What is a reasonable expectation on an overdue web design projects?

Question

In early September we contracted a well known web design firm to design our transactional web site using cold fusion. They are still not done, and are saying it could take another month and a half to finish.

It's was quoted as a low to mid five figure ($$) project, was supposed to take two months, and they keep insisting that it's "simple" .

We run a couple of companies, and have never paid for a web site to be designed, so we don't know how long is acceptable for a web project to be overdue.

Personally, I'm pissed, and am good at raising a stink, but I don't want to jump the gun.

Answer 1

I'm a web designer and a design director, and unfortunately that seems to be common in this industry, (like with building contractors). It is still unacceptable.

If you don't yet have one, you should ask for a timeline with key milestones and deliverables. If they delay from the timeline there should be a good reason to back it up.

Keep in mind that there may have been delays on your side which could have contributed this situation. We count on our clients to meet certain dates to deliver content and design reviews. And we certainly prefer to keep moving quickly through a project -- it is much more cost effective. But when one of our clients delays, we have to move on to other projects. These delays are common as it is hard for a company to write all of the content for a website and make all the decisions that are required. Also, while it is expensive, web design is very time consuming and competitive. We have to book ourselves very solidly and can't devote all of our resources to a single project.

I feel for you, I know it can be very frustrating. But hopefully you will be very happy in a few short weeks.