I really * do * sympathise, Kim, even if I didn't sound sympathetic before. I spent a year working for a publisher (I'm a magazine writer) who didn't understand websites and wouldn't let me run him up a cheap-and-cheerful one for free... he was absolutely convinced that he had to pay someone to make it look flashy, because he thought that everyone was impressed by websites with bells and whistles.

So he hired some raving lunatic who now charges him sixty quid (a hundred dollars) an hour to do the simplest updates. And this lunatic used a program that apparently very few others do because it's so complicated - which means that to take the job away from him would mean a complete re-build.

I think you have one of those awkward cases where the client has to build into the deal a safeguard that the contractor can never be the only one who understands what they're doing... otherwise, they'll have you over a barrel for life.

If you're really stuck with them, make their next job the training of one of your own staff on how to do site maintenance.

Good luck! - Ian B