Reply to: What are some of the Worst Contracts You've Had and How Long Did you Stick it Out?

[eek]

Would be hard to beat phones-****-u, management by screaming at people, 6 people left the first friday, minimum 2 a week after that (out of 60).

If you think phones-***-u were bad I managed 14 months at Caudwell Distribution and my next 3 years of contracts didn't require a single interview - yep he can hack it and yep he's good.

[d000hg]

One client where the manager was completely anal. Things he tried to dictate that everyone (permies included) should do:-

1. Not leave site at lunchtime ("in case I need you urgently")
2. Not park on the road outside the office ("it looks scruffy") even though there were no parking restrictions.
3. Restrict toilet breaks to as little as possible. (I thought this was wind up when he first said it - I just went for 20 min "breaks" to wind him up after this)

Things he'd also do:-
1. If I had a meeting at another site he'd turn up just after to make sure I hadnt gone home (even if the other office was miles out of his way).
2. Got permies to write down the times the contractors turned up for work when he wasnt there.

Only stayed so long because it was local. Took an extension I shouldnt have and regretted it. Luckily, got something else right at the end of that one and left.

The OP asked you to post your worst contract, not your typical contract.

[Ketto]

To be fair I have learned a fair bit in how things can be done to avoid issues such as those .

Care to share?

[Jaws]

Last gig most definitely, more contractor churn than I've seen in a while, quite frequently from hard working / overall good people who might have had an opinion the lead developer didn't like.
I just tried to keep my head down and implemented whatever they desired after running out of energy present simpler approaches in a manner that would not get me out the door. Lead developer was re-writing most people's code, generally in a poor way.
Overall bad atmosphere as this guy rips apart the work of others, not to their face but easily within earshot.
Project over a year late.
Stayed almost 2 years and in the end just didn't renew. To be fair I have learned a fair bit in how things can be done to avoid issues such as those however I should have left much earlier and in future I will. I stayed mostly because I like to see projects through to the end.

[lukemg]

Would be hard to beat phones-****-u, management by screaming at people, 6 people left the first friday, minimum 2 a week after that (out of 60).
Boss's nickname was mad dog, he had apparently been sacked from previous role for bullying, he fitted in well.
Oddly - the ones that caused me more personal trauma were 2 where I had to 'rationalise' current staffing levels - i.e. decide who was toast. (serious sleep loss)
And one where in spite of the realities of the project the programme manager just repeated - but I have told the seniors it will be done by April. (repressed fury pushed me beyond acceptable limits)
I SHOULD have walked off all 4 of these but stayed out of devillment and refusal to accept I couldn't deal.

[vetran]

Borderline Yes or no. Although not much is a no for me these days. Even if it baaaaasssss

apparently the little blue pill works.

[psychocandy]

Yes, but "Borderline" what?

Borderline Yes or no. Although not much is a no for me these days. Even if it baaaaasssss

[psychocandy]

Of course, the worst contractor I had was this Welsh chap. He used to park his vehicle just outside the company offices, We asked him to either respray it or at least park it somewhere else.

He'd often spend upwards of 20 minutes in the gents with a Littlewoods magazine, making grunting noises.
If I had a meeting on another site, he'd arrange one for himself as well. I think he was stalking me.
He had a tendency to long liquid lunches, so we had to insist he eat only in the on-site canteen. His colleagues kepts tabs on his movements- they were running a book with a weekly small prize to whoever could guess, to the nearest hour, how long he'd actually be at his desk.

In the end he just quit and did what he always boasted he'd do. He went on JSA.

Quite funny for you NAT!

[vetran]

My current gig is always the worst one, but my wife won't stand for me being at home all day, so I have to do something to pass the time...

Get a Manshack and live with the faeries - works for me!

[kaiser78]

My current gig is always the worst one, but my wife won't stand for me being at home all day, so I have to do something to pass the time...

[greenlake]

Reminds me of something a mate of mine had at one client. Not me honestly. My mate is a good looking young fella (Im a bit old!).

The PM was a middle aged lady. Borderline by all accounts. They were working late one night and she called him over and she was sat there with skirt hiked up and nothing else on underneath.

Mate made his excuses and left soon after.... Depends on your take but it could have been the best gig ever I guess.

I remember reading about that in the local paper....

[shaunbhoy]

The PM was a middle aged lady. Borderline by all accounts. They were working late one night and she called him over and she was sat there with skirt hiked up and nothing else on underneath.

Yes, but "Borderline" what?

[OwlHoot]

Worst of my contracts was a commuting nightmare, a daily three hour drive each way across London to Brentwood in Essex and back. Sometimes took four hours or more when there were traffic incidents. Only kept it up for a month or two before luckily something else turned up and I could jack it in.

That aside, for medieval grimness of working conditions there was a three month stint at a well-known mobile phone manufacturing company near Crewe (unless there were any even more traumatically awful contracts that I've successfully blanked out, but that seems unlikely).

[Whorty]

Git one gig. Contract was very tight and was specifically to PM Cognos Controller and TM1 implementation from initiation to handover to BAU. Got on site and after 3 weeks the programme manager gave me 3 other projects instead as the other PM they had was not up to those projects. She gave him my two projects as they were easier for him. I explained that my contract was very clear and that had the role been for the other 3 projects I wouldn't have applied. She said as a contractor I should accept whatever projects I was offered. I was on 4 weeks notice and I gave my notice there and then. Ironic thing is, the programme manager (and programme director) were all contractors and yet didn't seem to understand a contract!! You win some you lose some.

The project should have taken max 9 months. Met a TM1 developer recently who knew that project and it was a shambles. After 2 years they hadn't built a final solution and had to resort to bringing in IBM to save the project. Says it all really.

It's contractors like that who give the rest of us a bad name.

[northernladuk]

If he had to make excuses SOON AFTER hardly likely to be the best gig ever.

Indeed. Some random woman flashing her welly tops at me would be enough for me to jack in a decent gig.