I paint murals but work part-time in a skate shop so that I can still turn down creative work that I don't want to do. One of the other staff in the store left me a note about a customer who wanted a logo designed and had left their number. I don't design logos so I didn't follow up on it. 

I phoned a customer who had special ordered some skateboard hardware. After discussing the hardware, this happened:

Client: Are you the artist?

Me: Yeah, probably.

Client: I have been trying to get hold of you for THREE MONTHS. I've left countless messages at the shop and they said they would leave you a note.

Me: What was it regarding?

Client: I need a logo designed.

Me: Right, I saw that note. It said to contact you if I was interestd, but I don't really do logos so I wasn't interested. 

Client: I need a hand-drawn logo of a monkey...

Me: (interrupting) I'm sorry but I don't design logos.

Client: Well if you LISTEN to what I WANT then you can tell me if you know anyone who can do it.

Because I was representing the shop I was polite and listened to the end. He was aggressive and condescending the whole time. 

I said I would let him know if I thought of anyone. But I don't think I dislike anyone enough to give them his phone number. 

Me: Good afternoon, according to the ticket placed you cannot load the website, I will need control of your PC for a few minutes, is that okay?

Client: Yes, thank you.

The client continued to work, typing responses to emails. 

Me: Uh, for me to do this I will need to have full control of the PC, without your input. We cannot both use the PC at the same time. Would you like me to connect again later? 

Client: No, it's OK.

And yet they kept opening and closing emails for the next two minutes.

Me: It's a quick job - I just need you to stop typing and using the mouse so I can get it done. 

At this point the client "accidentally" (?) disconnected the TeamViewer session.

Me: Please watch the entire video very carefully, as multiple revisions slow down the process considerably. Export times can run very long, so please ensure everything is correct.

Client: Looks great! Approved!

Me: Great, we will get everything rolling.

12 hours later...

Client: Hey, I just noticed...

*Head goes through desk*

In a meeting with an attorney who expressed interest in my website development skills as a freelancer, the attorney wanted to know more about my skills and experience.

Client: So, where did you learn web development?

Me: I took online classes and created websites as a hobby, and now it’s my main interest. I do a lot of freelance work.

Client: So you do a lot of freelance work. Are you like a starving artist or something?

Me: Well, freelancing has allowed me to learn a lot of my skills, and work on a variety of projects. It's going pretty well. 

Client: I mean - why don’t you get a career planner? (he said incredulously)

I guess some people think having a strictly linear career path is the only means to success. 

As a freelancer working with a home improvement business, I was tasked with working with various departments on communications projects. I noticed there were constantly changing “rules” about what people needed to do to provide customer service and meet different department needs.

Throughout the course of a couple of weeks, I learned about tons of ways people had to “check” with each other in order to schedule and document projects - since different people had different ideas about how things should be done. Assumptions, accusations, and customer complaints were common.

The team leader who had been there awhile barely knew how the computer system worked that the team relied on to schedule projects, so he was of little help.

Here’s an example of just one of the many frustrating conversations I had with the client's staff:

Me: Have you followed up on this customer concern that I sent you an e-mail about a few days ago? The customer called again to follow up and said she hadn’t heard from anyone.

I received a jumbled, confused response:

Client: The customer should know better than to ask about that, I mean, it's complicated. 

Me: Okay...

Then, someone from the office rushed over to my desk to further explain the issue without any resolution, looking alarmed and angry. I e-mailed the associate again to gain further clarification.

Me: Are you going to call the customer, then?

Client: I KNOW HOW TO DO MY JOB!

I might also add that yelling, high-pressure drama, and offensive language was common at this office. I left shortly after.

I work for a small company where the boss went on vacation for a week.  He left me with a months worth of projects to complete in that time with the expectation, "see what you can get done in a week."  Seemed reasonable.  This week he came back.

Me: How was your vacation?

Client: Good.  How was yours?

Me: ...um, I wasn't on vacation.  I was here working on projects.

Client: Well... let's face it.  When I'm not here, nothing gets done.  Unless you got everything I left you with finished, then you were pretty much on vacation.

Later in the day he dropped hints about removing "some" holidays and/or vacation time to accommodate the "lack of work that got done while he was gone."

My first internship in software development involved creating a blueprint drawing application for an industrial society. I invested 600 paid hours on this project, without ever having a chance to speak with the client directly. I guessed they didn't bother since the project was mostly government-funded.

At the end of my internship, my boss, another employee and I visited the client at their factory, which meant spending seven hours in a car that day.

After fifteen minutes, the manager left my presentation, and by the time I was done answering questions for the three people who stayed, it was clear they were not involved in this project at all and were there just so there would be someone to listen to the presentation while their boss had better things to do.

They hired two more interns to work on that app after I left. It must have cost 50k to develop by now. I'm certain it will never be used by anyone.

I'm a social media expert & strategist; the client asked for specific assets to promote/showcase their products. We agreed on a strategy.

Client: Cool, these are the best proposal ever. Let's start with strategy 1. Can you put in action in a week?

I sent them detailed planning, and their only input was to decide which product goes first. I pinged them twice.

Client: Well, seems like you're not doing the job. We've been waiting a week.

Me: I've sent you emails here and here to have your input.

Client: (angry) No way, we never got your emails.

Me: I can prove emails were sent, received and read as I have the receipt.

Client: Who the hell did you send them to? We didn't get those emails, and we don't use that email address, so either you're lying and didn't do the job or you just sent our campaign to a stranger. Either way, you're incompetent. 

I didn't respond right away because that was a lot to deal with. Two hours later:

Client: Uh well, we think we'll go for strategy A. Good job on these!

I guess they found my emails. 

I met with a woman at her home to discuss working with her to sell merchandise online. When I arrived, I interviewed with her in her garage where we would work - surrounded by boxes and random products from her line.

Her jewelry and clothing line that had gone through various rocky changes over the years. She was looking to amp up her social media and online sales.

Me: So, what’s led you to hire someone now for this freelance role?

Client: Well, my business created a large amount of jewelry and clothing items for media and trade show events, but it didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to. So now, I have tons of merchandise in warehouses. I’m looking for someone to help me sell the items pretty quickly online.

The products looked like any number of fashion items one could find in stores online or in person.

Me: How are your sales doing on your website?

Client: I’m only selling a couple hundred dollars or so of items a month on my website. Most of my partnerships and PR efforts didn’t create the long-lasting results the way I had hoped.

Me: Hm. Well, how many more items are you looking to sell quickly?

Client: Many many thousands of dollars worth. My business produced mass quantities. The large warehouse bills are adding up quickly and I don’t want to hold on to the items much longer.

She came across as sullen and angry. This seemed like it could easily be a disaster. I didn’t end up working with her.

Two years later, I noticed online that she hadn’t made much progress in her online goals and she was still trying to sell her old merchandise. This could be a long haul - or a liquidation of products (whichever comes first).