I have just finished with a website client that was a real pain in the ass. You know the type - knows exactly what he wants, but has no idea how the internet/webpages work.
First it's "Do whatever, I'll be cool with it." Then shortly thereafter its, "Ok, can you change this?" Then not too much later it's, "Ok, I changed my mind again, can we do this instead?" He was completely anal about every little detail, before he even knew what he wanted.
Then, on top of all that, they edit the site themselves, remove the backround image gradient, the main site border, and slide the whole thing over to the left so it looks like crap. Oh - and they removed the link to my site, which I really don't mind since the job looks like crap now anyways, but that's beside the point.
And no, I didn't get a written contract stating that my link stay, because I had never had a problem with it until now.
After charging him 2 extra times for 3 complete site revisions and 3 or 4 minor revisions (I only ended up charging for about half that), I get a call today from his programmer that I am working with that is doing the backend work.
"Send me the .PSD's and the .PNG's and whatever other source files you have."
I have been developing/designing for about 4-5 years now. The only time source files have come into question is when they are included in the original estimate, or if they reimburse me for them later. Typically this means that I will no longer get work from these parties, but in this case I could really care less.
The programmer however, thinks this is insane, that I am "locking the client into spending more money with me". Well, essentially, yes that is the idea. He went on to say that in programming it's commonplace to always include source code with the finished project, however I don't see graphic design as the same thing at all.
I agreed finally to hand them over, only because this project was supposed to be finished right before Thanksgiving, and they call me with new stuff to do like once a week. I really didn't want to - especially since they removed the link to my site, messed with the .css file, and are generally a giant pain in my ass to begin with, but like I said, I want to be finished with this.
Am I way out of line not handing over source like it's nothing, or is this programmer stuck in programming land and doesn't understand how the graphic design business works?
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