Warning to freelancers.. Clients from HELL..

 

 This story is incredibly long, but should be shared with all designers, writers or anyone else for that matter. I apologize for the length in advance.

This is my personal experience, in my own words, being my sole opinion only. You are free to make your own judgement, but I cannot be held accountable for your thought process, or actions.)  When otherwise stated, the original author is linked. I do not necessarily agree with any of the opinions expressed in webpages I have linked to in this article.

I am by no means new to the graphic design world. However, I am a newbie when it comes to my own clients. I am a believer that this world is for the most part, good. I believe that most people are honest, as I am, and wouldn’t take advantage of people. How wrong I turned out to be.

Around late November, early December 2009, I was approached online, by a young man to be his full time designer. He had recently decided to start an online health and fitness type business which sells weight loss products, hair loss treatment, skin care products, etc. He was to need roughly 30-40 websites for his products. I was to make constant revisions, which was perfectly acceptable since I was to be paid generously for this.

I was terribly excited as he had managed to convince me that this was going to be a lucrative and prosperous business opportunity. If only you knew how many times he mentioned the phrase “getting in at ground level”. I now know that that phrase is a dead giveaway that the client will most likely try to swindle you. However, I believed him due to his savvy talk and Harvard education.

He was the “go to guy” so I thought. He had told me that the company was owned by someone else, and investors were applying large amounts of money to this project. He had to run everything by these investors, which is quite understandable when you think about the money involved. I would be able to work from home, with the occasional business trip to Philadelphia, (where he resides) or to affiliate programs to speak with investors, etc.

I wrote up a contract (as I have no attorney to do so for me) using online contracts as examples. It was not a bad contract per se, it simply did not cover every issue that would soon arise with this client. Payment was set as follows: 1.) down payment prior to work starting on website 2.) 90 days after down payment – full payment due 3.) 180 days after down payment – large bonus. He and his partner both physically signed the contract and emailed it back to me. In hindsight maybe this payment schedule was not the greatest idea, but I was confident that with a signed contract, no issues would arise with payments. He made his payments (generally late) but he had made them when he said he would. I had no reason at the time to be skeptical.

He was a very demanding client. I had specifically stated in the contract: Business hours are specified as Monday-Friday 9am-5pm CST. Keep in mind that I was not designing one site start to finish, then moving on to the next one, I was however designing 3 websites simultaneously, and making revisions to each website almost daily. He would send emails that said “It is paramount that we make those changes and have them uploaded tonight.” I would receive text messages around 9pm saying that updates need to be made before morning. Here is a direct quote from an email I received at 11:06 pm “Here are even more updates. See how far you can get tonight and finish off the remainder in the morning. Thank you.” I should have put a stop to this in the beginning, but I didn’t want to lose him as a client, as he had previously threatened to do. So yes, you could say that I allowed him to take advantage of me unintentionally. Emails such as this came on a regular basis: Will you please link the “Affiliate Section” to a pop up… Please text me after the update is completed. (Received 12/15/09 at 11:41PM).

Eventually, the late schedule took its toll on me and my family. On December 17^th, around 10am, after working half of the night on yet another set of critical updates, I realized that I had completely neglected my 5 year old daughter. She had just started her first year of school, and was having a Christmas program. Working with this client had consumed me, and I forgot about the program. I felt like a total ass! I sent him the following email:

I was up all night working on the site, and I realized too late that my daughter had her very first Christmas program today, and I missed it. I am neglecting my family responsibilities due to the late nights and work. I have no problem working on the sites at all, but will no longer be available after 5pm CST or on weekends. I have to put my family first, and I know you will understand. I can work throughout most of the daytime hours though, so it shouldn’t pose any problems as far as the work is concerned. I am simply rearranging my schedule. Let me know if this is going to be a problem.

His response: That works out fine so long as we work hard during the week. That was our big problem before, no time to work during the day because of the kids I’d prefer to work during regular business hours.

I sent this to him:

Whenever you get to work each morning, send me a detailed list of updates/to do items for the entire day. Make sure that it is clear enough that I won’t have to call and clarify everything. This will help me to manage my time better since I do have to be away from the house during business hrs sometimes.

Here is his reply:

As you know, much of the work we’re doing is flying by the seat of our pants. We can work with your schedule however much of the design work we need to discuss with you. Just expect that we will pass a lot of work your way…you will get paid well with us. OK?

We will set it up on a 1, 2, 3 basis. After you complete, include the original task 1,2,3 and place under what you did with the task so we can follow up and stay on the same page. This texting and calling was creating a lot of disorder, thank you for your input, it means a lot with us.

OK, so he is getting to the point of nit-picky, but whatever.. I will compromise and send him the list when I have completed them. I put the word “done” in red underneath each one to ensure that I had finished, and sent him the checklist.

His response:

Please resend this to me in the original format with your notations in italics. That way we can organize it better and save time: I.E.

1. Please upload files as you go ….

finished

2. All pages must be .asp when you save them.

Not complete, the reason why…..

Are you serious??? This is blatantly a disregard for any professional relationship, and instead is an undermining way of maintaining control. I complied with a little bit of sarcasm in the “not complete” sections.

I had spoken to the “boss” on a few occasions (via telephone and email), mainly to discuss details of the packaging for one of the products. He seemed to be a very nice guy, and wasn’t near as difficult to deal with as the client himself had been.

All was going OK for awhile (almost a month) and we were rocking right along with the websites. He was happy with my work at this point as per an email from him: “We are on the right track now.. This website is looking great!!!”

