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ehabsakran
Community Member

What to do in the middle of being taken advatage of?

Hi,

 

I have a client who in the initial request asked for a few fixes on an existing website. I agreed. He then called me to discuss further and told me he needs this and that fixed. He ended up with a list of over 5 things to restructure/add rather than fix but I agreed.

 

Now he's wanting me to even find hosting and host the website myself to somewhere before he can consider the job done. I have already submitted my work to the proposal and is waiting on him to approve.

 

Now, I don't want, nor do I think I should do any more work for him but I am worried about the negative feedback. What options do I have at this point?

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raofdesigns
Community Member

I think you should politely but firmly state your original contract to him, and that if he requires any further work you'll need to set up a contract/or agree to more hours. Going forward, always be mindful of clients that add lots of existing work onto the original job. It's always good to state at the start what you're agreeing to and and what's going to be included (and what's not if applicable).

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4 REPLIES 4
lysis10
Community Member

so just tell him if you create hosting and you get hit by a bus tomorrow, he loses his site and it's gone. Point him to godaddy or something to go create an account.

 

and good morning, I hate escrow jobs.

Haha, thank you for the reply.

 

But if I tell him that and he then goes and approves the submission, wouldn't he be able to revenge give me negative review just because I didn't do everything he wanted for the $10 he offered?

 

Would it be possible to cancel the contract without getting paid just to avoid the negative review? How important are the reviews here? I've read through the forums and some say it's as important as anything since it's your brand.

raofdesigns
Community Member

I think you should politely but firmly state your original contract to him, and that if he requires any further work you'll need to set up a contract/or agree to more hours. Going forward, always be mindful of clients that add lots of existing work onto the original job. It's always good to state at the start what you're agreeing to and and what's going to be included (and what's not if applicable).

To add to Rachael's helpful note:

 

Here's are some phrases I find myself using often:

 

"To be clear..."

"It sounds like..."

"Is that right?"

 

For example,

 

"To be clear, it sounds like you're looking for the transcription copy to be rewritten and reorganized. Is that right?" (To a client who posted a "transcription and proofreading" job).

 

"To be clear, I limit my work to copywriting text. It sounds like you're also looking for someone to add photos to the SEO posts. Is that right?" (To a client who didn't say anything about adding photos to posts in the job description but now says it will be required.)

 

That's the point at which I negotiate a new rate. I usually give them a few options:

 

"My rate is $25/hour for proofreading and $50/hour for the kind of developmental editing it sounds like you want (reorganizing content, significantly revising for reader-friendliness, and heavy coordinating with you).

"Alternately, from what I understand of the length of your project, I can offer a flat rate of $150 to proofread the project or $300 to give it a developmental edit. What's the best way for me to help you?"

 

If I decide the project isn't a good fit, I wish them well and (sometimes) ask them to consider me if they feel I'd be a good fit for future jobs.

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