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I have a similar story. Year is 2014 and client was using a very specific payment processor because the client was part of UK government and credit card process
by unnouinceput 7y ago
I have a similar story. Year is 2014 and client was using a very specific payment processor because the client was part of UK government and credit card processing was to be done using only that processor - you know, politics and stuff when dealing with government.
So the payment processor, after absorbing a good chunk of this organization became a behemoth, with a lot of political power and overnight they decided to charge additional license fees if you are throwing more then 5 connections/second from same IP to be processed.
Of course the client was upset and asked me if there is a solution before shelling what was possible more then a few million pounds (GBP, not the weight) per year in those fees. My solution? Made them just increase their pool of IP addresses from internet provider and additionally made an intermediate proxy which had the job to gather user requests and spread them to up of 4 requests/second to said processor. When waiting for your card to be processed usually the end user doesn't mind waiting extra 10 seconds, seconds that gave my proxy plenty of time to balance the requests. AFAIK it works without hiccups to this day. And of course, client only thanked me like government thanks to medics in COVID nowadays, all talk and no extra dime (apart from what we agreed upon). Oh well, I take pride in a job well done.
- bobbylarrybobby 7y agoIt's a rare client who pays more than the agreed-upon price.
- unnouinceput 7y agoYou're wrong. I have plenty of clients that seeing my efforts in putting that extra-mile for their project paid a bonus as well. But that's because I have good communication with them and plenty of times when they need it something fast I simply code it in front of their eyes instead of "let me see these requests and I get back to you". That's the difference between a senior developer and a junior one.
- eru 7y agoWell, bobbylarrybobby only said rare. Not 'non-existent'.
- rasz 7y ago> when they need it something fast I simply code it in front of their eyes "wow it was that easy?? I am vastly overpaying" - heard several times
- unnouinceput 7y agoThen you're doing it wrong. You see, this needs to be done after you already coded the application at least on 2 different versions and the codebase of it it's over 50k lines and at least a year old. Then implementing something fast it blows their mind especially when they have the proverbial carrot in that proverbial place. As for overpaying is not the case since I am paid hourly. I prefer to blow their mind from time to time in order to do repeat business instead to always be "I'll get back to you" and have them feeling that I'm procrastinating.
- onetimemanytime 7y agoI suppose it depends on business size, other than being appreciative, they might also want to keep the provider happy. They want the business to keep going without a hitch and finding replacements is not always a smooth process
- hajimemash 7y agoWould the right move have been to see the value you could give to the client, and charge more at that point for an additional service to capture some of this value?
- unnouinceput 7y agoNo. At best give a hint or make a joke comparing you to those lawyers that they seen in movies winning lower prices/fees for their clients. If they get the hint and / or act accordingly it boils down to what kind of person they are, but in no way make them uncomfortable by bringing this ever again. You may lose them instead and it's preferable to do repeat business instead. People joke developers are a very special breed of deer easy to get scared and lose focus when working. Tell you from experience, clients of developers are the same, but in their case you lose their wallet / business they bring. Personally I prefer to have long-term relation to my clients.