not turning up for a contract

[brasi12345]

apologies if this has been covered before, but i could not find anything by searching.

Got offered a 15 day contract , 2 weeks before xmas, 1 week after. accepted signed and emailed the contract back.
Late friday got offered another contract 6 months, more money, team leadership, greendfield.
Accepted this, and email the first agent saying i could no longer do the 15 days. They are now threatening legal action.

Do they have a leg to stand on?
Whats the worst case they could get?

Any c# developers want 15 days in birmingham to help me out?


thanks

[SueEllen]

No you don't have a leg to stand on.

How would you like it if you hired a plumber to do part of your bathroom before Christmas who agreed to do the work but then turned around, and said one of the large houses up the road has 4 bathrooms to do so you can f*** off?

As you have already done use your substitution clause.

[Moscow Mule]

Turn up. Shag the boss' secretary, on his desk, whilst he's eating his lunch. Don't bother going in Tuesday.

[TheFaQQer]

Do they have a leg to stand on?

Yes

Whats the worst case they could get?

cost of readvertising the role, cost of time for agency and client recruiting again, whatever the notice period was.

<removed>

[stingman123]

apologies if this has been covered before, but i could not find anything by searching.

Got offered a 15 day contract , 2 weeks before xmas, 1 week after. accepted signed and emailed the contract back.
Late friday got offered another contract 6 months, more money, team leadership, greendfield.
Accepted this, and email the first agent saying i could no longer do the 15 days. They are now threatening legal action.

Do they have a leg to stand on?
Whats the worst case they could get?

Any c# developers want 15 days in birmingham to help me out?


thanks

Wouldn't help you even if I wanted, idiots like you give contractors a bad name, I pity you

[rootsnall]

How would you like it if you hired a plumber to do part of your bathroom before Christmas who agreed to do the work but then turned around, and said one of the large houses up the road has 4 bathrooms to do so you can f*** off?

You wouldn't like it but it happens all the time and you'd just grin and bear it. I suspect the first agent/client would do the same but !?

Explain the situation and negotiate, offer to do 3 days a week at each !? How important is the particular agent to future work ? Once the agent and client have let off some steam then I'm guessing they'll fill the role easily in the current market and you need to convince them of that.

[DiscoStu]

apologies if this has been covered before, but i could not find anything by searching.

Got offered a 15 day contract , 2 weeks before xmas, 1 week after. accepted signed and emailed the contract back.
Late friday got offered another contract 6 months, more money, team leadership, greendfield.
Accepted this, and email the first agent saying i could no longer do the 15 days. They are now threatening legal action.

Do they have a leg to stand on?
Whats the worst case they could get?

Any c# developers want 15 days in birmingham to help me out?


thanks

Congratulations on behaving really professionally

Does your first contract have a right of substitution? If it does then I suggest you exercise it...

[scotspine]

oops:

linky

hope this isn't the op? you have messed up a bit. you need to try to recover something...negotiate, use ros, see if they'll accept p/time etc...

[thunderlizard]

Does the contract (that you presumably read before you signed) have a penalty clause? If so (even if not) the reasonable amount of damages they can probably go for will be the 15 days' worth of their commission. You could probably pay that out of 6 months' improved rate quite easily and still be in the money.

[TheFaQQer]

You wouldn't like it but it happens all the time and you'd just grin and bear it. I suspect the first agent/client would do the same but !?

The difference between an IT contractor and a plumber is that normally, you don't have to advertise for a plumber to do the work, then wade through a load of CVs, put some forward for interview, get the client to interview them, sort out the contract.....