To OP: you're too charitable and optimistic towards people in a business context. If an agent has an incentive to milk you for money the odds are that they will

To OP: you're too charitable and optimistic towards people in a business context. If an agent has an incentive to milk you for money the odds are that they will. Math and history say and prove so. It's not even about the money per se. We all know sometimes projects balloon over budget but you had a very clear and small scoped project and yet you failed forcing your contractors to stick to target. IMO your mistake was: (a) Not calling out "Isaac" early enough and making a meeting to re-establish ground rules and produce a crystal-clear short list of priorities (you seem to have produced similar document -- kudos for that); (b) Not demanding the first delivery in maximum two weeks after the conversation; (C) Accepting business contract that doesn't allow you to put financial pressure if you are unhappy with the results. I believe you mostly arrived at the same conclusion but in case you haven't -- you are not friends with these people. The "but we had this or that problem" flies only once, or, if you are feeling very generous, twice. After that you either threaten to sue or just cut your losses and leave. --- Your generic "we were just not a match" aphorism is setting you up for a similar occurrence in the future. Get rid of that mindset. It applies when dating or making friends, yes, but it absolutely does not apply in a business setting. You negotiate terms and when one side fails to stick to the terms, there must be consequences.