Clients From Hell - Page 2 of 732 - Horror stories from freelancers

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Jan 13, 20190

Client: I’m making a game, and I need assets for the tutorial.

Me: Sure, send me the wireframes.

Client: What’s a wireframe?

Jan 13, 20190

I got contacted by an on-again, off-again client to design their annual breast cancer benefit tee shirt.

Client: We haven’t been using you for a while since our tee shirt printer guy does our design work for free, but the shirt you did last year was such a huge success and the guy who normally does our designs says your work is on a whole other level, so we really want you to do something unique and knock it out of the park this year.

After getting their thoughts on the general direction of the design, I send them back an eye-catching monochrome vintage tattoo inspired piece that fit with their message of cancer-killing warrior women and the general design brief.

Client: This is perfect! You totally made everything we envisioned come to life! This is seriously amazing! Now can you just put our logo on the back of the shirt?

I swapped the logo colors to match the pantones we selected for the front of the shirt, added a small breast cancer ribbon and sent over the mockups.

Client: On second thought, we really loved our logo on the back of the shirt so much that we think THAT should be the front of the shirt. Can you just simplify the current front design and put that on the back instead?

I managed to simplify the front design to something that still remained true to the spirit of the design and put that on the back. I wasn’t thrilled, but what are you going to do.

Client: We changed our mind again, sorry. Can we put the logo back on the back of the shirt, add a few more breast cancer ribbons to it, and then just put a big breast cancer ribbon on the front of the shirt with a quote about breast cancer and our name? We want this to be a super simple design. Thanks!

In the end, they ended up paying for three separate designs and still went with the ultra-generic tee shirt design that their printer could have come up with for free. I got paid, but I’m still bitter.

Jan 12, 20190

I was hired to write daily blog posts for a company that sells camping gear. Halfway through the project, I received a notification that it was cancelled and the client was demanding a refund for the last five posts.

Me: What seems to be the problem?

Client: I checked your last post and it came back as being plagiarized! I will not use any more of your work!

Me: Well I most definitely did not plagiarize anything. Can you show me what got flagged?

The client sent a screenshot. The offending passage was a step-by-step guide on how to use a map and compass to take bearings. The rest of the article was completely clean.

Me: I didn't plagiarize those steps. They have to be done in that order or the process doesn’t work. Anyone that writes about this topic will have the same steps in the same order. It’s like writing about how to solve an algebraic equation.

Client: I can’t use these! Google will punish me for using plagiarized content. There are plagiarism-checking sites you can pay for – you’re a professional! Use them!

Me: I’m not paying for plagiarism software because I wrote the articles. I didn’t copy/paste anything. Furthermore, with the publishing calendar we laid out, those subscriptions would have cost over $500 which is a third of the project total. If there are specific templates, style guides, or other tools you wish me to use, it is your responsibility to provide them.

At this point, the client began a lengthy rant about how wrong I am. I interrupted him.

Me: Look, you’re not happy with that article. That’s fine. I can provide a refund for just that article. Normally I wouldn’t do that but you’ve been a great client. Will that work for you?

Client: Absolutely not. I demand a full refund for all five articles.

At this point I shrugged and walked away, giving him the full refund. I didn’t think it was worth fighting over.

One week later:

Client: We accidentally deleted our blog and have no backup. Can you send me copies of the articles you wrote?

I sent him all of the ones I actually got paid for.

Client: Can I have those last five, too? I’ll pay you the original contracted amount.

Me: (after a long internal debate on what to say vs. what I’d LIKE to say) Sure. When the check clears, I’ll send them.

It did. I did. The client sent me several emails with happy reaction gifs. WTH?

My question for the writers here: Should we, as the providers, maintain our own accounts with these plagiarism-check sites, or is our clients’ responsibility to make sure our work meets their standards, using whatever methods they choose?

Jan 12, 20190

Contracts that don't tell you what you're agreeing to are totally legal, right?

Jan 11, 20190

I do some freelance illustration work and sometimes take some random commissions online when I have spare time.

Client: Hey there! I was wondering if you could make me some cover-art for my Batman fan-film?

Me: I could do that. What would you need from me?

He proceeded to describe his idea, going into the finest details for each of the over 20 characters he wanted to be portrayed in the illustration.

Me: That sounds like quite a time-consuming project. I was wondering what your budget would be for a piece like this?

Client: Well, I’m currently a little short on money, but if you like, I could make it up by working for you! I could write stories or articles for you, or for your friends! Wouldn’t that be amazing?

He proceeds to send me some of his work, of which resembled the work of an enthusiastic teen discovering fanfiction for the first time while skipping their English classes.

Thanks but no thanks.

Jan 11, 20190

I work as an on-site graphic designer for a real estate company. We design mostly mailers and postcards for the agents to send out to clients but we also put together marketing packets and presentations for them to use with potential sellers or buyers.

One day, I received an email from an agent looking for us to send her a copy of a presentation we’d done for her in the past. After searching for our files, I found she had several variations of past presentations, and then this conversation ensued:

Me: Which presentation were you looking for again?

Client: The one from last year? The custom one?

Me: You actually have several custom presentations from last year. Do you know which one it is?

Client: It’s this one.

The reply had an attached copy of the file she was looking for.

Jan 11, 20190

Hand-coded an HTML email for a client, as you do, and their digital PM sent this, bless her cotton socks: