client problems

off.the.walls

just thought this would be interesting to see what kind of things people have had to deal with, at the moment im chasing a client for images for around about 3 weeks to finish off a site and also some text to finish it off and get rid of the loreum ipsum that i have taking its place at the moment.

Whats the worst thing you've had to deal with with a client?

Giblet

Changing a website completely, every pixel, and changing the focus of the functionality from brochure site to fully feature eCommerce with integrated SAP data load, trying for the same budget.

uck51js9zml2yt

Did a site for free last year after being approached by a charity. 12 months on and the hosting is about to expire and I still don't have all the content.
Gave them one last chance this week and still no response.
The only thing I'm thankful for is that I charged them to cover my expenses.

13 days to go

M.T.D

Clients can be a great source of entertainment or frustration.
Getting a decent sized deposit before work commences helps keep them focused, but not always.
One site recently, even with a €500 deposit it took months to get the "content", ended up writing it ourselves, feedback from client complementary, but slow, and inadequate. So we invoiced the client anyway, we have been paid in full but are still awaiting confirmation of the content we wrote and several pages still missing. So don't be surprised at anything.
You have to set up hosting and buy the domain (in their name of course), do the design etc. so always get a deposit, and if the client's attention wanders at least you are covered.

Feathers

It was always something that I was unsure of how 'strict' I could be with small clients when doing freelance.

I've gotten quotes for print design/layout work before that stated they would provide one round of changes free, after which all changes would be charged at a full hourly rate (unless they were their mistakes, which would be done for free). I couldn't imagine many people I was dealing with at the time going for it, but maybe I just didn't have to confidence to stick to it. I think part of the trouble is that it was hard to get a feeling for what was 'standard practice' among designers/developers.

Again with content, it costs you to sit on a project awaiting content forever (as you're going to limit the amount of projects you have in the pipeline), but what would be the best clause to state that in a contract? After a certain time you'll put it live without it?

I think it would really help young developers/design shops to have a professional body in the web industry. I think if you had a boilerplate contract that you knew was being used across industry, would really help push your case & let the client know that things like copy-writing don't just come for free.

OctavarIan

Anyone who is freelancing and getting dicked around by clients, watch this video.