The best thing to do to avoid crap like this is charge a decent hourly rate and don't let the clock run too long before you get your first check. They will not waste your time.
Oftentimes the people you're working with don't know how much you're being paid (their superiors don't talk to them about how much you're paid because they're afraid members of their team will just want to leave because they think they're underpaid). Those people will still waste your time.
At the end of the billing period, you'll be asked to shave hours because you didn't notify someone higher up that your time was being wasted.
