Also, Da Boss was being an angsty 14 year old - I couldn't really extract myself from the conversation.
It's cool. I just wanted to know your plan for the weekend so you don't show up while we are out. So glad YOU get to deal with him and I don't have to. :P
So glad YOU get to deal with him and I don't have to. :P
Well, I also care and want to make sure he's in an OK place. You know me - I'm good at being patient and understanding when someone's being crazy at me. :P
So glad YOU get to deal with him and I don't have to. :P
Well, I also care and want to make sure he's in an OK place. You know me - I'm good at being patient and understanding when someone's being crazy at me. :P
Good, cuz I have 5 deadlines coming up within the first 7 days of November. There may be a distinct lack of sanity this weekend.
So glad YOU get to deal with him and I don't have to. :P
Well, I also care and want to make sure he's in an OK place. You know me - I'm good at being patient and understanding when someone's being crazy at me. :P
Good, cuz I have 5 deadlines coming up within the first 7 days of November. There may be a distinct lack of sanity this weekend.
So I did some freelance website work for a client (given to me by a friend who moved away). We agreed on the payment and he was fine with it, very nice guy, etc. Anyway when it came time to pay, I told him to send me a check, which is what I always ask. He insisted on Paypal though, so I agreed if that would get me my money. Then he kept saying he would pay it by "next week" or "tomorrow" or "I'll have it by Monday", etc. I wasn't too worried since I figured was just trying to come up with the money, and seemed sincere about trying to pay me, and I am nice.
Well today he finally paid me, but only part and promised to pay the rest later. I'm fine with that, whatever, I'm nice (aka pushover). However he used his credit card with Paypal and it charged me a fee!
So tl;dr, The Paypal fee is what I'm complaining about. I knew that it charged for using a credit card (which I didn't think he would do), but what I didn't know is that apparently when you pay someone with credit card it actually gives you the option of paying that fee or basically handing it off to the recipient, which I think is total crap. Not only that but the option is checked by default, so he definitely knew about this fee.
So heres where I need the advice. I want to ask him to add that fee to his next payment. I think he should pay it because he chose to use credit card even though I gave him other options, and I feel I shouldn't be paying it. Is this acceptable or am I being a total jerk? I did a service and agreed on an amount, I should be getting that full amount, esp if he didn't use a better (fee free) option available.
Also, no matter what happens, I am definitely telling him that if he uses a credit card to pay the second half next time, he needs to select the option to pay the fee, otherwise use your paypal account or send me a check, which is fee free!
Wait, you can pass off the fee onto other people? That's kinda dumb. Unless that was agreed upon previously, there's no way that's acceptable. You should definitely bring it up.
I transferred some money to someone the other month. I had two options. Bank charges would have been 12 euro, for me to pay, and the Paypal fee was about 6 euro, for him to pay. I paid via paypal and just added in the extra money for his fee. No problem.
This is what I would expect for someone else paying me via Paypal.
Be pushy this time, as it is the right thing to do. Do NOT start out freelancing by backing down on these things. Backing down with him will not help you with future clients. Being a bit of dick to someone who is an unprofessional dick isn't going to lose you work in the future, because he's not someone you want to recommend you to others, even if he would anyway.
The most important lesson in the future is to get a contract. Make a contract for EVERYTHING. It isn't for anything legal later on, but it will make everything crystal clear to any involved parties right from the start. Anything that changes along the way, re-write the contract, and get it signed again. If they don't think it is worth re-signing or initialing a contract for, it isn't worth changing, and stick with the original agreement.
Personally, every time I've not had a contract, something has changed, and I end up with more work, more stress, and, in many cases, less money for my time/skill than I first thought. Every time I've had a contract, no matter how simple? I did the work as and when stated, and I got paid as and when stated. Contracts are awesome.
