clientsfromhell:

A client I’ve worked with in the past came to me with the request to add a video to the top of the homepage of their e-commerce website, along with some other tweaks. I thought it’d be a little bit tacky to have the large video bombarding new users, but I went ahead and quoted the project for $X.

Client: Hm, no, I was thinking $Y [one-third of $X], and I’ll also need these other things done as a part of this project.

Me: Alright, I can do all that, but it will be $X to take care of it.

Client: If we are agreed on $Y, send over the invoice.

Me: Sorry, no. If you’re adding other features, I’m firm on $X to take care of this project.

Client: How about $Z? [halfway between $X and $Y]

At this point, I was ready to just walk away, but I wanted to maintain the relationship as it had been good up until this point so I decided on a compromise.

Me: Sure. I can do it for $Z. It’s going to be completed on a slightly longer timeline, though. I have some other projects in my queue at the moment, and I will get to yours when I am able. Send me over the video, and I’ll get the project in my queue.

Then, the kicker.

Client: Here’s the video. Yes, it’s very long and not flashy, but that’s the point of this bad boy. We are going to make it autoplay with no controls available to the user. Make them sit through a 27-minute video. We’ll see how that does for a few weeks.