Horrible Client Stories from Non-SP

[vanperb]

I used to freelance and do contracting work and I miss it like I miss a hole in the head. The administration work wasn't bad, the actual money was good, the hours were my own but the worse part was chasing the money after the work was done.
Here are a few horrible experiences from clients and would be clients I've had to deal with in the past.

I used to get this about 50% of the time, and this was before the term Influencer was a thing. People always want everything free.

Client A: Heard great things about you! Can you do X, Y, Z and B for me?
Me: Sure, ballpark around 5k, and I'm freed in about 2 months time.
Client A: But you would get so much exposure from me, you really ought to do it for free, and I'd like to have it by next week so I can show case it to some people I know.
Me. I can't do it for free, and even if I could I can't drop my existing client now to do your work.
Client A: This is an opportunity of a life time!
Me. I'm sorry. I hope you can find someone that can help you.
Client A: Asshole. You could have made so much money from me.

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Finished a job and had the client sign off on it. Submit the invoice. Wait a month and no payment comes through. Calls Client B.
Me: Hey, so did you guys get my invoice? It's been 30 days.
Client B: Oh yeah, we did but after talking to a few people, we think your work isn't worth what you're asking for.
Me: What? It's the price we agreed and signed on. You're using my work right now in fact.
Client B: Yeah, but the price seems too much now. What say this, I have a bunch gift cards, Canadian tire dollars, and promo swag you can take for 50% of your invoice. The rest we'll get to you in a bit.
Me: (anger raising as I'm realizing I'm being screwed over...)

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Submitting work for final client review
Client C: This isn't what I asked for.
Me: But I've checked in with you every week with how things are progressing. You even said it looked great last Thursday.
Client C: But my boss looked at it and said you got all the details wrong.
Me: But I got all my info from you.

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[islander1-1]

I am pretty sure there will be several SPs that have many stories to tell. I personally have seen at least one fellow who never paid up.

 

[westwoody]

A friend is a general contractor.

He did a reno of a hair salon. I helped with the design renders. He showed the client several renders, the exact blueprints, detailed bills, and she signed off on all of it.
Finished the job and she says she won't pay because it is not what she wanted. Despite her signature on the renders and plans and it being exactly what the renders pictured.
He ends up taking her to court and wins. So AFTER the ruling against her, after he is awarded everything he wanted plus legal costs, she offers "How about I pay half and we call it even". She gave him a cheque for half and refused to pay anymore. So he had to sue her again, and she told the judge, in court and under oath, that my friend agreed to take half and call it even. Which I guarantee he never did.
Her argument was he had agreed to compromise by taking the cheque. But he was out $120k so he had to.
In the meantime the salon is up and running and making money.
It turns out she has a reputation for ripping people off. Too bad we didn't know.

 

[SeekSteadyRegSP]

I'm sorry but "horrible client stories" are (somehow more entertaining) from SP's. (much of the time)

 

[mame84]

Most of the horrible clients I've had are the ones that don't want to pay for anything, and you have to hound for payment. It's why contracts (and sometimes deposits if I get the feeling they can't be trusted) are so important. It's also why I quit doing freelance work for randos.

This is why I never, ever negotiate rates. The frustration from that hits way too close to home.

 

[Cock Throppled]

I feel your pain.

nfortunately, while most people are good, there are a LOT of people who are assholes on a royal scale.

When I freelanced I was amazed how many would just refuse to pay. Time and money to go to court, just to find out the courts are really there to help the dishonest, rather than help the aggrieved. Even if you get a judgment, it's easy for people to ignore it, or move.

Now, I run businesses that employ people, but we deal with other companies. The business world is more honourable than dealing with individuals.

 

[masterpoonhunter]

From what I have learned over the years:

If your work is admin, that is what a retainer is for. Contract. Then retainer. Then work progresses with progress invoices against the retainer. As the retainer runs out a new retainer is needed to continue the work and so on.

If your work is construction, the contract which should be in writing can be verbal should state payment schedules and if you don't get paid, you put a lien on the property. That can cause one massive headache for the guy not paying and give you a lot of leverage to get the asshat to pay up.

I am not a lawyer but have been an independent consultant and learned very early how these things work from a number of lawyer friends.

 

[sybian]

From what I have learned over the years:

If your work is admin, that is what a retainer is for. Contract. Then retainer. Then work progresses with progress invoices against the retainer. As the retainer runs out a new retainer is needed to continue the work and so on.

If your work is construction, the contract which should be in writing can be verbal should state payment schedules and if you don't get paid, you put a lien on the property. That can cause one massive headache for the guy not paying and give you a lot of leverage to get the asshat to pay up.

I am not a lawyer but have been an independent consultant and learned very early how these things work from a number of lawyer friends.

The problem is you only have 30 days after the bill is due to file a builders lien on the property....The client strings you along for six weeks, and you only have two more to file.
Then ...if I remember right.....you have to re-file every five or so years.
The contract, will not include extras, that are billed out on top of the quoted price, are usually forgotten....just so you can get the bulk sum.
I do not miss the construction game.

 

[theimp]

I have done, a lot of consulting, in my career, births (start ups) and deaths (rescue ops). The deaths, almost always, try to renege, on their debt, after they refuse to take my advice. Fortunately, I am a nasty, little, bastard and collections, have always, gone my way.

 

[blakealridge]

wow, if only WE could call collections when people didn't pay us. almost makes a deposit and payment up front make sense... ?

