Dec 02 2008
Web Design – Payment Collection Problem
Sometimes I hear complaints from web designers that their customers refuse to pay up, especially the last payment, after a web site is completed. No wonder sometimes designers register their domain names under their own names so that they can make sure the customers pay up, or lose their domain name!
I don’t have much experience on this and am not qualified to speak on this issue. I also don’t have very good solution to this. But I have a very naive idea. if a customer refuses to pay up, just let him go and do not pursue after the money. Perhaps I have done something wrong that he refuses to pay up. Even if it’s not my fault, at least I have done something to help and bless his business.
You will surely not agree with my suggestion to let the customer go, to bless and not to curse, to look beyond our existence (we don’t exist just to make money), to thank the customer for giving business to us in the first place and for the money he has paid, to wish him well and never do anything to sabotage, even to continue to serve him If he ever comes back in the future.
There is a Chinese word called 舍得 (meaning “letting go”) which consists of two characters – 舍 and 得. Perhaps only when we learn to let go (舍), do we learn to how to truly gain (得).
Yes, I know I am naive 
How about you? What will you do?
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I certainly not suggest the way of registering domain name under your own name
We usually hand over (launch) the website after collecting final payment
Hi Ricky:
In the web design and development business, one must be smart and get payment first before any work is done.
Setting one’s business principles firmly and telling one’s clients upfront before any work/discussion happens preempts any mishap with payments.
We always register the client’s domain name under their name and we always hand over the full website once it is done.
But we are dead serious about payment and have thankfully avoided non-paying clients.
It’s best to sift through the kind of people who become your clients too. Avoid at all costs the type whom you know will be trouble in the beginning, middle and end.
A tip is to be very choosy about your clients. We always pick our clients with care. Our relationships with clients are usually longterm so we want only people we truly want to work with (also since we’re helping them make money, we only want to help nice folks, haha).
Thanks Krista for your input
I’m not in web design business. But as a hosting provider, I often have to deal with web designers of my customers and sometimes encounter conflicts between customer and their web designers. I often wonder why designers want to own their customers’ domains, but also found they have their stories to tell.
http://www.rickysoo.com/2008/10/06/hosting-provider-vs-hosting-customer/