Tips for better Vetting out New Clients? I had a bad experience that I wish I had seen coming.

[rachel-sachs]

Hey there, this is my first post on here though I've been on upwork for several years now. I always thought I was pretty good about vetting out clients beforehand to make sure we would work well together and I had not had any particularly terrible experiences until now. 

I had an hourly contract set up after a client reached out to me with an invitation for the project. I spoke with the client over a zoom call to get the details and everything seemed fine. I guess my mistake was assuming they had looked at my profile and/or portfolio of work before sending an invite. I submitted rough sketches and immediately the client told me "you need practice" and sent me a bunch of reference. I was a little taken aback but I've been told worse before so I figured I would keep pushing on and thanked them for the detailed feedback. I struggled for hours trying to forumulate this concept for them and then submitted another rough for them to look at. By this time I had clocked about 7 hours of manual time (on my ipad) and the first response was "this is nearly 7 hours of work?" followed by "this is an astronomical price for precollege level work. this is a scam, I'm terminating the contract". I was so shaken I just told them they could just take the money back, it was all manual time anyway so its not even protected. I work really hard and I guess that my art style was not the right fit for this project but to be called a scam and belittled in such a way really shattered me. I know I should get used to that, especially being an artist freelancer but this is the first time something this bad has happened since I started on here. But anyway, I know I probably should have communicated client expectations when it came to the art I am able to produce from the very beginning and I've definitely overlooked some red flags since this was my only active job in awhile and I needed the money. I just assumed that this client would have looked at my portfolio site and work before deciding to send me an invite for the job that he clearly thought I wasn't qualified for. I won't make that mistake again.

So long story short, has anyone had similar experiences (especially illustrators on this platform) with bad client experiences that taught you more about what to look out for before starting a contract? I would love to hear any stories or advice, it would make me feel a little less alone in this. 

Thanks for reading!  

[796a95d8]

I'm so sorry Rachel, this person sounds like an absolutely horrible human being. People have no idea how difficult art can be, and how much effort and love that goes into it. 

I recently had a horrible experience of my own. Did a bunch of good work for a client, consistent communication, quick turn-around, and just because I didn't submit something far sooner within the timeframe they chose for me, they terminated the contract and gave me a one star review after nothing but consistency from me. 

I recommend looking at previous reviews the client may have given to other freelancers. Sometimes you can see a red flag from the beginning. 

The fact that this person insulted you from the beginning would have me terminating the contract before any work would be done. They clearly did not do their own research for finding the freelancer that would work best for them. OR they made you do the hard work, you sent them the finished work, and now they have free art. Either way this person deserves to be called names that I am restraining myself from saying. 

[rachel-sachs]

Thank you for this reply Alison, I really appreciate it! I'm sorry to hear about your poor client experience too, I hope you don't get any more of those either. I usually do look at client feedback before accepting an interview or submitting a proposal and I don't think this particular client had any bad reviews as of yet. But I agree, I definitely should have stopped the contract at that first insult, would have saved me alot of grief.