A client asks me to design several logos. I write up the contract, and he signs it and sends me the money right away. I get to work immediately and send him a few rough drafts within a week.

Four months later, he writes back.

Client: “These look pretty good! Could you just make a few minor changes?”

No problem. I make the changes in two days. 

I don’t hear from him for another SIX MONTHS. 

Today, he called me to say that the logos are great, and he wants to move forward with packaging. 

At this point, I figure since he’s been so lackadaisical about getting back to me, I might as well put him on the back burner. 

Me: “Great! I have a few other projects going right now. I’ll turn that around for you in three weeks.”

Client: “Please start working on it immediately. I want it done by the end of the week.”

What the h***?

I am working on fixing a bug in the database for my client’s app on a remote server. I call my client and ask her to refrain from logging in; if she does, the code will overwrite my changes in the database.

Me: “Okay, I need to be clear. If you or anyone else in the company logs in to the server, the code will overwrite my changes in the database. That means you need to tell everyone not to log in and refrain from doing so yourself.”

Client: “No problem. I’ll put the word out.”

Me: “Great. So, everyone knows not to sign in until I give the all-clear?”

Client: “Yep! They’ve been told.”

Me: “And you’re not going to, right?”

Client: “Yes, yes.”

I get to work. After about an hour, I notice that some of my earlier changes have been reset. I contact my client again.

Me: “Hey, I noticed that some of my changes were reverted. Has anyone accessed the system in the past hour or so?”

Client: “No one but me has access.”

Me: “Then did you sign in the past hour?”

Client: “In the past hour?”

Me: “Yes.”

Client: “I didn’t change anything, though.”

Me: “So, you actually have signed in?”

Client: “Um…”

Me: “…”

Client: “I don’t know.”

I’m an IT freelancer with cerebral palsy. I repair most things but don’t offer micro-soldering as I find I’m too shaky for that. Most people understand the limitation.

Client: “I’ve got a tablet that needs a new charging port.”

I have a look, and it will definitely require micro-soldering. 

Me: “I’m sorry, I don’t offer this service. But here are two other shops that I can personally recommend.” 

Client: “You can’t do this? Then why do you even run IT repair at all?”

Me: “I’m not comfortable doing this work, sorry. I’ve sent people to those other shops before and they’ve told me they do excellent work, though.”

Client: “You’re completely useless, you know that?”

Me: “…”

This client then found me on all my social media accounts, left one-star reviews on everything, and kept posting really horrible comments. 

I tried to let it go, but he kept hassling me for my “incompetence”. That’s when I uploaded a copy of my medical history and explained why I didn’t do micro-soldering. At that point, people started pushing back against this guy. After a week, he cancelled most of his accounts, which gives me some small glimmer of hope for humanity.  

I don’t know why he got so angry that I didn’t want to break his stuff.

Related:
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 8
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 7
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 6
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 5
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 4

I work in corporate event production.

Me: “Will you need content on the screen this afternoon?”

Client: “Nope!”

Me: “Okay, great. So we’ll just run audio.”

Client: “Yep, just audio and the laptop.”

Me: “You mean, you need the laptop display on the screen?”

Client: “Yep. Just the audio.”

Me: “And the laptop on the screen?”

Client: “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Client: “The computer isn’t working.”

Me: “The light’s off. It just hasn’t been turned on.”

Client: “No, it’s broken. We’re not allowed to use it.”

I hit the power button, and the computer comes on. 

Client: “How could you possibly know that?”