Client Honesty

[SueEllen]

Any horror stories of client's bulltulipting?

Recently started a gig in "central" London only to find 3 days of the week are far out West in Zone 3... This is after committing to a Mon-Fri spare room in Greenwich...

Not as flexible as was discussed, in terms of acruing hours / early finish / work from home Fri to boot!

This is the first time I've felt "decieved" - I would have still been up for the role. Seems like the carrot on a stick tactic was used like is often the case to lure permies. I just don't get their thought process.

Did the client bullsh*t or was it the agency?

Clients' always tell me the truth there as agencies lie due to a mixture of not knowing or not being bothered.

[uk contractor]

Got canned from a major 12 month project along with about 15 other people on the Friday before the Monday the contract was due to start as they used the downtime after unsigned by them contract offers were sent out to rehire people who had previously worked onsite as the outsourcer boss decided they only wanted people who had been onsite previously (well known global IB). No way the outsourcer decided this on the fly it appeared to be their intention all along they just semi hired the 15 of us as an insurance policy incase they could not get their previous hires and shafted the agency at the same time who they asked to hire the 15 once they could get their cheaper hires in place.


Then another time with a different banking client was told once onsite it was a few weeks work covering until they replaced the just sacked perm and not 6 months rolling as no way would they get someone for just a few weeks! (this was way back when contracts grew on trees & no-one would do a few weeks work as it blocked them from longer term roles).


I have been a contractor for well over 20 years though so have been around a bit & could write a book on the subject having experienced so many negative lies from both agent & end client. IME 75% of the time your being fed BS by one or the other or even both in very unlucky situations.


One constant is always expect the unexpected at all times your only ever a meeting away from having the role pulled which is why you earn every penny when onsite and billing as job security is minimal!

[northernladyuk]

This thread is the wrong way round. A real contractor lands at the client, gets the client hooked on quality and then starts changing the working conditions.

[MrMarkyMark]

Got canned from a major 12 month project along with about 15 other people on the Friday before the Monday the contract was due to start as they used the downtime after unsigned by them contract offers were sent out to rehire people who had previously worked onsite as the outsourcer boss decided they only wanted people who had been onsite previously (well known global IB). No way the outsourcer decided this on the fly it appeared to be their intention all along they just semi hired the 15 of us as an insurance policy incase they could not get their previous hires and shafted the agency at the same time who they asked to hire the 15 once they could get their cheaper hires in place.


Then another time with a different banking client was told once onsite it was a few weeks work covering until they replaced the just sacked perm and not 6 months rolling as no way would they get someone for just a few weeks! (this was way back when contracts grew on trees & no-one would do a few weeks work as it blocked them from longer term roles).


I have been a contractor for well over 20 years though so have been around a bit & could write a book on the subject having experienced so many negative lies from both agent & end client. IME 75% of the time your being fed BS by one or the other or even both in very unlucky situations.


One constant is always expect the unexpected at all times your only ever a meeting away from having the role pulled which is why you earn every penny when onsite and billing as job security is minimal!

Lets hope that book is not your plan B .

I have only been messed around by one IB client in 20 years contracting.
Agreed its not easy out there, but some seem to experience far more issues than others.

[TheGreenBastard]

Did the client bullsh*t or was it the agency?

Clients' always tell me the truth there as agencies lie due to a mixture of not knowing or not being bothered.

Would you Adam and Steve it that this is my first DIRECT contract!

[ChimpMaster]

Agent told me that the role was in central London, so I rented somewhere to start with.

Day before I started - "until you get clearance through, you'll be based in Slough". At least I charged them travel expenses every day to get there from London, but I could have saved a fortune by not renting in London

Slough is lovely

Haven't you heard, it's the latest London commuter hotspot:

Berkshire and Essex top choices for first-time buyers: 10 commuter hotspots for exiting Londoners in search of good-value homes and fast commutes | Homes and Property

[b0redom]

At current ClientCo, they released a contractor after only 3 weeks having interviewed his permie replacement on the day he started!

That doesn't do a lot to engender loyalty...

[MrMarkyMark]

At current ClientCo, they released a contractor after only 3 weeks having interviewed his permie replacement on the day he started!

That doesn't do a lot to engender loyalty...

Pretty tight, however it is always a risk accepting such a role, especially as it is likely to be a temp fill for perm.
Likely to be inside IR35 too.

[northernladuk]

At current ClientCo, they released a contractor after only 3 weeks having interviewed his permie replacement on the day he started!

That doesn't do a lot to engender loyalty...

Hmm. That's a tough call. Loyalty? We provide expert skills where the client has none. Client got some quick so temp resource is not required. It's a tough call cause it's so soon but that's no reason to start hating the client. Just unfortunate.

[LondonManc]

Pretty tight, however it is always a risk accepting such a role, especially as it is likely to be a temp fill for perm.
Likely to be inside IR35 too.

Not necessarily - you know there's absolutely no permanence to it because they're recruiting a perm; unless they've advertised the role as temp to perm obviously.

As NLUK says, there's also the factor of no expertise on site.