I was diagnosed with a hearing disorder when I was a child. This hearing disorder makes it difficult for me to understand conversations, and it’s getting to the point where I’m considering a hearing aid.

A client wanted a phone conference. My policy is to use video conferences — body language and lip reading are possible, at least, plus Skype allows texting during the call — or instant messaging/email. That way, I understand exactly what my clients want, and both of us can send screenshots, examples, etc.

Client: “I can’t video message. Let’s call.”

Me: “I explained to you earlier that that would be hard for me. Would you prefer emailing?”

Client: “Calling.”

Me: “Why wouldn’t email work?”

Client: “No.”

Me: “I hope you understand that it would be difficult for me to understand you.”

Client: “Work it out.”

I made a new website for a customer and put it up on a temporary URL so he could see the results. And since he ignored my emails requesting content, the text and images were taken from his current website.

Me: “Is the website ready to be launched with the current content?”

Client: “No way! You just copied all the text from the old site.”

Me: “Well, you didn’t answer the several emails we sent where we asked you for materials like text and images.”

Client: “I thought you wrote the new text. The current content is ten years old.”

Me: “You can pay us extra and we’ll write the text, or you can pay a copywriter to write text for you, because it’s not included in the price.”

Client: “So, what is it you’ve actually done?”

Me: “I set up a website for you. Have you read the contract you signed?”

Client: “I don’t care about contracts. If I cannot trust a man on his word at a meeting, then we might just stop here.”

Me: “Okay, but I recommend that you read the contra—”

He then hung up on me.

I work as a freelance writer, and sometimes clients want to check for plagiarism. That’s fine; it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to check for.

A client put my article about car accidents through [Plagiarism Checker Site], and it came up with some plagiarism. The plagiarized sections were: “to die in,” “times more likely” (as in “26 times more likely”), and “likely to be injured.”

The client then asked me to explain myself.

Me: “These are extremely common phrases used in many articles. These websites often pick up on common phrases, but it’s like when you use spell check: you have to use your own judgment.”

This is how the client replied, verbatim.

Client: “I know how content writing works. I m the client n ur supposed to give me what I wanted. U don’t even know a to z of writing. Not worth hiring someone who does not know what [Plagiarism Checker Site] is, not ready to listen what clients want. I saw the article u corrected. I still found few words were just copied again.”

My client purchased a domain and asked that I set up emails for her and her staff.

Client: “You created the wrong email addresses.”

Me: “Oh? I am looking at the email you sent. I created the emails with the exact handles you requested.”

Client: “I need the emails to be [Client] at [Shortened Domain] dot com, not [Client] at [Really Long Domain Name That She Owns] dot com.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but that’s not the domain that you purchased.”

Client: “This has nothing to do with my domain. My domain is correct. The emails are wrong.”

Me: “You cannot make any email address you want. It doesn’t work like that. You need to own the domain you are using for the email addresses.”

Client: *Now enraged* “WHY WOULD YOU EVEN AGREE TO CREATE EMAILS WITH SUCH A LONG DOMAIN? This is unacceptable!”

Me: “…”

I worked for free for months helping a non-profit.

Client: “Can you take on this additional project?”

Me: “I could, but to do anything more, I would need to be paid.”

Not only did they say no, but they told other non-profits in the area that I was “blackmailing” them.