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Advice Needed

Helihover

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Jan 5, 2018
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Age
46
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Oregon City
I took on a job a few weeks ago as a sub through a company I won’t name. I have never worked with this company before. They sent me a map of 9 “farms” that needed still shots and two of them needed video on top of the stills. I offered my bid based on the map and they accepted. After we agreed on a price I was sent a KMZ which I downloaded into google earth. When I opened this map, 3 of the addresses had changed which added approximately 18-20 hrs of extra driving. I emailed back with my concerns and was told to either wait or go ahead and shoot the 6 others. The guy in charge was on vacation and couldn’t get me an answer. I had already schedule 5 days to complete this project and was ready to go so I decided to start.

I now have had 5 of the 9 “farms” completed and I am still having problems confirming said addresses. After waiting over a week trying to get this figured out I finally get an email saying this,

“The girl who is coordinating this can't give me an answer and her boss is on vacation. Let's just stick with the original six. We can worry about the others later. I will send over the file requests.”

So this company is wanting me to send the files I have to them without confirming the rest of the job. I just have a weird feeling about this and wanted to get a different opinion on this situation. What would you guys do?
 
I wouldn't send the files until the person you arranged this with is back and you agree on a payment amount based on only the 5 sites. And at that same time, you can also negotiate a new separate contract for the remaining sites with additional travel time calculated -- if you both wish to pursue that. At this point, the person you arranged this with has no idea what is going on. Just my opinion.
 
Based on the limited info, If I gave them a lump sum price based on nine as shown on the map, I never would have done any, once the change in scope was discovered, until a new agreement was settled on. If you gave them nine different prices for each, then it would be easy to pick and choose... Do not send the files.
 
I agree with Rasit. I think one lesson here is avoid ganging together multiple sites under one price. Seems better to establish an agreed upon price for each individual site. There should also be a stipulation in any contract that the agreed upon price is based on the information provided by the client at the time of signing and that any unforeseen circumstances related to the site may affect the final price and/or void the contract. I'm not an attorney, but think some wording like that would be beneficial.
 
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Thanks for the replies. I sent an invoice individually listing each farm with a price for each one. I told him he could purchase them or we could wait until he gets the correct addresses. I told him I wouldn’t send any files until I received payment and wouldn’t start the remainder of the job until I receive 1/2 down.

I don’t have the best feelings about all this, but what are you going to do:). Live & Learn.

Thanks again guys.
 
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I may be late to this discussion, but

if this could lead to more work you are always better off "working" with the customer on the extra expenses you have. I've worked for a large company and most of the time, the "manager" requesting the work had no authority and limited knowledge of what is expected. The "boss" just wants it done.

Business is about relationships and do everything you can to build it...of course you know that, I just had to say it.

Hope it all works out! I'm sure it will.

Good luck,
<><
 
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In the contracting world we use a SOW (Statement of Work), clearly defining the customer responsibilities, our responsibilities, expectations, liabilities, clearly defined work to be delivered, milestones, and payment schedule. Anything outside of the scope of the original SOW either requires a separate SOW, or the entire SOW needs to be renegotiated. Using a SOW may help solve your issue going forward.
 
Everything is silent now. I invoiced $850 dollars worth of work (extremely discounted) and getting no replies.

Lessons learned. I was in the right the whole time and this guy jerked me around on 3 addresses AFTER I bid and started the job. Oh well I’m over it.

If any of you are wondering you started this mess, His name is Dan and he is with or owns Dronegenuity. This was my first and last time dealing with this company.

Professional Aerial Drone Photography & Video Services
 
Everything is silent now. I invoiced $850 dollars worth of work (extremely discounted) and getting no replies.

Lessons learned. I was in the right the whole time and this guy jerked me around on 3 addresses AFTER I bid and started the job. Oh well I’m over it.

If any of you are wondering you started this mess, His name is Dan and he is with or owns Dronegenuity. This was my first and last time dealing with this company.

Professional Aerial Drone Photography & Video Services
Sorry you were taken. Goes to show a fancy website can hide unscrupulous operators...
 
Yeah, this stuff sucks.

Steer clear of:
  • anyone who clearly is unprofessional in their own job
  • anyone who will not pay a substantial advance (absolutely anyone can make an instant payment these days into your checking account. Or use a credit card. Or PayPal).
  • anyone who will not acknowledge when the balance is to be paid
There are some exceptions to the above: advertising agencies never pay in advance, and you're lucky to receive payment before 60 days. Nationwide engineering companies have huge AP departments with their own rules. When you are comfortable in a business relationship with a client, you can reach a beneficial arrangement with them and alter your policies as you see fit.

You'll learn all of this, and after this experience your motivation will be strong to pay attention to your gut. Good luck.
 
Yeah, this stuff sucks.

Steer clear of:
  • anyone who clearly is unprofessional in their own job
  • anyone who will not pay a substantial advance (absolutely anyone can make an instant payment these days into your checking account. Or use a credit card. Or PayPal).
  • anyone who will not acknowledge when the balance is to be paid
There are some exceptions to the above: advertising agencies never pay in advance, and you're lucky to receive payment before 60 days. Nationwide engineering companies have huge AP departments with their own rules. When you are comfortable in a business relationship with a client, you can reach a beneficial arrangement with them and alter your policies as you see fit.

You'll learn all of this, and after this experience your motivation will be strong to pay attention to your gut. Good luck.

Live and learn. I generally work with established clients, with a reliable track record. Of course, gotta be very suspicious with new clients.
 
Everything is silent now. I invoiced $850 dollars worth of work (extremely discounted) and getting no replies.

Lessons learned. I was in the right the whole time and this guy jerked me around on 3 addresses AFTER I bid and started the job. Oh well I’m over it.

If any of you are wondering you started this mess, His name is Dan and he is with or owns Dronegenuity. This was my first and last time dealing with this company.

Professional Aerial Drone Photography & Video Services
I know this is an old thread, but wish I'd seen this before I took a gig from DroneGenuity last week. They sent a vague, ambiguous shot list. I asked a series of clarifying questions, and completed the work based on their vague, ambiguous answers.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when after receiving the assets, they offered a vague explanation that the client was not satisfied. I'm not confident that they knew what the client wanted or expected.

I too will not be working with this outfit again...frankly, it reeks of either a scam, rudimentary business practices, or both.
 
It is an old thread, but I never bothered to check out the DroneGenuity web site. First thing that jumped out to me was the overall poor image quality of their opening slide-show portfolio. And two of the videos show clean horizons that are not close to level. For crying out loud - run a gimbal calibration. Or fix it in post.
 
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