never happen. Contract or no contract.
4.) No one except the OP knows what the client's temperament is. If he is starting out, he can simply tell the client, I'm sorry, I'm unable to do the refund for $150, I completed the work and should be receiving the remaining $200. I don't have the cash flow, being new in this industry, to be able to provide a refund on that deposit since the work is done. I hope you understand.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Here is the thing most people on this forum don't understand, who offer ORM but not real reputation management. Most reviews posted online, are illegal. A company I did reputation management for, had about 10 really awful reviews online. Those 10 reviews probably did cost them a lot of money in lost business but the reviews were improperly worded. One review, ended up costing the poster of the review $50,000. Total settlement from the improperly worded reviews was over $300,000.

You can state your experience in a review, you can state your opinion, but you can not say it was a scam, bad investment, rip off, etc. You can not call someone a fraud, you can not call someone a thief for not providing a refund... it is defamation of character, libel, etc.

If this was a b2b agreement, then they can't post anything on a consumer site anyway.

I understand why people are saying to refund him... and I'm not exactly looking at this from the amount the guy paid, or the amount he would have to refund, but from a general stance on the issue. When you get in the habit of saying, oh, I can afford to refund this guy, and this client, and this, then you are getting into a bad habit. Refunds should not be based on if you can afford to do it, or not afford to do it, it should be based on if you held up your end of the agreement or not.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

I'm glad you decided to take Nameless's advice. I don't use contracts and I don't take deposits. I set a rate for set ups like websites and landing pages and then waive those fees when we have a 6 month agreement. I list that agreement on my paypal button and I generate a cancellation button at the same time I generate a monthly recurring fee button. If someone needs to stop making payments, we can part as friends..and no one owes me money because I've been paid in advance. Contracts may have their place, but in my market I've found it generates fear and are highly unnecessary.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

In my opinion, this is the bad advice. I need money to live, operate, etc. Therefore my time costs money. If this person didn't want the work, he should have so so sooner .... assuming the work isn't crap. (In that case, give the man a refund.)

More like some or many, not most. The word "scam" has more leeway, because its a colloquial term, and has multiple meanings. But you have to point that out. Saying something is a bad investment is opinion. Libel and defamation have protections, too. Claims of harm and wrongdoing may scare your average dipstick, but you'll have a hard time if you take on a journalist or lawyer. They're not gullible, and won't fall for the usual corporate extortion tactics.

The best response to a bad review is truth. PR 101.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Hey guys! Thanks for all your advice! Nameless I am with you on this. I know that you are a man that does this stuff in the real world. In fact your post "welcome to reality" and many others actually encouraged me to pick up the phone and start calling and now I am finally making some sales.

So yea I am not going to refund anything. And from now on I'll make sure that i have a contract. Its been over a year that I started doing this full time. Its only in the past 3-4 months that i started cold calling and am beginning to make sales now. No I am not a Millionaire, I am 21 years old and trying to make something out of myself.

Nameless if you can maybe train me on selling etc, ill be really grateful. I know its a big thing to ask, but would you help your junior starting out? :) If you cant that is okay.. But as the saying goes "ASK & YOU SHALL RECEIVE". I have asked :)

Thanks to all again! Jason too who has helped me alot :)

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

First - From the echosign website

"Yes, Adobe EchoSign is fully compliant with the ESIGN Act of 2000.
The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (“ESIGN Act”) became effective in the United States on October 1, 2000. Since then, online electronic signatures in both personal and commercial transactions have been granted the same legal status as a written signature.


ESIGN was enacted specifically to ensure electronic signatures are given the same force and effect as a written signature. ESIGN ensures that “… contracts entered into electronically will be legally effective and valid, and that consumers who enter into contracts electronically have the same protections they have when contracting in the "brick and mortar" world.”

Just as important, ESIGN ensures that any agreement signed electronically will not be denied legal force, effect, validity, or enforceability solely because an electronic signature was used in its formation."

Second - If he wants a refund then theirs something you did wrong

Having a business model that prevents these types of things would be better advice, then telling a person to just tell the client to piss of. I never have this problem EVER, neither do most business's that do quality work, and have a sales process that PREVENTS these types of things from happening in the first place.

A lot of people are advising what he should do from this point.
INSTEAD of teaching him how to prevent it next time.

If he wants a refund its your own fault plain and simple.

