That co-working space in Austin burned me hard on a referral fee

I was at a 'networking mixer' at that big co-working spot on Rainey Street in Austin last month. A guy I met there asked if I knew any web devs for his e-commerce site, so I referred a friend who does solid work for $3,500. The co-working space took 15% of the deal as a 'finder's fee' even though I never signed anything with them. I only found out when my friend mentioned a charge he had to pay before they'd let him in for meetings. They slipped it into the terms when I got my day pass just to walk around the space. Has anyone else gotten hit with hidden fees from these networking hubs?

2 comments

2 Comments

rosed328d ago

Wait, did they even tell you about that fee upfront or did you just find out the hard way like I did at a similar spot in Dallas? I had the same thing happen at a place called The Collective here and it turned out they buried it in the fine print of their visitor waiver. After that I started taking a photo of every paper I sign with my phone and reading the terms before I hand it back. Now I just tell people to meet me at a coffee shop instead if a referral might come up, saves the headache.

nina_lane167d ago

Actually, just to be clear, a 15% referral fee from a $3,500 project would be $525, not $5250. Easy math mistake but those hidden fees sting no matter the amount. For future reference, most coworking spaces here in Texas have to post their fee structure somewhere, even if it's buried in the fine print you mentioned.