Clients getting ripped off

Paul Murray

Ultimate Member
Anyone found they've got clients who are/have been ripped off by other designers?

Today I met with a client I'd been trying to secure for a while to finally sit down and discuss costs for a redesign of their website. I was stunned/appalled to discover their current 'agency' is charging them £700 per year for bog -standard hosting and emails.

The site is over a decade old. It's coded up as tables. Much of the text content is images. It's built on some sort of CMS that only allows one image to be uploaded per page (not great as they're a letting agent so one image is not enough). They even have the cheek to charge £70 per year to renew the domain name for them. Apparently the costs also includes "an on-going SEO service", though I don't see how you can even rank a site with this many fundamental errors. Any ranking surely comes from the domain's age.

I understand adding a mark-up to services, but £700 for hosting a site such as this is a joke. I couldn't believe it. I've actually got a good mind to get in touch with this company and let them know I think they're taking the piss! I foresee them being a pain to deal with when I finally need to get in touch and have them unlock the domain name. I'll give them what-for though.
 
I wouldn't get involved with them. Let the other company request all the access, or you can do it on their behalf. But keep them sweet until you have full access.

Then wash your hands of them.

Put your proposal of costs, and hosting, email, etc. to the company, get the contract amicably and provide your great services to your new clients.
 
Wow that is a lot, there are millions of customers like this though, all paying too much because they don't inform themselves. As a business owner I couldn't take the p**s like that, a fair price is all I ask.
 
I wouldn't get involved with them. Let the other company request all the access, or you can do it on their behalf. But keep them sweet until you have full access.

Then wash your hands of them.

Put your proposal of costs, and hosting, email, etc. to the company, get the contract amicably and provide your great services to your new clients.

I've already won the contract, and for a fair price (both for myself and the client). I explained during the meeting that I'll need them to provide a few details, but from what he was saying it sounds like they'll probably try and be difficult because their service has been so bad over the years. It just makes me so angry that someone would take advantage like that. It's why so many people are weary of tradesmen or freelancers, because they don't know how much something should cost and fear they'll be ripped off because of it.

Wow that is a lot, there are millions of customers like this though, all paying too much because they don't inform themselves. As a business owner I couldn't take the p**s like that, a fair price is all I ask.

Same, I still feel awkward adding a mark-up to services though I tell myself it's ok because I'm just trying to run a business. I just couldn't believe the cost, I have no idea how they came to that figure.
 
I rebuilt a site at the start of the year where the client had previously paid £15k for a really basic e-commerce site built on tables and was being charged £4k p/a for hosting, emails & 'support'. When it came to launching the sites and requesting the transfer of the domains, the old agency demanded a £300 release fee for the domains (there were 3 domains names to transfer).

That being said, I have a number of clients who seem to assume that their hosting fee buys me for maintenance, support and general computer trouble shooting (I have one client who regularly calls to blame me for their internet connection dropping). As the number of sites I host is growing, the amount of time I'm losing to these queries is growing, so much so that I've almost trippled my hosting fee for new clients and renewals from £45 to £120.

I also have one client who's needs are such that they require a VPS at a cost of £800p/a
 
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