I talked with someone at "local game store" two weeks ago about this Penny Arcade Gamers vs. Evil game in the hopes they would have it soon. I called this week to check up. They have no idea, first they had ever heard of the game (for the second time) and didn't know whether or not they would have it or when. This isn't that big of an issue... but they have never had anything I wanted. I remember going into the game store in mid-november Christmas shopping and they didn't stock the Descent main game. They had four of the expansions, but didn't stock the basic game. Later I wanted Star Wars Saga Edition... had all the newest books but not the main books. Then I wanted to pick up some maps for an adventure path.
They keep some stuff in stock... a very small selection of dice. Tiny poorly made dicebags. Tons upon tons of wargame figs that sell intermittently. Players Handbooks for D&D and Pathfinder are in stock at least.
I understand also that it's a difficult business. But they make it really difficult for me to support them.
Yet they have 20 copies of Gary Gygax Book of Names from 2005 sitting on a shelf. I would understand if you had that many of something due to ordering a product that didn't sell (though I would have discounted it by now), but why is that the book with so many copies on the shelf and there's not nearly that many other books? I always assumed they keep a back-stock... you have 4 or 5 copies of the player's hand book on the store shelves, and you restock it as necessary. That way it doesn't clutter things, looks like you do some volume of them, etc. Arg.
That, and the "savings" on products is all on the back-end. If you buy $100 worth of books, you get a $10 gift card or something. I have a $20 someone gave me for Christmas that I've never used. It seems to me like it's an awkward way of trying to get repeat customers. This doesn't bug me because I never get to buy anything but... grarg.
Similarly, a mexican restaurant in town that I loved for the food has closed down. You would think good food would be the one thing that kept a restaurant open. The problem is that they had "authentic" mexican food and tex-mex, because everyone in the area has tex mex. You would see family members and friends of the staff sit down and eat what looked like awesome food. That food was not prominantly featured on the menu. The tex-mex was in all the big bold print and covered both sides of the menu. The "good" food was in a tiny corner on the ala carte list. Then they fell into the classic mistake of cutting corners when things were less-than-profitable. The 8 or so beers turned to 2. The good food options were often out of stock on one day or another randomly. Service started to slack. And shit just failed. They desperately tried to become a bar essentially as a last-ditch. Failure.
Maybe I should voice my thoughts to these owners. The last time I did that though, it didn't really matter. There is a new italian restaurant downtown. The sauce they have tastes distinctly of raw sugar. And they use the same sauce for pasta and pizza. I asked if that was the case (having tasted both), and I asked if they had any other red sauces for the pasta (which is what I was eating). The answer is no, they like it like that. At least he was honest. I know that I won't eat their pizza or pasta, and they like their product. So-it-goes. I worked in a relatively successful italian restaurant for a while, and have some idea of what works. I don't think they have any of it.
I slept through a huge exam today. I studied for it for a long ass time last nigh and made a point to make sure my alarm was set so I would definitely wake up on time, but somehow I managed to oversleep. I must be hitting the alarm in my sleep or something. Man I hope my professor takes pity on me and lets me take the exam on a later date, or I'm fucked.
This is why I use my phone as an alarm and put it on my desk, I have to physically get up and consciously turn it off. I can still fall back asleep, but once I'm conscious I'm usually hungry.
What you need is this. Problem is if you have a tolerance for your alarm. My alarm wakes me up, but I don't even turn it off. I just try to go back to sleep.
Fail: Payroll woman at work has been overpaying the teachers for at least a month and a half. She coerced me into signing something saying I'll pay the money back. Double Fail: I should have known better and refused to sign anything. Fail Save: The thing I signed ended up being nullified because she later admitted her math was just as wrong attempting to fix the problem as it was creating it. Fail^2: THIS IS THE SECOND TIME SHE COCKED UP THE PAYROLL. The first time it was for four months to the tune of $60,000 and the teachers had to have their pay docked for months paying it back. Failopolis: The first time? With the $60k? THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE from THREE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS told them they were fucking up the payroll, and they brushed them off. Dog fail: Malcolm and Zoe chewed up, and then peed on, several books containing photographs and memories. They are currently being thoroughly ignored after being yelled at and having the scraps shoved in their faces. I hope this gets the point across, otherwise they're going to end up as emergency rations.
