Can I undo my work for non-payment?

[Town Tech]

If I setup port forwarding and set a specific lan IP in a customers router that matched all of there static IPs on the devices (also ran network wire through attic and walls) & they didn't pay for any of it, can I undo what I did? By changing the IP back to default? (of course some of their stuff wouldn't work afterwards).

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[symbatech]

Write it off and move on.

 

[britechguy]

@symbatech is correct. Even if you could undo the work, that has the potential to screw your own reputation.

 

[Markverhyden]

You'd be breaking the law. It's illegal, at the State and Federal level, to access a network without permission. There's a reason small claims court is around. To deal with stuff like that.

 

[britechguy]

You'd be breaking the law.

There's that, too. I really don't think a tech (the generic any tech) is any better than a non-paying client if they were to do something as proposed. "Sinking to their level," is not the answer. For myself, I'd feel dirty.

I had something like this happen once during my 14 years in business and, after pursuing it myself repeatedly, I just wrote it off. It wasn't even worth going to the expense (which isn't that much) and time to go the small claims court route. You have to expect a client who is willing to stiff you every once in a blue moon.