Client Madness Part 2: More Freelance Horror Stories

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In March, I published Client Madness Part 1, a collection of stories from different freelancers about a particularly horrifying experience they had with a client. I thought I might have trouble finding enough stories to fill all that screen space, but surprisingly, I received more responses than I knew what to do with.

It turns out that almost every freelancer has a horror story of their own, so to honor their struggle (and e-shame their monstrous clients), may I present Client Madness Part 2, the SCREAMQUEL!

Ryan Achtman

Trade: Freelance graphic designer

In the fall of 2015, I was contacted by a restaurant owner from my hometown to rebrand her business. My aunt and uncle have been loyal customers of hers for years, and I happened to go to high school and college with her niece.

It’s always a risk when working with a personal connection. Sometimes it results in fabulous teamwork. Other times--as it did in this case--it results in unrealistic expectations.

As a freelance designer, I have struggled with the money conversation. I don't ever want to be greedy or money-hungry, but I also have a life to sustain. So as I do with all branding clients, I sent the owner an estimate sheet that broke down the project into its components: Logo, print media, site, photography, etc. Immediately, I was told that I was overpriced (meanwhile, I had clients telling me that I was underpriced). Because of the personal connections we shared--and this was my mistake--I agreed to create the lady's logo for $350 (originally estimated at $600). She agreed to the rest of the pricing.

It pains me that the origin of our disagreements revolved around money, but I soon understood that ageism was another factor at play.

When I was home for Thanksgiving, I agreed to come into her shop to photograph her salads for her new website. On the eve of--and this was 1.5 months into the project--I asked her to pay me 50 percent for the logo and site work, and 100 percent for the photography while we would be together.

Her response shocked me. She thought I was going to do the photography for free (and called me a liar), and refused to pay the 50 percent until everything was completed. I told her to look at the estimate sheet, which clearly states photography as a separate expense. She agreed that she misread the estimate.

When I told her that 50 percent upfront is a standard practice for businesses, she told me that I am young and need to "prove myself" to be considered a true business. I have been a designer for several years, and although I am the age of her niece, I have been an artist my entire life. This continued into a long argument via text message, in which statements such as, "Being Shayna's aunt doesn't count for much" and "I honestly think this would have been a lasting relationship" were thrown towards me.

I was torn in two directions: guilt and anger. One side of me did not want to cause tension between her and my family or myself and her niece. The other side of me was all Millennial-fired-up. My friends assured me that if I were older, I would not be treated to this way. I therefore held my ground, and labeled her an ageist.

There is certainly more to the story, but it ended two months later with me providing a logo that had gone through 15 rounds of revisions and was still not “complete” for the agreed-on price of $350. We did not continue with the rest of the branding.

My takeaway was two-fold: Set clear expectations from the first conversation, and do not budge on price or beliefs unless you are absolutely certain that you will be valued and appreciated.

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