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Elizabeth's avatar
Elizabeth M Community Member

Free Revision Request

A client I am doing hourly design work for is requesting a round of free revisons. The vision for his patterns has been very vague. I checked all the boxes of his specifc requests and submitted the files. Now he is requesting the addition of completely new motifs, color changes and spacing. I stated that his requests would have to be done under the hourly rate and he came back saying that his "other designers" give him a round of free revisions. I can see on his profile that I am the only designer on Upwork he has hired. A simple color change would be one thing but with multiple requests to two different patterns I just do not feel comfortable working for free! I especially feel this way because he has been vague aboue his vison from the start. Am I right to (polietly) explain my reasons and stand my ground on charging him for these changes? 

6 REPLIES 6
Dogan's avatar
Dogan K Community Member

I can't decide who is right, but to me, a revision is something that contains some of the work, not all of it. I'm a writer and I can do a lot of revisions of an article for free, but I don't write it from scratch. If you think that the revision your client requests from you is to do the whole work again, then you can politely tell him that this would be another work and must be charged. I would do so, and I never start working with a vague job description. If you don't know what exactly your duty is, then you can't do your best to showcase your skills. This story also ends with your tears. Because the client gives you a poor review and downgrades your JSS.

 

Please note, these are completely subjective statements.

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

No free revisions. No free work. Hourly contract means client pays for your time.

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

This client has worked with other freelancers.

 

YOU are not one of those freelancers. You are more professional and more capable than they are. This client knows full well that he is getting a great deal every minute that you work on his project.

 

Log every minute you work for him.

Tonya's avatar
Tonya P Community Member


Elizabeth M wrote:

A client I am doing hourly design work for is requesting a round of free revisons. The vision for his patterns has been very vague. I checked all the boxes of his specifc requests and submitted the files. Now he is requesting the addition of completely new motifs, color changes and spacing. I stated that his requests would have to be done under the hourly rate and he came back saying that his "other designers" give him a round of free revisions. I can see on his profile that I am the only designer on Upwork he has hired. A simple color change would be one thing but with multiple requests to two different patterns I just do not feel comfortable working for free! I especially feel this way because he has been vague aboue his vison from the start. Am I right to (polietly) explain my reasons and stand my ground on charging him for these changes? 


The bolded phrase is concerning. In a fixed price contract, there is a deliverable. You have to supply that deliverable to be paid. How do you know you have supplied the deliverable if the instructions were unclear? 

Elizabeth's avatar
Elizabeth M Community Member

Yes, I admit it was risky to start with a client unsure about how he wanted his end product to look. I took the risk as I wanted to get my foot in the door here on Upwork. The project had some specifics: a parrot repeat with some color examples and also a surfboard repeat also with color examples (not pantones though). He requested the repeats be put into flat CADs of button down shirts with varying scales of the pattern represented. I did everything he specifically asked for and did it within his budget and time frame. He reviewed my portfolio before hiring me and I also had him change his proposal, verify his payment and send it to me specifically. I asked as many clarifying questions I could think of. He gave me a few examples of what he wanted but from my research on his "company" he is just getting this concept off the ground and is very inexperienced. I am not sure if I do a round of revisons "free" (cringe) to get a good first review or state what the other reviewers have said, that all work is to be paid for. 

Phyllis's avatar
Phyllis G Community Member

There is no such thing as "free revisions." On an hourly contract, the FL is paid for every minute they put in. On a fixed-price contract, the experienced FL calculates the cost of revisions when setting the fee and specifies in the contract how many rounds of revision are included.

 

Your client either doesn't know, or is betting that you don't know, the difference.