I was hired by a client to develop a membership website. We agreed on the scope of the work, timescales, deliverables, and my fee, and she even paid a deposit up front. 

A couple of months later, upon completion, we had a meeting where I demonstrated the application to her and we went through it thoroughly. A few days later, [Client] signed off and paid the remainder of my fee. She was a happy client — or so I thought.

Six months after completion and launch, [Client] contacted me stating that she was not happy with it and demanding a full refund. I refused. She then sent a letter stating that if I did not give a full refund by a certain date, she would get her lawyer involved. Again, I refused.

A few days after her deadline, I received a text message.

Client: “On my way to my lawyer’s office now. Is there anything you wish to say?”

Me: “Yes. Good luck.”

I did not hear from a lawyer, but the client contacted me a couple of weeks later to ask whether I was in a position to do more work for her!

I notified a client three times that I would be away for the week following my wife’s surgery, beginning two months prior to the surgery, and one last time the week before. Each time, he sounded surprised but just as concerned about her health.

Imagine my surprise on the morning of the second day of my wife’s convalescence.

Client: “Are you there? My contact’s really anxious to get their site moving. Can you get started on provisioning the server?”

Me: “No. I’m not available for at least five more days.”

Client: “What? This is critical for me!”

Me: “My wife’s on Vicodin, and the baby’s teething.”

Client: “So, by tonight, at least?”

Client: “Hello?”

A website client of mine and I met at a restaurant so he could give me photos to put on the site and tell me what he wanted. (I do work from home and often find it more convenient if I drive to a restaurant or coffee shop nearer to the client.)

There, we discussed the pages he wanted, the pictures and video he had for me to go on those pages, etc. The contract that he signed stated that the content was his responsibility, not mine.

Over the course of six months, I consistently had issues getting content from him. He would say, “Oh, that photo was on the thumb drive I gave you,” when it actually wasn’t. I basically built the site with some of his photos and, initially, much of my text content. The six months basically went like this:

Me: “I was wondering if you had the content I need for that page.”

Client: “I am pretty busy right now. I will get it for you tonight.”

A week later:

Me: “Hey, did you happen to get the content for that page I mentioned a week ago?”

Client: “Sorry. Got held up on a big job. I will have it for you this weekend.”

Then, another week went by, and still nothing.

So it went for months. When I was finally down to the last bit of wording I needed for the final page, I sent the following text.

Me: “Hey, if you can give me the text you want on the [page], we can be done with the site.”

Client: “No, we are not done. It is done when it is exactly how I want it. I am not paying you to not finish! To be honest, I don’t even like the site. Are you even licensed to build websites? I could have had this site done a lot sooner at a lower price, and they would have done all the content. Why did I have to do all the work to get you content? And why did we meet at a restaurant? A real business wouldn’t operate like that.”

Me: “…”

This would be a justified homicide, right?

Client: “Great, I like the website design you made, but can you make it nicer?”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Client: “I mean, with nicer colors or shapes.”

Me: “Define ‘nicer’ for me.”

Client: “Something like what you did, but a bit more nice.”

Me: “I’m sorry, that doesn’t quite make sense.”

Client: “I know, it should be, ‘…like what you did, but nicer,’ but you asked for me to make things clearer.”

I’ve been working with a web agency for a long time as a project manager.

We had one project at a very late stage; the website was almost finished, and we only needed textual material from the client, as he indicated that the current website material would be replaced. The client clearly instructed me not to upload the new website with any old information, so we waited for new information to arrive.

Several weeks passed, and one day, we received an angry call from the client.

Client: “Why is my website still not published?”

Me: “We’re still waiting for your new information, as you promised. Can we upload the website with the old information?”

Client: “No.”

Me: “Okay, then please send us the new information. and we’ll publish the website immediately.”

We had two or three similar calls within four months with the same question: why is the website still not published? Eventually, the client even threatened us with delay charges and fines.

After several emails, the client eventually agreed to pass communication over to one of his colleagues, who sent the information immediately, and the new website was finally published.

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