I fired a client one time because they screamed at me over the phone for "screwing up" a revision they'd asked for and totally miscommunicated.
I was at a major design conference the next year and noticed their name on a panel - they were discussing "how to build strong relationships with employees and contractors."
I actually attended for five minutes to confirm they weren't saying "here are my mistakes, learn from them." Nope! They just acted like a cool-boss guru type.
I was recently hired on contract to do blog content for a company. I'd met with a number of contacts at the company who were all lovely, had a sense of the work I was doing, and ready to help me do a great job for them.
Then I met with the department head. I was initially hired by the marketing manager, who was great, but she was the director of communications and had stepped in to demand that she be my contact.
The meeting was a lot.
Me: Nice to meet you!
Client: So what do you have planned?
Me: Oh, here's what I was thinking.
I described the content strategy I'd developed in conversation with my previous contact.
Client: No.
Me: No?
Client: We're not doing that. We're doing this.
She laid out an entirely different marketing campaign on social media, implying that I would be taking photos and editing image macros - things that I don't really do.
Client: I've had arguments about this with [marketing manager] and I expect you to do what I say. I'm his boss, so now I'm your boss. This is the plan.
1) You're not my boss - you're my client. There is a difference. 2) Not for long. Clearly this whole situation is toxic and I'm going to get myself out as soon as I can.
I was hired by a psychotherapy firm to create a website. Now, weeks later, they still don't agree with each other on the colors, fonts, layout and animations we approved before. Eight versions later and we are still debating if the Facebook icon on the right or left properly conveys all society's mental health political issues or something like that.
The whole process was so terrible that now I feel like I need therapy. Just not from these people.
I work for a small agency that designs and builds budget home recording studios. Part of our value offer is that we do the design and costing, help them with the initial build and let them do the painting and finishing themselves to save some money through sweat equity.
Most jobs come from word of mouth and a new enquiry came in. Clearly the guy had lofty aims and my spider sense tingled when he mentioned they were getting external funding so they could get young people involved in music. I'm pretty experienced in this and was at one point a college teacher, and the way he was talking about this opportunity seemed... flimsy.
The red flags kept coming. He disagreed with virtually everything I said, rejecting all my ideas and setting aside things that NEEDED to be done. A badly designed space is not a big deal, but he also did this for safety concerns - a load of people in a soundproof space, with no windows means you need a proper fire alarm system. But apparently, nope, not needed.
He continued to reject every minimum requirement I laid down, from electrical conduits to ceiling height to room layout. I requested a properly detailed plan with real measurements, and he sent me a sketch done in Microsoft paint. At one point I asked for the specification of the floor slab. His response?
Client: Yes, there will be one.
After a week of this, the client asked me to produce a highly detailed cost breakdown for the job, even though he still hadn't given me all the specifications. The most detailed breakdown I can give is '$0,' because I'm not doing it.
I had a client who was the total "from hell" package. Rude, demanding, unable or unwilling to understand basic concepts or explanations. But the worst thing? They referred to their employees as "minions." But the worst worst things? They made office Minions memes about their employees.
I fired them awhile ago, but I still think about them way more often than I'd like.
A woman and her husband (who I have to say was dressed in a cowboy hat) came in the framing store I run.
Client: Can you cut this piece of art down? The mat around it is too big.
It was a signed and numbered work.
Me: While I could, I'd try to convince you not to. The artist intended it to look this way and it would detract from the value of the p-
Client: (interrupting) Nope. We're done here.
She turned 180 and walked out. Her cowboy husband quickly followed.
I've been working with a client remotely since COVID started. I hadn't heard from them in a bit but they reached out to schedule a meeting.
Client: Sorry I haven't been in touch!
Me: Oh that's no problem.
Client: I've been away on vacation!
Turns out, they decided to "get away from it all" and went on a road trip to a nearby city "for a change of pace." During the pandemic.
Next time they say "would you mind coming in to the office," my answer is going to be NO.
My first job as an "assistant" was helping a colleague of my former high school teacher. He was a man in his fifties, recently kicked out of his desk job trying to start a company that teaches business administration courses. He styled himself as a "tech and business guru" despite not knowing much about either as far as I could tell. He didn't even know how to use Office.
I was still wet behind the ears, so I put up with a lot of things that I shouldn't have. Years later I would come to realize he was the worst client I've ever had.
Client: Can you enter all the data of my courses from in this Teachable account?
Huge red flag. All of the more than 150 "courses" were articles stolen from other sources. I refused, but he still got someone to do it for him. Another time he asked me to design all his course .ppt files.
Client: Everything you need is in the files.
It was fifty .pptx of about a hundred slides per file. Most of them just were blank slides with huge Calibri text boxes with "ADD PHOTOS FROM THIS SITE" or "DESIGN GRAPH FROM THIS WORD FILE."
He never replied to my e-mails when I wanted to ask for more details about the design but when he needed some extra revisions he would write multiple e-mails with "hey buddy" until I called him.
Client: I love your design, but could you add more of "your magic" to it
Me: What kind of changes are you referring specifically to? What did not meet your expectations?
Client: I leave it to you to decide, you are the expert.
His "academy" flopped after a year. Turns out, he didn't bother to prepare a marketing plan. Some expert.
i was in a design brief meeting with a client. I listened to their needs and their ideas and felt there were some elements that I could be improved based in what they were telling me.
Me: What I would suggest is...
Client: I'm sorry, we're not looking for suggestions. You have your brief. Get to work.
Rude. Whatever, I thought, I'll just do exactly what they specified and they'll be happy.
Me: Here it is.
Client: We feel there could be done improvements.
You think!?
Me: Okay, with your approval, that's job done!
Client: Excuse me? The job's not done until I say it's done.
Me: I mean, I know that. I said "with your approval." I can do revisions if you want.
Client: No, it's done. Just watch yourself.
???