1. If he really is to broke to pay - then you didn't qualify him before the sale.

2. If he just doesn't like you - then you didn't develop rapport/friendship with him during the sales process.

3. If he doesn't like your work - then you didn't really understand his needs and ask proper questions during the sales process or you didn't involve him, and request feedback during development.

4. If he thinks he can get away with it - then you didn't have a written agreement AND OR you didn't review it with him.

All those things, pertain to you doing something wrong during the sales process. That in my opinion is the important thing to focus on NOT whether or not you can get away with not offering a refund, and or if you can win in court if it comes to it.

It should never come to that, focus on building a business model that involves the client ALWAYS getting what they wanted or better, not on how you can make sure you always get paid regardless of the clients satisfaction

That's the reason so many small business owners have such a hard time trusting consultants offering them help, because all they remember is the last time somebody ripped them off and didn't deliver what they wanted AND ignored their dissatisfaction with the work and then refused to give a refund.

I never have clients that are dissatisfied, because I follow a sales process that prevents it from occurring.

1. Qualify the prospect to make sure he can afford what you sell
2. Develop rapport
3. Actually find out what they want in detail by asking correct questions in proper order.
4. Have a written agreement outlining what the sale pertains to in detail
5. Review it with them
6. ask for feedback during development so they get what they desire in the end.
7. Over deliver

Follow those basic 7 steps and you'll NEVER have that problem again.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

No. :rolleyes:

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

I love reading when young people start debating whether to refund or not.

Refunding should be judged on a case by case basis. Never hang your hat on any one piece of advice. As you have read there are strong opinions on both sides. Both are right and wrong. Your starting point needs to be in the jurisdiction where your business is located. Your local laws governor warranties, refunds and guarantees. Abide by them and your business will have less legal matters as your years progress.

The key to this is perpetration before conducting business so you have legal recourse that protects you, your staff and your assets before you engage a client.

If you do offer a refund then have a document drawn up, from a Contract Attorney, that the customer must sign and date in front of a notory that they were promptly refunded and part of the terms is that they will not slander you, your company or any of your staff on or off the Internet. If they do then legal action will be brought against them.

Finally anyone advising you not to use or have contracts even on small purchases is a dumbass. I've been working and using contracts for over 30 years. Only had to enforce the terms twice in all those years.

It would behoove you to seek out a Contract Attorney and pay their consulting fee to familiarize yourself for legal business matters. I did many years ago and it was the very best business advise that's kept me out of the courts all these years.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

If you don't have a contract written up or any iron clad policies written on your website then just refund them and move on. A bad review can be fairly damaging. I have refunded people that end up coming back or referring business to me because I was so nice about the refund.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

If you do not have a contract you should refund him but if you spent the money on costs for what you build then tell him that and tell him that was the reason for the deposit was so you could purchase what you needed to get started.

I can not tell you how many times this happens with web design that is why I do not offer it anymore. Usually in the middle of doing a site for a customer they see something or the wife steps in and or a friend recommends someone and they have a change of heart.

Do what you think is right ...
If you had expenses then take them out of the deposit and refund the rest...

You need to find out exactly why they are asking this. They most likely think that your offering a low quality product because of the very low price you charged them.

I myself would refund them if that was the agreement but usually I tell them that once I am started that this is none refundable but I will not stop until they are happy with the finished product.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Should have mentioned that as well to protect yourself once the refund is given another agreement is needed. Quality advice.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

How are people giving advice on this - without knowing WHY the buyer is unhappy?

You had a buyer willing to pay $150 in advance - WHAT WENT WRONG? Several have asked why the refund is requested - the OP ignores those questions.

Is the buyer unhappy with your timeline? with your work? with your personality? Something changed his mind as he willingly committed money to the project at the beginning.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

I have to wonder how much of a site a small business owner can expect for a measly $350 bucks. You can barely get me to do a WP install for that.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Gotta go with Kay on this. The OP has not stated WHY the buyer wants his money back.

