I’m about to cancel a WordPress project both because the client keeps interfering with my dev work, the website is too much of a mess to fix, and the client does not have the budget to build a new one.
Basically what’s going on, is that I’m doing large scale updates to my client’s website, what ended up turning out, was that the client was using WP Bakery, however the previous developer used a metric ton of plugins and shortcodes to replace features that normally would be for WP Bakery proper.
In effect, addressing problems that the client highlighted became extremely tedious. Especially since in this case, not only were the header and footer managed by different plugins, but the previous developer changed the code of the footer within the theme file itself.
Normally this wouldn’t be so bad as I would take my time to unravel the website piece by piece and put it back together addressing the client’s concerns. However, the client keeps interfering mid editing talking about wanting “course correction”. It’s getting to the point that finishing the project is effectively impossible. Especially since the client doesn’t understand how much of a mess their back end is.
I have a meeting with them tomorrow, there’s a high likelihood that I’m going to cancel.
What do you guys think?
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I’ve let go many a client for being difficult or not having a budget to cover the work. So nothing wrong with that. The headache and stress of trying to make it work at all cost is not worth it.
It’s important to try and explain things as best as possible but there’s always going to be that difficult person who will try to make your life hell.
Ignore any unnecessary discussion or comments and be professional with a firm but calm ‘I understand your situation but I unfortunately can only accomodate your build based on these terms. If not your project will be better suited for another developer.’ Or something along the lines. Key is to not accuse them. Just tow a line of this is not my workflow.
As a rule of thumb I no longer take on any sites that have been built by someone else unless they opt for a rebuild or use the same framework I use.
I also have an entire section in my contract about this sorta thing and an iron clad scope for each project. This is vital so they can’t come back to you and say oh you promised x,y,z.
Just give them quote for new changes , if they agree then continue otherwise ask them that I cannot do further since I have spent huge time on this project and its not valuable to be now.
Hope they understand.
Unfortunately this happens with WordPress, there are a lot of steaming piles out there and it’s very difficult to inherit one.
You end up spending a lot of mental effort explaining why the house is falling apart, because if you don’t you end up sounding like a sleazy mechanic. The ironic thing is that the lack of budget is usually what got them into the situation to begin with: it’s cheap and easy to install a plugin for metrics, but it’s like not going to the dentist to save money on a cleaning, without thinking about the cavities and crowns you’ll end up with.
I’ve found myself in this position maybe 4-5 times, and every single time I wished I had built a simple, custom theme at day one. Usually it would have cost the customer much less in the end, because they end up endlessly patching the existing setup.
Rather than dropping them maybe consider leveling with them? I’d say that based on past experiences I think the path we’re on only leads to more issues, ultimately taking more of my time and costing you more money to do things that should be very simple. In most cases they really didn’t know the site was being built haphazardly.
Then I’d pick 2-3 places on their site that are really ridiculous to work with, and show them examples of systems I’ve built elsewhere that do it much better. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel so-to-speak and it backs up what you’re saying.
Good luck, know that probably every WordPress developer has been or will be in that situation at some point.
Oh yeah. It’s called firing the client.
Get rid of them. Time is money. If they want your time, which you can never get back, then they pay money. It’s that simple. Don’t try to please these types of people, it’s impossible. Just tell them what you need to get the job done, or they can go find another developer.
Explain that having delved into the clusterfuck of a web app that they currently have, you’ve found that the work they want at the price they’re prepared to pay is infeasible. Explain that they need the app to be started from scratch. Then tap the fuck out.