The Annoyed Webdesigner

[Barbi Q]

http://mashable.com/2011/02/04/winona-chiropractic/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The cattier corners of the web have been tittering over a certain chiropractor’s website gone awry, courtesy of a disgruntled and allegedly unpaid web designer.

The designer in question, whose identity is currently (and fortunately for said designer) unknown, created a website for a chiropractic firm, Winona Chiropractic Center, and also provided hosting services the site. When the firm allegedly “failed to pay any of their total web design bill, despite repeated attempts by their web design agency to collect,” the designer, who claimed to have “a childish sense of humor,” hijacked the site as his or her own personal billboard of bitterness.

Hijacked? More like repo'ed. Try not paying your car lease and see what happens.

[The Annoyed Man]

http://mashable.com/2011/02/04/winona-chiropractic/

The cattier corners of the web have been tittering over a certain chiropractor’s website gone awry, courtesy of a disgruntled and allegedly unpaid web designer.

The designer in question, whose identity is currently (and fortunately for said designer) unknown, created a website for a chiropractic firm, Winona Chiropractic Center, and also provided hosting services the site. When the firm allegedly “failed to pay any of their total web design bill, despite repeated attempts by their web design agency to collect,” the designer, who claimed to have “a childish sense of humor,” hijacked the site as his or her own personal billboard of bitterness.

Hijacked? More like repo'ed. Try not paying your car lease and see what happens.

I am a website designer who offers web hosting to his clients. Fortunately for me, none of my clients are deadbeats, and all of my hosting clients pay me through an automatic monthly charge to a credit card. But, the ability to "evict" a website owner and "change the locks" is the final recourse I have to getting paid for services already rendered when all other attempts to collect on a legitimate debt fail. I wouldn't hijack the website and change the content, but I most certainly would take it offline if the client were that far in arrears. And if I went unpaid long enough, I would "repo" the site by downloading all the files and making a backup of the database, then deleting all the files from the server and dumping the database. I would then be willing to burn all of that to a CD and mail it to them upon receipt of the past due. It's nothing personal, just business.

There is a poll at the bottom of the article. The results currently show:

Have you ever been stiffed by a client?

Thank you for voting!
Yes, for at least part of a bill. 35.7% (1,669 votes)
 
Yes, for the entire amount due. 39.96% (1,868 votes)
 
No, but clients have paid late. 16.58% (775 votes)
 
No, my clients have always paid. 7.76% (363 votes)
 
Total Votes: 4,675

I am vote# 1,669 in the first group.

[The Annoyed Man]

I should add that, while I certainly am "The Annoyed Man," I am not "The Annoyed Webdesigner" referenced in the article.

[KC5AV]

I should add that, while I certainly am "The Annoyed Man," I am not "The Annoyed Webdesigner" referenced in the article.

I had to check this thread to see if it was about you.