I was a bit surprised to find this thread as this is a different to my experience of Waindigo.
I have carefully read ibaker's post and the attached record of conversations. This is what I found.
The roots of the problems lie in the early communication, before work began or in the first stage.
A major disagreement is whether the job was estimated or quoted.
ibaker says in his post that it was quoted, that is, Waindigo gave a fixed price.
But in the text file Waindigo says:
this should be something that I can do in around 4-5 hours. My hourly rate is £40 per hour, although I do offer a 10% discount for anything paid in advance.
As discussed, the cost will be £180, which is a prepayment for 5 hours work, but also covers you if the actual number of hours is different by 10% (so it's actually a prepayment for up to 5 1/2 hours).
Waindigo only states that the work “should be” possible in 4-5 hours. In the second statement he speaks clearly of a prepayment for 5 hours work.
This is therefore an estimate not a fixed quote.
It would have been better to have used the term "estimate" but to anyone at all used to business, which ibaker clearly is, this is obviously an estimate, and an offer of 5 hours work which "should be" enough.
ibaker in his post is very contemptuous of the first draft done.
However that is not his reaction in the log.
So, there is some more work to do to get it the same as the vb version that I gave you but a great start thus far...well done Mate!
The Paypal issue is a tricky one. Some coders I know on this site do ask for personal payment to protect against unfair cancellation. It;s up to the client whether they choose to accept the recommendation or not.
IMPORTANT From the log ibaker accepted the method of payment so has no position to complain of it later.
MORE IMPORTANT any complaint to Paypal by ibaker or anyone else would bring serious trouble for ibaker. (His Paypal address is now public.)
Waindigo can be seen as at fault together with others like him, for suggesting this method on record.
But the person who commits fraud is the person who makes the payment in this way - the client.
Waindigo says in his terms (text file)
You agree to accept any design decisions that I make, provided they meet your requirements.
This later caused immense trouble. The way it is stated here is unclear as it sounds like the client gets it looking the way they want it, only the coding is different on backend.
But Waindigo means more: he is trying to protect his integrity as a designer. A difficult area that needs to be clearer at the outset.
Waindigo is not happy about the quantity of features and comments that ibaker's request to use the new google API will add to costs.
I was hoping you weren't so bothered about some of those things. It is likely that the project is going to overrun the initial estimate slightly, mainly due to unexpectedly having to upgrade the Google API. I won't be charging you for the entire time I've spent having to learn this though.
There was then a misunderstanding because Waindigo said he would not charge for the extra time it would need to learn this new system. ibaker thought he said he WOULD charge for this time. Waindigo confirmed what he had originally said - that he was NOT charging for it, but damage was done.
Waindigo refers to distributing the addon himself (ownership)
At a later date, I may replace these parts in order that I can release the add-on publicly, but right now I have no plans to do so (unless you wish to pay for this also).
This is a definite statement of ownership. ibaker appears to accept this as he does not object.
However this seems to be an area which had NOT been clearly stated and understood by both sides at the start. A coder shuld always state this issue clearly AND a client should always ask and check it, if it is not stated. Neither side weer clear enough about this and it caused bad feeling later.
Later on there is argument based on the misunderstanding on a Waindigo estimate or quote. ibaker wants the job done within the original estimate. Waindigo says it can't be done "mainly because of the google API" and willl not continue without more payment.
Both get puffed up and boast of professional status, long years of experience etc. It goes downhill badly.