Sounds To Go : Your business game plan and pricing policies are seemingly well thought out and probably work for your model nicely and uniquely in your region.
The downside of your posted information is the absence of any concrete details in how your business decisions and pricing policies are spelled out in your contract that would address AMS Albany's dilemma.
The client changed the start time, the client changed the end time, the client never considered or acknowledged those details must be changed according to the signed contract with Tim, and never accordingly contacted him for a change to those details.
If it ain't in the contract, policies and procedures don't mean squat, push come to shove.
Cap, nice to meet you. I've enjoyed your posts since I've been here. Thanks for the feedback, and your kind words. Actually though, the things we are discussing aren't "region specific" at all. You have also given great advise on possible contract modifications above, though I do specify in my contract what I require for setup and teardown times, and this in no way effectes the event time or billing considerations, but only assures me the chance to protect myself in the event that access is not available at a certain time.
It should be a given that start and stop times are included in any performance contract as they are in mine, and as it sounds like they are in yours as well.
Contracts should have the "who, what, when, and where" included in them, and if these are included, complete with start and stop times, it becomes a non-issue and AMS has his bases covered.
So yes, you are right, if it's not in the contract, it don't mean squat, but there shouldn't be a dj around without start and stop times in his contract. Not merely a matter of opinion or personal preference, but just plain ol' common sense from a business standpoint
Just specify in your contract that you're playing, per contract, "from x to y" and how much it will cost the customer outside of those boundaries. This is applicable wherever you might be.
If anyone would like to take a look at my contract, including the terms and conditions, it can be found here:
http://sounds2go.com/Sounds_To_Go_Contract.html
AMS Albany (as well as anyone else), feel free to adopt whatever you like if it will help you avoid these kinds fo situations in the future.
I also notice that there are other opportunities here for AMS Albany as well in the pre-event process. While clients may make changes without consulting or notifying us, there are proactive things we can do to ensure we are not burned by these situations. In this case, for example, while it would be nice if the clients did consult us ahead of time, communicate changes, and ask happily "how much is this change going to cost me," we have to remember that WE are the professionals being hired, and it is implicitly given that we be the proactive ones instead of simply passive. To avoid this exact scenario, for example, I always do a prior-day confirmation call as part of my routine. Simply calling the bride/couple the day before (or a few days before) to confirm my arrival time, setup time, start and end times, etc. will catch this exact thing before it gets out of hand, and gives me the opportunity to discuss any such changes and any appropriate contractual/pricing changes with the client in a neutral environment before the event. This is just one of the many little tricks we learn through experience. We all get bit every now and then, what matters is how well we learn from those things, and how we go about modifying our practices moving forward.
(Sorry, AMS Albany, to refer to you in the third-person here, but I got engaged with Cap in a convo about your situation, and not with you directly... no offense intended.)