I was talking to him via yahoo messenger (which had become our primary method of contact) one night about revisions to the site that “is looking great”. I had completed the layout and some of the coding for the website at this point. After about 3 hours or so of “change this, change that, no I liked it better before”, he drops a bomb on me:

him: it’s coming along (link) looks way better though

At this point I am pissed…

me: OK so what now?

him: well, there’s a way to do something RIGHT and there’s a way to do something somewhat-right and i went with your model on (this site) but it is looking about half right. i am not getting excited about it either are my colleagues so here it is we have the content and boxes and logo what i think we are going to need to do is start from scratch because this is not a site worthy of our network (site 1) and (site 2) are and you need to slow down and get more realistic you are dealing with savvy business men that know exactly what they are doing

After this conversation, I get started on the new design. I huff and puff at my computer, and I cannot imagine the nerve of this man. On January 8^th, I spoke with him on the phone and told him that this was considered a new website, and would be charged as such. I also sent him and his “boss” an email:

Unfortunately I must make a few revisions/clarifications to the contract. We have hit a speed bump that I personally do not wish to cross again during this process..

I was told to create a site similar to: http://www.dermologystretchmark.com/ (This was the link HE provided to me.)

At your request, I created a striped background instead of following the example site. All of the graphics were made as per your specifications. I then get chewed out because the investors are not happy with the design. That was not my fault, and I will not be held responsible for that. I then had to completely start from scratch and scrap a site which was 90% complete. I do not mind creating a different design, but will not do it for free again. We discussed this on the phone.

Our schedules are far too different to work out the entire site, a piece at a time, like we have been. Your time is valuable, as is mine. I have spent countless hours trying to figure out what it is that you want each graphic to look like, where it should be placed etc. I then have to send u one graphic at a time and wait until you have time to check it. This is just as much a waste of your time as it is mine. Please take the necessary time to gather content and images and an example site. This will save us both much time and frustrations.. I cannot begin the project until this is received.

We have tried this “flying by the seat of our pants” deal, and it is not working. If we can stick close to this schedule, we should have no further complications. I have proven in the last 24 hours that this will work. I expect your cooperation in this matter so that we can get the job at hand completed in a timely manner and with as few headaches as humanly possible. We must also set a time each day in which we meet up on yahoo to discuss any and all details prior to going to the next step. Without some sort of game plan or structure, we end up with the cluster **** we have had this week. (No, I didn’t spell out the word, it was sent in asterisks just as it is here).

Sat-Sun: You gather all text, images and other content needed for the site. This includes logo, pricing, terms, links, number of pages with names, and an example site for me to replicate as you did with (site 1) and (site 3) and anything else you need on the site. I will not start the design until this is received nor will I spend hours scouring the Internet for images for you. Make a detailed account of where each image/text is supposed to go so that there is no room for error. I do not want to have to call and clarify every detail.

Mon-Tues: I will create the template including all images and graphics. Once complete I will send you the preview. You will then send back ONE list of changes. I do not need 5 emails to search through. This makes a huge mess, and some updates/revisions may well be forgotten. I will make the changes and send you the preview. This process continues until the design is satisfactory for you, (boss man) AND investors. I will not code and put it on the server until this step has been approved. Once approved there will be no further design changes.

Wed-Thurs: I will start coding the site. I must reiterate: There will be no more design changes made after this. This means the layout of the site and color scheme. However, graphics may be added or removed, if (and only if) the current design/layout allows for it. If you (or anyone with claims to the site) find that you do not like the design after all, I will be happy to create another design, but it will be charged as a new site as per the contract.

Friday: all additional revisions will be made prior to going to the programmers and/or flash guy. The site should be 99.99% finished at this point. Once all changes have been made, I will place the updated files onto the server so that the programmers will be able to get their codes into place.

Sat-Sun: Gather content for next site as per above.

This is a basic time line. I’m sure this may all be completed before Friday. I will be sticking to not working weekends, as I have a family, and they come first. There has to be some time for them. I know you will understand, and we can have a more pleasant, and less stressful working relationship. Not to mention keep everyone else involved happy.

I heard nothing from him for 5 days. On January 13^th, he sends me another “critical update” email, and it was back to business as usual with no mention of the new charge of the new website. January 26^th comes along and I send him a revised contract. Keep in mind in the original contract, I had specified in the contract that I had the right to refuse service at any time, which I exercised at this point. I was not going to create another website for him for nothing.

The next day I sent an email to the “boss” asking if he was going to be sending me a 1099 for tax purposes. He sent a reply saying that he needed my social security number. I think not buddy. I gave him my EIN instead. Never did get the 1099, but claimed the income on my taxes anyway so that I wouldn’t get in trouble with the govt.

January 26^th I asked him (the client) what the game plan was for working on the websites. He told me that his investors had put a halt on working with me until their attorneys had reviewed the new contract, and he was prohibited from speaking to me until they got back with him. In the original contract, I had specifically prohibited the use of 3^rd party persuasion unless agreed upon, which had never been mentioned previously.  I had asked him if we were going to work, or if we were done. Conversaton we had via text message when I asked him where we stood on the contract.

him:jeez we’ll discuss a new contract, the ole one didn’t work

me: How bout I draw up a new one and email it your way? We can negotiate from there.

him: OK, but understand that u are on the verge of getting dumped by my bosses so it better be much more favorable or else there is nothing that i can do. not my money or my business.

him: my final words to u are that the way I’ve won at this game is to take losses.

Are you kidding me? Take losses?? As if this business relationship was working for me… I sent him a breech of contract notice on January 30^th 2010. I had specified exact instances when he had breeched the contract. I had also sent a copy to his “boss”. It outlined, that due to the breech, payment for 3 websites was due and payable immediately.

Total Due Immediately: $9,325.00

The story does not end here… I will post the rest very soon!