As consultants and developers for hire we often don’t get to put our name in a product we work on. Sometimes we are not even allowed to reference the client or even mention that we were even part of the development effort. That’s part of the job description, and I’m ok with that.
What’s not ok is when people try to take credit for work they didn’t do.
Recently I’ve been contacted by several companies trying to sell their iPhone development services to me. I’m not interested in outsourcing the core of my business to another company, but I sometimes play along just to hear their pitch. One of the first things I ask for is references. What apps, available on the App Store, have you developed?
Here’s how the conversation went with the Business Development Manager at a company called Backfire Solutions:
– In the document with references that Alexa Shame sent me, you list an app called Curious George. Can you tell me what your company’s role was on this project?
– Full lifecycle development.
– Very interesting. What would you say if I told you that a colleague of mine developed this app?
– That is very strange because we developed that app.
– I’m looking at the source code for the app on my computer screen right now and I see my colleague’s name in the headers, but not yours.
– Uhmm. Please hold a minute, let me talk to my project manager. [Typing furiously, presumably in an IM window.] Actually, we just did some image work for that app.
– So not really any full lifecycle development?
– No. And actually we’re not really allowed to reference this client. Please do not talk to them about this. Is it ok if we sign an NDA now?
– Let me get this straight: You claim to have developed apps that you didn’t, you provide client references that are not really references, and you share client confidential information when soliciting new business. Did I miss anything?
– Uhmm.
– Good bye.
As a developer I get really upset when people claim that they have written code that they clearly had nothing to do with. But I’m not a spiteful person so I was going to let this go. That was until Backfire Solutions called us a second time! This time it was a colleague of mine that took the call, and they launched into a similar sales pitch. This is how you end up on the iPhone Developer Wall of Shame.
The next story comes courtesy of Rutabaga Makeincident at As*h**e Designs. He claims his 11 programmers are “are sort of expert in IPhone”. When asked for references he sent over a list of iPhone apps that included Twitterific.
– Twitterific? Really?!
– No reply.
Repeated attempts to clarify their role in the development of Twitterific were met with silence. I assume that they realized that their bluff had been called and they were busy working their next lead — one that hopefully would not question their references.
How do these companies think they can get away with such blatant lies? My guess is that they don’t realize how small and tight the iPhone development community in the U.S. is. I’m probably not more than two or three degrees of separation away from any professional iPhone developer based in this country. So if I don’t directly know the developer of an app, chances are that I know somebody who does. Within a great community like this, it’s very easy to verify who actually developed an app.
I know I’m not alone in getting these solicitations. Please share your stories in the comments.
Update 11/22/2010: Mr. Rutabaga Makeincident has contacted me with a “Concern” about what I wrote about him and his company in this blog post. This of course made me concerned too, and I offered to immediately correct anything that was factually incorrect in what I have written. After further conversation it turns out that there wasn’t really anything wrong with what I wrote, he just wanted his name removed from this web page.
Mr. Rutabaga furthermore said that his prior fraudulent claims about his company’s credentials was a mistake, and he profusely apologized. I think we can all agree that lying to potential customers is a big mistake, and I offered to publish his apology. From there the conversation degenerated into threats, culminating with “YOU HAVE TO PAY US FOR THIS 1000 USD FOR SPOIL REPUTATION”. It wasn’t sent with letters cut out from a newspaper, but I guess this is as close as you can get to a ransom note via email.
To be clear: I have no experience with, or knowledge of the quality of the work performed by the companies mentioned here, and I make no such claims. (In fact there are comments below from apparent clients who have had success in working with with them.) I have merely reported the sales tactics these companies use with potential new clients, based on actual conversations that these companies initiated with me and my company.
Update 11/23/2010: I have been advised that giving in to extortionists demands is actually a good thing. My point with this post was to expose shady business practices in our industry, not necessarily hanging out the bad guys to rot. Therefore the names above have been altered to protect the not so innocent.
written by Nick