Client Unhappy Need advice

[feliciarcantu]

Hello,

I recently got a new client; I sent inspo boards with very clear direction to him which he loved. I then created the designs that were a direct correlation to the mood boards and he said my work didn't align to the company even though it was exactly what was noted. I told him I'm very sorry, I apologized and said I could redo it if I got more direction.  I now believe his direction of "sportswear" is what threw me off because to the average consumer thinks the term sportswear is just that sports wear; where in the apparel industry its more trend setting streetwear with athleisure influence which is what I gave. He stated it already cost a lot to get what I provided; and if I would charge to redo it all; which is 6 hrs of work for free.  I didn't do anything wrong; and based on what was initially provided i did exactly what I said I was going to. My hesitation to doing more work for free is it will be an expectation moving forward 2 if he doesn't like what he gets the second round he'll ask for me to do it again and 3rd I don't ever do work for free unless I did something wrong. Any advice?

[macollinsone]

that is why I don't do web design jobs anymore; people are too picky...sometimes you just have to take the loss in the freelance business, with things like that..if he doesn't like your work and won't use it, he shouldnt have to pay for it

next time, share screen shots with your client along the way, in every step, so you can assure it's going in the right direction

[feed_my_eyes]

I'm surprised that with your level of experience, you've never had a difficult client before - you must be either very good, or very lucky! With new clients, I would never do six hours of work - or an entire job - and send it to them; I would do an hour or two, or a small part of the design, and get them to sign off before going any further. That helps to avoid situations like this.  

But you say that the client asked if you would charge to redo the design, so I don't see where you're getting the idea that he's demanding it for free? Frankly, if you knew that people get confused by the term "sportswear" then I think it's reasonable to take part of the blame for not clarifying this at the start, and give him a bit of a discount for redoing it.  

If it were me, I would spend another hour and then see what he thinks. If he's happy, offer a reduced fee to re-do the rest of the project. Or, if you're getting the sense that he's just difficult in general and you want to get out of this, then all you can do is apologise for being a "bad fit" and suggest that he finds a different designer. Offer to send your mood boards and other notes in order to make it a smooth transition and give him value for his money, then just hope for the best with regards to feedback. (I couldn't figure out from your profile why you don't have top-rated status - if you were top-rated, you could remove the occasional bad feedback review.)

[moonraker]

You should always make sure you are on the same page as the client before going full steam ahead. Even something that might appear to be obvious can turn out to be not what you thought it was - as you are finding out now. Now you find yourself with a  potentially unhappy client and a potentially significant ding in your profile. You may feel as though you've done nothing wrong, but the client is likely feeling they've paid for something they didn't want - and they're the one leaving a review for you. 

Not that any of this helps now, but it's something to bear in mind for the future. However, as Christine mentioned above, there may be a way to compromise to help solve the issue or to at least minimize any negative impact.