Ask HN: Question on situation

As long as the end result is what you paid for, does it really matter if they employ trained professionals, or monkeys with notepad.exe?

An alternative to firing them might have been to re-negotiate their fees based on the less known designer, or to defer payment until the job was finished to your satisfaction.

But given the breach of trust, I don't think canceling the contract was out of line. Especially if staying with them would require extra oversight and heartburn.

The same thing has happened to me and I didn't know until after the project was over. In the end, as long as your happy with the design it shouldn't matter who worked on it. That being said, stopping the project is def. within your rights since you're the client :)

The thing about design firms that have a very distinctive look is that they have probably taken the time to refine and largely automate the design process (Photoshop actions, etc.) Take for example Metalab (which I would guess is who you hired, as they immediately came to mind as fitting this mold): all their work looks nearly exactly the same; I can spot one of their sites on first glance. When you have as refined a style and spec as they do, you can probably get freelancers to make you designs which conform to the spec pretty well.

The bottom line is that companies like them (not saying they do this because I don't know, but it's as good an example as any) don't make money by doing crappy work; they make it by sticking to a token style. If they can get somebody to duplicate that style using their tools and guidance for cheaper than they pay employees, why wouldn't they? You get what you wanted and they make more money -- everybody wins.

You're entitled to react however you like, obviously. If you wanted a staff member and would feel unsafe about using a freelancer, that's your prerogative. My point is simply that the company probably arranges it such that it doesn't matter in the long run (except to their profit margin).

When you do contracts next time, include a clause that says subcontractors aren't allowed without prior approval. That's standard in the industry I work in, and subcontractors are a fact of life here.

Meanwhile, it doesn't matter who's right and who's wrong. It is a sensible business decision to work with firms who will staff projects predictably and, preferably, with their own people. There are enough good web design firms in the world that you shouldn't be compromising.

In some cases, you might benefit from being staffed with a sub; maybe the sub was a former partner, or a rock star they're actively trying to recruit onto the team. In those cases, that benefit should have been sold to you at project start. The fact that you didn't even know who would be working on the project until it kicked off tells me you could find a better firm to work with.

I think you probably overreacted. Why don't you trust the professional designers to choose their employees? What does the employee's tax status have to do with the designs they deliver?

If you want quality guarantees, make those.

If you want a certain style, specify that.

Otherwise, calm down, breath easy, and be aware that companies sometimes hire people. Actually, that's pretty much the definitive factor between hiring a company and hiring a freelancer: The company is made up of multiple people, some of which you may not know.