Question on situation
tptacek: Yes. Fire them.When you do contracts next time, include a clause that says subcontractors aren't allowed without prior approval. That's standard in the industry I work in, and subcontractors are a fact of life here.Meanwhile, it doesn't matter who's right and who's wrong. It is a sensible business decision to work with firms who will staff projects predictably and, preferably, with their own people. There are enough good web design firms in the world that you shouldn't be compromising.In some cases, you might benefit from being staffed with a sub; maybe the sub was a former partner, or a rock star they're actively trying to recruit onto the team. In those cases, that benefit should have been sold to you at project start. The fact that you didn't even know who would be working on the project until it kicked off tells me you could find a better firm to work with.