Why do clients set hourly rates but limit the time for completing tasks?

[51fda830]

1. Is it common for clients to expect tasks to be completed in much less time than it actually takes, leading to discrepancies between actual and perceived time spent on the job?

2. Why do clients stick to hourly rates even when they have a specific budget in mind?

3. In essence it becomes a Fixed Price job, What compels the clients to post such jobs as hourly?

Wondering if this is a widespread issue or unique to my experience!

The client hired me for a task with repetitive individual tasks. However, they expected the tasks to take much less time than they actually did. For instance, a 20-minute task was expected to be completed in only 5 minutes. This led to a significant difference between the actual time spent and the client's perception. Frustrated, I deleted the work diary, neglecting the 5 hours I had spent, and ended the contract due to my concerns and continuous anxiety. The next contract was also hourly, and the client's perception was that a 2-hour task should only take 1 hour. I wonder if this is a common experience or if it's just specific to my situation.

[bobafett999]

It is your job to educate the buyer that it will take x hours.  If they want to be done in x/2 hours it is upto you to accept it or reject it.  It is called bargaining.

[25005175]

Part of it can be attributed to lack of Client education regarding contract structures. Part, lack of Client knowledge of UI. Sometimes, like Prashant mentioned, lack of knowledge - or intentional undercutting - of time required.

[spectralua]

Hourly have some benefits:

If you didnt started then client pay nothing.

Client able to control works and stop at any time if not happy.

Client will post-pay and able to dispute.

Also some tricky clients want free works like your. So you did right with contract ending.

[tlsanders]

Rather than worry about what may be motivating a wide variety of very different clients, think about how you can take the situation in hand. When I see an hourly posting or get an invitation to an hourly project and I don't think that's the best way to handle it, I just say so and provide a flat rate quote in my proposal.