Problem With Client

[andrew-max]

Hey everybody,
Please, help me to solve the problem that I have with my client. She made the order for one book cover design but after the first design, she told me that she don't like it. I was made second book cover design and again she was don't like it. So I asked her what exactly she wants and I was make again design with her idea. After this design she told me that she like it and she agree with this idea, but she just need to make some changes in fonts so I make it and she again start saying that this design did not fit her and she want to cancel the order. 
It was 3 completed book covers design for this client!
But now she wants to cancel the order and don't pay anything for all design that I made!

What I can do in this situation? Please, help me to solve this problem.

[01768726301a]

Tell her not to cancel the order, though you already spend a lot of time on it to make three design! Better convince her anyhow! Best wishes 🙂

[tlbp]

I don't like to mess around with clients who are difficult to please, so I'd probably just end the relationship. But, I'm a writer. You might get better advice from one of the design folks. 

If you go with the "We're done here" approach, politely agree that the two of you seem not to be a good match aesthetically. Then, explain that since she has decided not to accept or pay for the designs, they remain your IP.  Reassure her that you'll change the book's title and author name before using the designs in your portfolio or selling them to another client. 

[This explaination puts the client on notice that she shouldn't think she's can get away with using your work for free.]

I've never used Upwork's dispute process to try to get paid by someone who claims the work isn't satisfactory. So, I'm not sure how that works--but a dispute for payment would be your alternative recourse. There are lots of discussions about the process here on the forums, though. Maybe you can find some that involved design projects to get some guidance. 

[prestonhunter]

[petra_r]

How much money are we talking about?

[roberty1y]

You should probably stipulate a maximum number of revisions you will do for any client before you start a contract. At this stage, if it's not a high price job, it might be best to let it go and take no payment, rather than risk bad feedback.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Andrew M wrote:

So I asked her what exactly she wants and I was make again design with her idea. 

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Asking a client detailed questions about what they want should be your first step, not something that you do after the first two designs go wrong. I realise that this doesn't help you in your current situation, but gettingt a detailed brief will save you an enormous amount of time on future projects. And with new clients, you should try to only do a little bit of work before asking the client for feedback, then you won't waste time going in a direction that might be completely wrong.

Also, you seem to want to specialise in book cover design, but you only have one example of this type of work in your portfolio. Put at least ten samples in there, then a client can see whether they like your style before they hire you, and you'll be less likely to end up in a dispute.

But even if you're really really careful, it's inevitable with creative work that you'll occasionally run into a client who just doesn't like what you've done. It happens, so try not to take it personally; think of it in terms of, "we're just not a good fit" instead of blaming the client for being difficult. With your current client, my first step would be to try and negotiate a partial refund.