[OldSchoolDSL]

Originally Posted by Paul M

That principle might hold for a tiny project, but not for $3,500, no way should you ever have agreed to that.

The project should have agreed milestones, each representing working features, and payments made and code exchanged for each installment. Indeed, for a project that size I would probably insist on code being checked into something like a shared svn repositry. If either breaks the agreement, you have what you have paid for so far, and they have been paid for the work they have done so far.

Unfortunately, none of this helps you, but hopefully others will learn from it.

This is the first time I ever opt-in to to go hire someone online (beyond just small task under $20). Live and learn.