OT: Just Ranting (so dont read unless you always find yourself in the same position)

But ultimately, clients have the right to change their mind. They also have the right to make really bad decisions.

I don't mind clients changing their mind, far from it. I just don't want the hassle and stress of working with a payment system I'm not familar with that's why a proposal was written and agreed in the first instance. If the proposal then changes it may mean seeking alternative suppliers who are more familar with the payment system or are willing to invest time learning a workflow that they may probably never use again.

Quite a lot or payment gateways are goofy, ie restricting the number of characters that one can pass to the gateway page etc. In the past I've explored some which don't show every item the customer has purchased now that must be hugely confusing. Paypal provides quite a lot of form fields which can be used to pass quite a lot of information. Some purchases don't just require a few lines of descriptive text and a price, they require more details information that needs to be sent to the client. Paypal Its not perfect by any means but I've yet to find one that is simpler to set up and use.

If it were a matter of some simple pay buttons then it could probably be done but I have to consider a bespoke cart is being used, the information all comes from a database and that database needs updating after the payment has gone through.

What I am about to say is mainly directed at myself. My emotions usually take hold in cases as you describe which would lead me to react irrationally

True, I need to take a step back and look at the situation.

What I should do is get in touch with the payment gateway and ask for their assistance to code the system. After all, it is in their interests that their gateway be used. You may find it super easy to implement and you can hold your head high when facing your customer.

Again true but usually I find you could spend copious amounts of hours on the phone, waiting to get through, told to raise a support ticket only to be told consult our manuals. Back to square one. Although I'd obviously like to be able to incorporate everything I'm requested to its an impossible task these days given there are so many options.

I think the options on the table here are:

1) Client rethinks and reverts back to using Paypal

2) Client consults another develeper leading to additional expenses.

I don't know which option will win.

Os, I think you have every right to explain politely and professionally that you do not have the extra time required to rebuild the site with the new payment gateway at the expense of your other clients and just hand off the finished site you contracted to build--and BTW here is my invoice for the balance of those services.

Thanks man, that was my thoughts really, I've done my bit as outlined in the contract. The website is being produced through a third party agency so I have explained diplomatically (that can be hard for me ) to them the situation. They have emailed their client and basically said what you have written. I'll see what the response is.

Past experience has told me to avoid that which you dont know as I usually end up regretting taking onboard something when you are out of your depth of knowledge. Its not possible to know everything so I have now isolated areas/workflows of where I believe my expertise lies and try and align those to the jobs I get asked to do. Unfortunatlely I have to turn quite an amount down because it doesn't suit my workflow.

Os