There is more to this story than has been presented here.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Yeah, but not everyone is a God like you, Russ.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Charge more. Don't devalue yourself by doing stuff for a few hundred bucks. IM skills are worth millions. I'm really glad that Google is coming out with all these updates. This separates the 'idiots' who think just getting any links pointing to their sites will get them on top from the real pros. Charge more. Your stuff is worth more. If he wants a refund, change his site back to normal and tell him to go screw off. I do agree with the contract stuff though. All the best.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Yes definitely need more info on why a refund is being requested otherwise we are just going off of the assumption that you kept to your end of the deal which may not be the case in the eyes of your customer

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Okay okay! I have'nt been ignoring the question... i Havenet noticed it to be honest, this weekend I am busy trying to set up and try a new marketing method using voivemail :)

Here is the reason why the guy wants a refund: It has been a week since I closed the deal. And he does not want to give me any content for his pages etc.. (TEXT). He says to me "Oh you are a the pro, you should be able to sort this out for me... How can I write anything about his company when I don know nothin? I said to him, that for me to put some content together, I will need to ask him a few questions about his business etc which he does not have time for.

Next he was unhappy with the design and asked me to change a few things about which I did. He then sent me some sample sites that he likes and asked me to copy some text from ther, which i did.

The couple a days later he calls me up n says that he's not happy and he wants to withdraw. So i say " Why dont i redesign your site and make it like one of the samples that you sent me?" he says no, i want to cancel.

Thats what happend, i also told him that I am ready to work with him until he is pleased with the site, but he says no.???????

Guys thanks alot... The warrior forum is the place that i always come to, to seek advice and make decisions :)

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Like I said, that should have been done before the money was exchanged. content is a fundamental part of the discussion of purchasing a site. Does he expect you to create it? which he obviously did because that question was never brought up, and that's your responsibility to do not his. Why would he know to bring that up? he would naturally assume that part is included If he's new to the process. Unless you tell him then he won't know.

That again, should have happened before money was exchanged. You both obviously had two different pictures of what he wanted in the end. If you would have asked for the samples first, and asked better questions of his expectations of the design, then more then likely he wouldn't have backed out.

Because at this point he doubts you can correct the problem, in his mind the end result is going to be disappointment AND less money in his pocket. So your offer to fix it will probably not go anywhere. In this case I would have hosted the new design on my own server and then just removed it and reverted him back to his original site and offered a refund. It doesn't sound like all that much work was done anyway, if you didn't even get to content creation stage, and again for 150 I don't think it's worth having a negative reputation.

1. Ask better questions before money is exchanged next time and truly find out what they want so they don't get worried and try and back out.

2. Host the new design on your own server not his

3. Keep a backup of the old design

4. Have a written agreement that outlines refunds and if you do OR don't offer them and review it with them BEFORE they purchase.

5. If you do offer refunds and again your design is not to their liking just revert it back to their old design and decide if you want to refund the money, which personally I would do just because I focus on building a good reputation in my city and I won't ever risk getting it damaged by an unhappy client ESPECIALLY for that little amount.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Sounds more like a con business owner expecting more for less and doubtful you're the first or last person he'll do this to. Web design and development is not spec work. Without a contract you may the balance due, but if you have any emails prove you should be able to keep the deposit.

Use a contract and clearly state your cancellation policy. Good luck.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

So you don't mind being known as a sucker? Because that's what the guy is doing. The business owner is a loser. I've dealt with people like that before.

This is so unprofessional. :eek:

Never plagiarize anything. He should never ask, and you should never offer. Neither should ever agree to this.

This is VERY amateur.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

So the client simply wasn't satisfied.

I think doing a simple pros-versus-cons chart would help decide on this.

Which is more important?
If you're determined to protect your "business ego" (at at the same time risk your reputation), then don't refund.
If you're more concerned with long-term damages and feel you dont wanna risk it for $150, then issue a refund and move on.

The question is whether or not you can tell which is more important to you..
Again, I'd make a two-column chart.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

So is not issuing a refund... But I'm done with this thread.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

hmmmm you did the work and all of a sudden they want a refund? I'd re-design the project/design if they ask, but not refund them. You don't work for free, do you? If you let one client, do this to you, then the rest will as well...

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

I would rather give him the $150 back than spend additional hours of my life that I will never get back on a site that I can guarantee you still won't make him happy.

$150 refund = problem instantly solved.

NEXT!

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

Make it like and plagiarizing are not the same. The OP didn't say plagiarize. He said, make like.

Just to be fair. ;)

If he did, indeed, mean plagiarize, you're, of course, right.

Re: Client paid deposit for website design and now wants a refund. What should I do?
 

In the future, note on your contract that deposits are nonrefundable after three days.
I repeat, deposits are non refundable after three days.