James has been gone two days (he's in Korea on business) and our youngest cat has pooped on the floor twice today. WTF bitch, you have an automatic litter box that is always clean and we gave you a second litter box as well.
And she just hair balled under the dining room table. -_-
Fail: Payroll woman at work has been overpaying the teachers for at least a month and a half. She coerced me into signing something saying I'll pay the money back. Double Fail: I should have known better and refused to sign anything. Fail Save: The thing I signed ended up being nullified because she later admitted her math was just as wrong attempting to fix the problem as it was creating it. Fail^2: THIS IS THE SECOND TIME SHE COCKED UP THE PAYROLL. The first time it was for four months to the tune of $60,000 and the teachers had to have their pay docked for months paying it back. Failopolis: The first time? With the $60k? THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE from THREE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS told them they were fucking up the payroll, and they brushed them off. Dog fail: Malcolm and Zoe chewed up, and then peed on, several books containing photographs and memories. They are currently being thoroughly ignored after being yelled at and having the scraps shoved in their faces. I hope this gets the point across, otherwise they're going to end up as emergency rations.
James has been gone two days (he's in Korea on business) and our youngest cat has pooped on the floor twice today. WTF bitch, you have an automatic litter box that is always clean and we gave you a second litter box as well.
And she just hair balled under the dining room table. -_-
Fuck, just shocked and scared the crap out of myself. Pulled out the plug by the metal because it was being stubbornly stuck. Dumb, dumb, dumb, I am dumb as hell.
Comments
........ posted by my crazy cousin in law, with the subtitle "Don't believe the lies. He is a great man"
OH WAIT, CIVIL SERVICE. WE CAN'T FIRE ANYTHING.
Tonight: scotch. And bourbon. And beer.
That did the trick. Life is gooooooooood.
So I did some freelance website work for a client (given to me by a friend who moved away). We agreed on the payment and he was fine with it, very nice guy, etc.
Anyway when it came time to pay, I told him to send me a check, which is what I always ask. He insisted on Paypal though, so I agreed if that would get me my money. Then he kept saying he would pay it by "next week" or "tomorrow" or "I'll have it by Monday", etc. I wasn't too worried since I figured was just trying to come up with the money, and seemed sincere about trying to pay me, and I am nice.
Well today he finally paid me, but only part and promised to pay the rest later. I'm fine with that, whatever, I'm nice (aka pushover). However he used his credit card with Paypal and it charged me a fee!
So tl;dr,
The Paypal fee is what I'm complaining about. I knew that it charged for using a credit card (which I didn't think he would do), but what I didn't know is that apparently when you pay someone with credit card it actually gives you the option of paying that fee or basically handing it off to the recipient, which I think is total crap. Not only that but the option is checked by default, so he definitely knew about this fee.
So heres where I need the advice. I want to ask him to add that fee to his next payment. I think he should pay it because he chose to use credit card even though I gave him other options, and I feel I shouldn't be paying it. Is this acceptable or am I being a total jerk? I did a service and agreed on an amount, I should be getting that full amount, esp if he didn't use a better (fee free) option available.
Also, no matter what happens, I am definitely telling him that if he uses a credit card to pay the second half next time, he needs to select the option to pay the fee, otherwise use your paypal account or send me a check, which is fee free!
Grrr.
This is what I would expect for someone else paying me via Paypal.
Be pushy this time, as it is the right thing to do. Do NOT start out freelancing by backing down on these things. Backing down with him will not help you with future clients. Being a bit of dick to someone who is an unprofessional dick isn't going to lose you work in the future, because he's not someone you want to recommend you to others, even if he would anyway.
The most important lesson in the future is to get a contract. Make a contract for EVERYTHING. It isn't for anything legal later on, but it will make everything crystal clear to any involved parties right from the start. Anything that changes along the way, re-write the contract, and get it signed again. If they don't think it is worth re-signing or initialing a contract for, it isn't worth changing, and stick with the original agreement.
