Want to see more client horror stories?
Visit NARClient: “I need the number for Jack. Can you give me his number, please?”
Me: “Jack? Jack who?”
Client: “The manual for the modem said that I need to connect to Jack, so if you could give me his number, then I can connect with him.”
(Source: notalwaysright.com)
I work as dispatch for a trucking company. One of my duties is to provide the closest truck driver for shipment. I get a call from a customer.
Customer: We can pay [generous amount] for this shipment, can you please check with your driver if that will be enough for him?”
I ask the driver:
Driver: “Yes, lock it down!”
Customer: “Alright, send your driver to the address.”
When the driver arrives at the address, he needs to wait for a couple of hours because they “made a mistake” with the paperwork. After asking them when they will be ready, only at the end do they tell him they sent their shipment with another courier for less money, and they didn’t even contact us. The driver tells me this and I call them asking for an explanation. They only said “sorry “and hung up.
Related:
Absolutely Trucking Mad, Part 4
Absolutely Trucking Mad, Part 3
Absolutely Trucking Mad, Part 2
Absolutely Trucking Mad
A client wants his dissertation laid out for print. It’s a pretty complicated task; it has tons of special characters and specific formatting, so I have lots of trouble with fixing all the little fails in the document.
One step before I am finished (and have already have been paid a fixed price – stupid me!), the publishers find out the author hasn’t even read the annotations of the second reviewer and it has almost a thousand mistakes left in the document that he just ignored. At this point, I have already worked hours for free just to finish this project.
The publishers and I tell him to give me the list with the mistakes, so I can fix them in the fragile, complicated, easy-to-destroy document. He refuses. We try to convince him for weeks. He refuses. We tell him if he does it himself, it will be more work for him, me, and the publishers and will result in a worse-looking book. He refuses.
Client: “I’ll pay 100 extra euros.”
Me: “That’s not even enough for three hours of work, and I will need eight to ten hours to fix what you will be ruining.”
The client goes on with doing whatever he’s doing and ignores me. When I get his document back, it will be h*** for almost no pay. Why can’t they just listen to the professionals?
(Source: notalwaysright.com)
I work as a graphic designer at a sign shop that makes, well, signs. We also do some car decals and wraps from time to time, but mainly it’s large format signs, banners, channel letters, and so on.
This time it’s a client for some truck decals. They come in and we take measurements and photos of the existing graphics. They want the same exact decals that are there but larger, so that’s what I set up in a proof, set up pricing, and send it over to them. They approve the proof in the portal, which is time-stamped with his email showing it was approved and paid and everything. Seems like an easy job and super simple to do.
Fast forward to when I email him to get scheduled for installation. I tell them the decals are ready and list the dates for installation. They pick a date and time and we get them on the schedule. All of this is through email.
Client: “Can I see how the decals will look?”
Me: “Here’s a screenshot of the proof. This was the same one we sent over to you for approvals when the order was first placed and was approved by you. Let me know if you have questions.”
Client: “Let’s take this part of the sentence we have on there and move it. Also, in this other decal, I want the logo flipped so it’s facing the other way. Does that make sense?”
The logo part they are referring to is inside of the blue portion of a stylized American Flag. It’s cut out of the vinyl and flipping it would cause the logo to be backward from how it normally looks. The sentence was just cutting off a word and moving it elsewhere, which is super easy for production to do.
Me: “The sentence part is something we can accommodate. However, the decals were made once the proof was approved and are based on that. It looks like the proof was approved on [date] and we moved forward with that.”
Client: “I am not happy at all. I refuse to put the logo on my car backward.”
This logo is facing the right way all along. They wanted it flipped around and backward.
Of course, now I go into a panic. I talk with my coworker, who works in the production room, and he’s like “yeah the decals are already made so we can’t do anything unless they buy a new one”. My boss isn’t there, as he’s out doing installs all day long, so it’s just me vs the client. I go back to my email and see that the client has emailed again. It hasn’t even been a few minutes.
Client: “Reimburse me my money or let’s get this right. I admit I didn’t look at the proof but approved it via the portal assuming you’d make it look EXACTLY how it looks like in the photos, which is why you took them.”
Once they said this, my panic instantly goes away. I know I have the trump card as I saved those photos from my phone to my work computer so I could reference them. I go back to the photos and took a look and, lo and behold, I did it right. The photo is even on the side of the truck the client had wanted it flipped on. I had mimicked it per their words when I spoke with them.
Me: “I did reference the photo and mimicked it when I was setting up this proof. Here’s the photo I referenced.” *Shows them the photo.*
Client: *Immediately apologetic.* “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was backward on my truck currently as well. I’ll still proceed with the install as is, but is it hard to order a new decal? If so, how much?”
