"That's great that you're helping [client]. Because I host his site on my personal account with my website and dozens of others, I can't give you ftp access or password, but I can send you his files for editing."
Excuse me? That's what my client's service provider emailed me today when I asked for the login details for his site. I would like to say, "after I scraped up my jaw from the keyboard..." but I actually wasn't that surprised.
My client is like a lot of people, a self-employed provider of specialized services, in need of a very simple website. One was sold to him six years ago, less than a half dozen pages, and his own URL. He has been paying this service provider for "hosting" all this time. I say "hosting" because I don't consider the service he's getting to be hosting, but it does explain why he doesn't have an email address in the form of me@mycompany.com.
My client is without a doubt a very talented practitioner in his field. He's not an expert in the internet. But that doesn't mean he should be paying full price for half-baked and incomplete service package.
The provider's solution is untenable, laughable: I send them the modified files! I gave [client] some alternatives: we can find a real ISP for him and try to get the URL moved (I suspect there will be some heel-dragging on the part of the old provider); get another URL for the time being, until ownership of the old one can be sorted out; or persuade the existing service provider to figure out how to provide the services that are due my client. In any case, fighting this fight wasn't included in my estimate, is a colossal waste of my time and [client]'s money.
What's the lesson in all this for me? To remember to educate the client on what I'm offering, and be explicit about the limits my services and capabilities. It's my responsibility to them, and to myself. Otherwise, I won't sleep at night.
