Burned by a client who kept saying "trust the process" but refused to pay for revisions

Had this one client last month who kept pushing me to go with their cheap stock photo approach instead of my custom illustrations. I warned them that stock would look generic and they'd need constant tweaks. They went with it anyway, and after 6 rounds of "can you move this text left" and "make that blue a little less blue" style edits, they hit me with a $400 bill for extra revisions under their own process. Their way cost way more in the long run and the final project looked like a template from 2016. My way would have saved them time and money from the start. Has anyone else had a client insist on their cheaper plan only to end up paying double?

3 comments

3 Comments

janahenderson3d ago

Did their "process" include a time machine to 2016 too?

the_patricia3d ago

Oh man, @janahenderson you're not wrong. Maybe their "process" also involved pulling out an old flip phone and a Filofax. I'm picturing a boardroom full of people in skinny jeans discussing how to make things "happen" while someone types on a Blackberry. It's like they wanted to bring back the magic of 2016, right down to the questionable haircuts and viral dance challenges. Did they also think fidget spinners were going to solve world peace again?

wren3013d ago

Right? They probably had a whole mood board with PSLs and Mannequin Challenges too. I'm just waiting for the sequel where they try to bring back Harlem Shake videos for their next big launch. Someone in that meeting definitely pitched a sponsored Fidget Cube for team building exercises. And you just know their onboarding involved explaining what a meme is to the senior VP. It's giving "how do you do, fellow kids" energy so strong it could power a whole crypto mining rig.