Originally Posted By: KrisZ
One thing I learned dealing with businesses and employers is that nothing is free unless absolutely no money exchange takes place and even then the line can be very blurry. The moment any amount of money is exchanged, either above or below market value, there is no such thing as free work or services.
After that, everything is viewed as managing the time and work load. Yes, some people will appreciate the extra time you put in, but there will be others and those are getting to be the majority, that will see it as you simply managing your time and workload since they paid you money and you never asked for anything extra.
That is why a clear understanding of work and compensation is critical. Otherwise misunderstandings will take place and one party will get the short end of the deal. In this case, lots of no charge services not appreciated by the new management and a cold shoulder treatment.
Would OP feel different had he charged for every single minute he spent on this project, even if at the end he was forced to leave anyways? I think that there would be much less frustration and regret for the commitment.
The money itself is really irrelevant to me in this case. I bring it up only because it was used against me unjustly. My frustration stems from all the things said about me that were just flat out untrue. Clearly money was not a motivating factor for me doing what I did for them. Sure, if this was a regular type client who paid for every bit of work done I would feel different but that is not the case here. I wouldn't have been doing all the volunteer work or free work nor would I have any attachment to the place and feel violated and betrayed. This was a unique situation.
However, when they complain and basically accuse me of ripping them off over legit charges I did make for work they requested, when I have provided them thousands upon thousands in free work, it sort of gets to you. One such charge was for less than $200 and they had a FIT??? Was a rush job they requested. Once done they went nuts. I was and still am at a loss as to why. The charge was less than it should have been based on our service agreement. THAT is how money plays into it for me.
Not all of the people that took over were "new" either. Some were there previous and knew what I had done for the place over the years. There was also a written service agreement in place that justified all charges made the new people could have looked at. No one ever contacted me to talk about making changes until things were already done and then they would - to complain and berate me.
Also, people need to stop calling that place a business. It is not and normal rules don't apply. It is a not for profit small membership based organization. One I did a lot of volunteer work for and free/reduced website work for. It is not the same thing as being a regular employer/employee situation.