Personally, every time I've not had a contract, something has changed, and I end up with more work, more stress, and, in many cases, less money for my time/skill than I first thought. Every time I've had a contract, no matter how simple? I did the work as and when stated, and I got paid as and when stated. Contracts are awesome.
I talked with someone at "local game store" two weeks ago about this Penny Arcade Gamers vs. Evil game in the hopes they would have it soon. I called this week to check up. They have no idea, first they had ever heard of the game (for the second time) and didn't know whether or not they would have it or when. This isn't that big of an issue... but they have never had anything I wanted. I remember going into the game store in mid-november Christmas shopping and they didn't stock the Descent main game. They had four of the expansions, but didn't stock the basic game. Later I wanted Star Wars Saga Edition... had all the newest books but not the main books. Then I wanted to pick up some maps for an adventure path.
They keep some stuff in stock... a very small selection of dice. Tiny poorly made dicebags. Tons upon tons of wargame figs that sell intermittently. Players Handbooks for D&D and Pathfinder are in stock at least.
I understand also that it's a difficult business. But they make it really difficult for me to support them.
Yet they have 20 copies of Gary Gygax Book of Names from 2005 sitting on a shelf. I would understand if you had that many of something due to ordering a product that didn't sell (though I would have discounted it by now), but why is that the book with so many copies on the shelf and there's not nearly that many other books? I always assumed they keep a back-stock... you have 4 or 5 copies of the player's hand book on the store shelves, and you restock it as necessary. That way it doesn't clutter things, looks like you do some volume of them, etc. Arg.
That, and the "savings" on products is all on the back-end. If you buy $100 worth of books, you get a $10 gift card or something. I have a $20 someone gave me for Christmas that I've never used. It seems to me like it's an awkward way of trying to get repeat customers. This doesn't bug me because I never get to buy anything but... grarg.
Similarly, a mexican restaurant in town that I loved for the food has closed down. You would think good food would be the one thing that kept a restaurant open. The problem is that they had "authentic" mexican food and tex-mex, because everyone in the area has tex mex. You would see family members and friends of the staff sit down and eat what looked like awesome food. That food was not prominantly featured on the menu. The tex-mex was in all the big bold print and covered both sides of the menu. The "good" food was in a tiny corner on the ala carte list. Then they fell into the classic mistake of cutting corners when things were less-than-profitable. The 8 or so beers turned to 2. The good food options were often out of stock on one day or another randomly. Service started to slack. And shit just failed. They desperately tried to become a bar essentially as a last-ditch. Failure.
Maybe I should voice my thoughts to these owners. The last time I did that though, it didn't really matter. There is a new italian restaurant downtown. The sauce they have tastes distinctly of raw sugar. And they use the same sauce for pasta and pizza. I asked if that was the case (having tasted both), and I asked if they had any other red sauces for the pasta (which is what I was eating). The answer is no, they like it like that. At least he was honest. I know that I won't eat their pizza or pasta, and they like their product. So-it-goes. I worked in a relatively successful italian restaurant for a while, and have some idea of what works. I don't think they have any of it.
Double Fail: I should have known better and refused to sign anything.
Fail Save: The thing I signed ended up being nullified because she later admitted her math was just as wrong attempting to fix the problem as it was creating it.
Fail^2: THIS IS THE SECOND TIME SHE COCKED UP THE PAYROLL. The first time it was for four months to the tune of $60,000 and the teachers had to have their pay docked for months paying it back.
Failopolis: The first time? With the $60k? THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE from THREE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS told them they were fucking up the payroll, and they brushed them off.
Dog fail: Malcolm and Zoe chewed up, and then peed on, several books containing photographs and memories. They are currently being thoroughly ignored after being yelled at and having the scraps shoved in their faces. I hope this gets the point across, otherwise they're going to end up as emergency rations.
And she just hair balled under the dining room table. -_-