 

[vanperb]

A friend is a general contractor.

He did a reno of a hair salon. I helped with the design renders. He showed the client several renders, the exact blueprints, detailed bills, and she signed off on all of it.
Finished the job and she says she won't pay because it is not what she wanted. Despite her signature on the renders and plans and it being exactly what the renders pictured.
He ends up taking her to court and wins. So AFTER the ruling against her, after he is awarded everything he wanted plus legal costs, she offers "How about I pay half and we call it even". She gave him a cheque for half and refused to pay anymore. So he had to sue her again, and she told the judge, in court and under oath, that my friend agreed to take half and call it even. Which I guarantee he never did.
Her argument was he had agreed to compromise by taking the cheque. But he was out $120k so he had to.
In the meantime the salon is up and running and making money.
It turns out she has a reputation for ripping people off. Too bad we didn't know.

That's a shitty deal for your friend. And good general contractors are so hard to find it sucks to hear one being burnt.
Yeah, the courts don't mean much. You still end up with having to collect it yourself, and there's zero "official" enforcement to help you.

 

[vanperb]

I'm sorry but "horrible client stories" are (somehow more entertaining) from SP's. (much of the time)

Of course they are. Pervs, sex, and money are always better ingredients for anything entertaining.
The point is, if you've ever done contracting / freelancing, in any form you realize it's the same shit regardless of the industry you're in.

 

[vanperb]

Most of the horrible clients I've had are the ones that don't want to pay for anything, and you have to hound for payment. It's why contracts (and sometimes deposits if I get the feeling they can't be trusted) are so important. It's also why I quit doing freelance work for randos.

This is why I never, ever negotiate rates. The frustration from that hits way too close to home.

Contract and deposits are nice. Retainers are even better but don't exist in my industry.
Still when I was starting out I wasn't working for companies. Mostly entreprenieurs, and they're really hard to nail down for contracts or deposit. To be fair, I was just glad to get the work. Things were different once I got enough experience and credit to work for firms that would cut me a cheque a day after they got my invoice. Those opening years though, really fucking brutal landscape of opportunists.

 

[vanperb]

The problem is you only have 30 days after the bill is due to file a builders lien on the property....The client strings you along for six weeks, and you only have two more to file.
Then ...if I remember right.....you have to re-file every five or so years.
The contract, will not include extras, that are billed out on top of the quoted price, are usually forgotten....just so you can get the bulk sum.
I do not miss the construction game.

That sounds like a fucking nightmare. If you're stuck with a couple of bad payees you're going to need to hire admin staff to deal with this overhead.
Chasing money is honestly the worse part of contracting.

 

[vanperb]

wow, if only WE could call collections when people didn't pay us. almost makes a deposit and payment up front make sense... ?

Depends on the deposit amount. When I was starting out, there wasn't any talk of deposits. No way I could get a deposit on 500 worth of work. And no one was offering any work worth more than 5k at a time.
Once I got enough semi scheduled work with a couple companies that trusted me, it wasn't about raising prices to keep the bad out, just being way more selective. No more crazy eyed trust fund college drop outs with a dream.
Even now, there's not much talk of deposits with big firms. There's enough reputation and money between the parties that no one wants to interrupt progress, and that's seems to be what keeps people honest with the money.

As for going to collections, you're basically selling your debt at pennies on the dollar. It's still a loss mixed in with a bit of spite that someone will be hounding them for a while more than I have energy for.

 

[vanperb]

I have done, a lot of consulting, in my career, births (start ups) and deaths (rescue ops). The deaths, almost always, try to renege, on their debt, after they refuse to take my advice. Fortunately, I am a nasty, little, bastard and collections, have always, gone my way.

Now that last bit would have been nice to know how to do when I was starting out. Even now in fact. Care to start a podcast?

 

[masterpoonhunter]

to add to the Lien thing
A friend of mine has just sold his house but ... there was a lien on it from 4 years ago for work done. He paid out the original contractor but the contractor did not pay one of the subs. The sub put the lien on. 4 years so for all intents and purposes that lien which was not renewed was dead.
Except it still stayed on the title and the new buyer's mortgage caused significant problems about that, whether it was dead or not. My buddy had to buck up to get a lawyer to remove the lien from the titles office to be able to allow the sale to go through. No fault of his own, did not know the lien was there and due to the pandemic land titles was backed up for a couple months so $250 later for the lawyer to get the removal to be rubber stamped and he sold his house.
After I heard about this I immediately created an account at the Land Titles office and checked my house title as I also had work done some time ago that was not all that smooth. No liens so all was good after all.
Point is the lien still carries a lot of weight.
OK all that I have on that topic.

 

[theimp]

Now that last bit would have been nice to know how to do when I was starting out. Even now in fact. Care to start a podcast?

Lol, I am just, hmmmm, tenacious, to the extreme. I am honorable, in my business dealings and expect the same. If we shake hands, it is a mutual promise. If you break that promise, I feel justified to make your life...um...uncomfortable, until you see the light.

 

[blakealridge]

Lol, I am just, hmmmm, tenacious, to the extreme. I am honorable, in my business dealings and expect the same. If we shake hands, it is a mutual promise. If you break that promise, I feel justified to make your life...um...uncomfortable, until you see the light.

Oof that makes me uncomfortable. Imagine if one of us said that!?

 

[theimp]

Not a violent person, don't need to be, I just, never give up.