I did some design and coding work for the owner of a company roughly three years ago. This person was a friend of my uncle and my uncle is also an original investor in the company. To make a long story short, they had known each other for numerous years and had many friends in common (you know how adults usually have their select group of friends).
This work included several designs (3 weeks worth, roughly 4 concepts), bringing content (images and text) from brochures and CD over to the web site, hours of instruction over the phone, and some flash work. The agreed upon price of this work was $1000.00. Since I was 16 at the time and this was a friend of my uncle, we agreed to the terms verbally. The owner sent the material (brochures etc.) and notes, which I still have, so I could begin work. After several weeks of working closely with the owner, the owner basically said she no longer wished to work with me; in other words, I got a big "never mind".
It turns out, the owner simply had an outdated computer, an AOL connection, and wasn't very good at expressing what style the site was supposed to take. I had to argue for several days over the phone and through email to get anything, since the owner was either trying to scam me for the brochure transition work and various design elements I had done, or the owner simply didn't have any proper business morals (the work was still done and our verbal contract never mentioned any sort of deadline or cancellation of payment dependant on work done).
I don't want to make this post too long; the owner ends up going with a local company to do the remainder of the work, stealing many of the images I put together and all of the text I manually typed in that originally came from the brochure (about 10 pages worth). I received $500 for the work with the promise of the remaining $500 to be paid shortly after (the owner claimed rough times for the company). During the course of the last few years, the owner has asked me to make various changes and additions to the web site (including some PHP code), and I did it out of good faith that the remaining $500 would be paid.
I gave the owner a deadline in a formal letter I sent roughly 3 weeks ago and that deadline has now passed; I stated I would do everything in my power to get the money rightfully owed to myself, including calling other investors in the company and any other officers of the company. I am simply seeking advice from the people on this forum (is small claims court a possibility?) before I call a lawyer for legal advice or start making the calls to the various company officials. Any replies are greatly appreciated.
Quick summary -
Verbal contract for web design work - $1000
Work done, $500 paid, remaining $500 promised
3 Years later, remaining $500 still unpaid
What can I do to get the $500?
This work included several designs (3 weeks worth, roughly 4 concepts), bringing content (images and text) from brochures and CD over to the web site, hours of instruction over the phone, and some flash work. The agreed upon price of this work was $1000.00. Since I was 16 at the time and this was a friend of my uncle, we agreed to the terms verbally. The owner sent the material (brochures etc.) and notes, which I still have, so I could begin work. After several weeks of working closely with the owner, the owner basically said she no longer wished to work with me; in other words, I got a big "never mind".
It turns out, the owner simply had an outdated computer, an AOL connection, and wasn't very good at expressing what style the site was supposed to take. I had to argue for several days over the phone and through email to get anything, since the owner was either trying to scam me for the brochure transition work and various design elements I had done, or the owner simply didn't have any proper business morals (the work was still done and our verbal contract never mentioned any sort of deadline or cancellation of payment dependant on work done).
I don't want to make this post too long; the owner ends up going with a local company to do the remainder of the work, stealing many of the images I put together and all of the text I manually typed in that originally came from the brochure (about 10 pages worth). I received $500 for the work with the promise of the remaining $500 to be paid shortly after (the owner claimed rough times for the company). During the course of the last few years, the owner has asked me to make various changes and additions to the web site (including some PHP code), and I did it out of good faith that the remaining $500 would be paid.
I gave the owner a deadline in a formal letter I sent roughly 3 weeks ago and that deadline has now passed; I stated I would do everything in my power to get the money rightfully owed to myself, including calling other investors in the company and any other officers of the company. I am simply seeking advice from the people on this forum (is small claims court a possibility?) before I call a lawyer for legal advice or start making the calls to the various company officials. Any replies are greatly appreciated.
Quick summary -
Verbal contract for web design work - $1000
Work done, $500 paid, remaining $500 promised
3 Years later, remaining $500 still unpaid
What can I do to get the $500?