In the end, the client came in and said to just install them as they are. They apologized for being a pain and didn’t like to be a complainer, which was nice of them. They said they were going to do some other decals once their new business got off the ground on this same truck, so we can make the change then.
(Source: notalwaysright.com)
Me: “Hey, I’m glad I caught you. I’m calling about that request that I made five weeks ago. You never responded to any of my emails or voice messages. I’m just wondering what the status on that is?”
Client: “Well, the reason I didn’t respond was because your first email about it was unprofessional. We’re all professionals here, and I expect to be treated professionally. You really need to work on your communication skills, and I expect better from you if we’re going to continue working together.”
Me: “I’m looking at the whole email chain right now, and it seems fine to me. What seems wrong with it?”
Client: “Well, for starters, you could ask how my day’s been. Or you could put a joke at the bottom of the email. And you should really get rid of that line with all your company information at the bottom, it looks so unprofessional.”
(Source: notalwaysright.com)
I’m designing a photographic history exhibit for a prestigious university. The project requires a series of panels that each depict a different decade, from the 1930s to the present.
Client: “You know, this is all great, but it could use a little more diversity. Right now, there are a lot of photos of all white men, and we don’t want to send the wrong message.”
Me: “Okay, that’s a reasonable request. I could pull some photos of your black student organizations and women’s center and add those to the panels showing the school’s more recent history.”
Client: “Actually, we’d love more diversity in the early panels too.”
Me: “What do you mean?”
Client: “Like this panel depicting the university in the 30s. All the photos are of white men!”
The school did not admit black students until the 1970s.
(Source: notalwaysright.com)
Me: “I’ve looked at the brief and it’ll cost [total].”
Client: “I thought you were a freelancer.”
Me: “I am.”
Client: “No, you’re not. You’re a chargelancer!”
(Source: notalwaysright.com)
This story happened a few years ago. A friend refers me to his mother, a real estate agent who wants a new website for her business. I call her to set up an appointment.
Client: “So, what is your expertise in real estate?”
Me: “I’ve done two real-estate websites in the past, and they’ve been quite successful. I can provide you with a searchable database of listings where buyers can filter by price and other factors, as well as a homepage with featured listings, your bio, and anything else you’d like to include.”
Client: “Yes, but have you ever sold a house before?”
Me: “No.”
Client: “Why not?”
Me: “Because I’m not a real estate agent. I’m a web developer.”
Client: “So how do you expect to do a website for me if you don’t know anything about being a realtor?”
Me: “I know enough to build a website with a listing database which you can very easily populate with descriptions, photos, and any other info you wish to provide the buyers with. I can also provide other tools, such as a mortgage calculator and a lead-tracking system that allows potential buyers to contact you with listings they are interested in.”
Client: “I really don’t think you know what you’re doing. I think I’m going to have to pass and find someone who knows how to sell a house.”
Later, I discovered she had finished her website. On Geocities. Yellow background. 50pt font. Seemingly designed by a ‘real’ real estate agent…
(Source: notalwaysright.com)
Client: “We would like a drawing of a moose on skis.”
I send the art.
Client: “Why there were two feet on each ski?”
Me: “People ski on two skis and a moose has four feet so I put two on each ski.”
Client: “That is ridiculous!”
Me: “Which part? You’ll have to be more specific?”
Client: “Well, I’m pretty sure they don’t make skis that can accommodate two feet each!”
Me: “Right. That was a pretty big leap on my part, sorry.”
(Source: notalwaysright.com)
My girlfriend works for a state-funded company and was the lead on the re-design of their website. They already had a developer lined up, but his design skills were not on-par with what they had in mind. As a web designer, I was naturally my girlfriend’s first selection for the job. After five minutes of discussing what they need to be done, I know I will have to turn down the job to save our relationship.
Client: “So we need you to design three different options for the website and it needs to be designed in HTML and CSS.”
Me: “Okay, but if I’m just designing it, what do you need me to do with the HTML and CSS? Am I designing and developing the site?”
Client: “Just designing it, what’s the problem?”
Me: “Well, if I am designing it, why do you need me to use HTML or CSS? I can develop the site too if that’s what you’re asking?”
Client: “No! You’re not listening! You’re just designing the page, but we need it to be designed in CSS and HTML so it can be developed by[Developer’s Name] for our website.”
Me: “I don’t think you understand what HTML and CSS are.”
Client: “Yes I do! I took a marketing class!”
Me: “…”
(Source: notalwaysright.com)