Consumer Law, Warranties Verbal Contract For Services

[zdleifer]

I am a web page designer. In my first few months as a designer,
I had entered a verbal contract with a church in Nassau County,
NY. They wanted a web page for their church, and I was to
provide it. We agreed on a price, and I completed the job. I
did not make a written contract. The moment I asked for payment, my contact at the church got nasty with me telling me that i did not spend enough time with her, that I disrespected her church. In fact, to the contrary I even attended a service at her church (although I am Jewish) and the Pastor (her husband) announced that I was making a web site for the church in front of the entire congregation.

The only evidence I have is the email correspondence with the
church representative...requests for changes, meetings etc...
There is no mention of payment...I do have someone who knew of
the circumstances...The person who introduced me to the church,
he used to be the music minister at the church. He knew of the
situation, and in fact later resigned due to further problems
with the church. I am planning to sue the church in small claims
court for the $1,250.00 owed to me for the web page design. Do
you think I have a good case? What should be done in preparation for the case? Are there any laws which I should bring up? Please advise. Thank you for your time.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You should always have a contract as a web page designer, no matter how simple. It can be simple but should state the basic terms, including price and the extent of the work being done.

1) Is the church using your work? If so, they would then obligate themselves to pay you since you performed services rendered which they accepted.

2) If the church is not using your work you may have a problem proving your case as to what was agreed. Just because the pastor announced to the church that you were creating a web site does not mean anything with regard to price. Maybe it was to be for free? The agreement needs to be clear and unequivocal -- it seems that the church rejected the site that you delivered. What were the reasons for rejection? If it was simply that you didn't spend enough time with them, that is not a good reason if the goods delivered met their satisfaction.

I'm wondering whether there are facts we don't read here -- e.g. you were dating someone who was Christian and ended up going to her church, meeting her pastor, and then discussing creating a church web site. The situation could easily be muddy.

You may need to resort to small claims but your case is largely circumstantial and will likely depend upon the testimony given in court. Nobody can tell you the outcome but they can tell you that the case would have been much stronger with a written contract.

 

[zdleifer]

Thank you lawprofessor for your quick reply. To clarify...

The church web site is on the web, therefore I would guess that it could be assumed that they are "using" the site.

I met the man who refered me to the church in a cab in nyc. He said he needed a site, so I designed one for him. He then told me about his church. I telephoned the contact at the church, and eventually met with her 4 times discussing what they wanted on the site. The dollar amount was agreed to be $1,250.00. Upon requesting payment, they became nasty and stated they did not want to pay me. The person who referred me attempted to collect the money for me, and he too was unable to collect. He has told me that he would be a witness for me in court.

I then placed numerous telephone calls to the church and its pastor, to no avail. He did not take my calls, and it was at this time after 6 months of trying to collect my money, that I decided to sue.

As stated i my previous post, I do have email correspondence with the representative which describes changes that she wanted for the site, on a number of occasions. I did go to small claims court today to file a suit. Hopefully I will be paid. I learned that from now on I cant be so nice. I guess you can't even trust a church!

Thanks again lawprofessor

 

[Michael Wechsler]

If this is the case then you should make a written demand for the money, sent certified return receipt. You should include a printout of the web site and state that you have performed services for which payment has not been rendered. (I typically have an attorney at TheLaw.com sign a notarized statement that he has viewed the web site at a certain URL which is printed in the attached papers, as of a certain date. ) They are and have been currently using the proceeds of the services rendered and that, if they do not pay within XX days, they may be in violation of your agreement and in breach of copyright law as you have not yet transferred rights to them in writing for the use of the materials and services which have not been paid.

If they do not pay or provide acknowlegement, then you may have a stronger case going to small claims court. They may be hard pressed to answer how they can continue to use the materials but not pay a dime for them. Keep track of how long the web site is up and running.

Most importantly, learn from the experience. This is a small mistake that should not happen again.