Is agent taking the mick.

[thunderlizard]

You can't assume that projects get started in that textbook way (make the business case -> get the finance -> hire the people). Often it happens a bit backwards: first demonstrate you've got the capability to do the project, then demonstrate that the money's available, then start the ball rolling formally. Testing the waters to make sure the right skilled people are available at the right price can be a good sensible first step.

Some contractors get very annoyed at having to tender/interview for a contract before there's been a definite decision to hire, and cry foul play when it's not like that. But that's a bit like Dixons getting annoyed at me browsing their shop to check out what plasma tellies are available at what price, before I've definitely decided to buy one. All part of business.

[malvolio]

Think positive. My last gig got cancelled precisely 5 working hours before I was supposed to start; some c**t of a senior manager decided to throw his weight around and binned a £2m pound programme in favour of his own pet project apparently. Tulips happen, learn to live with it.


Although I did bill them for my car parking and railway season tickets...

[backlight]

Although I did bill them for my car parking and railway season tickets...

Yes but did they pay the invoice?

[Turion]

Think positive. My last gig got cancelled precisely 5 working hours before I was supposed to start;

Were you starting the gig in the afternoon then?

Sudden Gig Cancellation (SGC) is another contracting risk. Clauses in the contract allow no notice cancellation of gigs for any reason if they have not already started. Another reason one should not celebrate until you are actually on site and working. Personally, even after I accept an offer, I do not cancel interviews and keep applying for gigs right up until I'm on site for this very reason - and the fact that something better may come up.

[malvolio]

Yes they did pay the invoice, they would have got sued if they hadn't anyway - I'm not losing close to £2k without an argument.

Yes, 5 working hours - I was going to start 8:30 Tuesday, they binned it at 11:30 on Monday. Also I'm not exactly a BoS coder or Helpdesk guy after all. The meeting was the previous Thursday, gig and rate settled, project defined and basic attack plan agreed on the Friday. Contract signed and faxed back on Monday morning. So I felt reasopnably safe to stop chasing other work...

[Turion]

Yes they did pay the invoice, they would have got sued if they hadn't anyway - I'm not losing close to £2k without an argument.

Yes, 5 working hours - I was going to start 8:30 Tuesday, they binned it at 11:30 on Monday. Also I'm not exactly a BoS coder or Helpdesk guy after all. The meeting was the previous Thursday, gig and rate settled, project defined and basic attack plan agreed on the Friday. Contract signed and faxed back on Monday morning. So I felt reasopnably safe to stop chasing other work...

Did you consider trying to get more compensation, say for 1 week or whatever the actual notice your contract had with the agent. I know fighting SGC could be difficult due to certain contract clauses, but maybe they would have been sympathetic, as they did pay your expenses? Hmme...client sympathy?, does that exist....

[thunderlizard]

Wow, I wouldn't have bought £2k's worth of train tickets before I'd even been on site to check the lie of the land. But I've always been the "glass half empty" type.

Turion, with your "compensation for notice period" idea - you're assuming (I think) that having x days notice period means x days' 9-to-5 bum-on-seat-style constant billing. If I know our Malvolio, that isn't his style (nor mine).

[Turion]

Wow, I wouldn't have bought £2k's worth of train tickets before I'd even been on site to check the lie of the land. But I've always been the "glass half empty" type.

Turion, with your "compensation for notice period" idea - you're assuming (I think) that having x days notice period means x days' 9-to-5 bum-on-seat-style constant billing. If I know our Malvolio, that isn't his style (nor mine).

Agree, unless it the Orient Express . £2k of advance train tickets and parking for a contract seems a tad over the top, especially for a no notice contract. A bit permyish in some ways. A weekly ticket would be my limit.

My point was, that if they paid £2k of expenses, when they did not have to (unless reimbursement of such expenses was written in the contract), they maybe would have paid compensation for project cancellation as well.

[malvolio]

Agree, unless it the Orient Express . £2k of advance train tickets and parking for a contract seems a tad over the top, especially for a no notice contract. A bit permyish in some ways. A weekly ticket would be my limit.

My point was, that if they paid £2k of expenses, when they did not have to (unless reimbursement of such expenses was written in the contract), they maybe would have paid compensation for project cancellation as well.

Balls. Quarterly ticket for a job scheduled to take around 9 months is not so stupid, bringing the daily cost down to around £50 a day for a 1st Class moderately long-distance commute into London.

What's a notice period then? The time it takes some contractors to smell the coffee, I assume.

And bizarre as it may seem, the £2k was paid for out of the hiring manager's budget as compensation for having to muck around a fellow professional. Strictly speaking, it was cost of sales lost by the client defaulting on a signed agreement. I'm not going to sue for lost business, I will claim out-of-pocket expenses when they were caused by the client's actions.

So I'm afraid we're looking at this from different ends of the spectrum. "Permie-thinking" rather implies a master-slave relationship. Well that's fine, but I generally work as the Master...

[Turion]

Balls. Quarterly ticket for a job scheduled to take around 9 months is not so stupid, bringing the daily cost down to around £50 a day for a 1st Class moderately long-distance commute into London.

What's a notice period then? The time it takes some contractors to smell the coffee, I assume.

And bizarre as it may seem, the £2k was paid for out of the hiring manager's budget as compensation for having to muck around a fellow professional. Strictly speaking, it was cost of sales lost by the client defaulting on a signed agreement. I'm not going to sue for lost business, I will claim out-of-pocket expenses when they were caused by the client's actions.

So I'm afraid we're looking at this from different ends of the spectrum. "Permie-thinking" rather implies a master-slave relationship. Well that's fine, but I generally work as the Master...

For a project that can be cancelled without notice, purchasing a quaterly ticket would still seem presumptuous. Anyway, the train company would reimburse an unused one, so why did you ask the client to pay?