Someone expects complex work to be just a matter of 'pressing a button' in this anonymous account of client woes.
"I work as a typesetter and a book designer and was working on a book about makeup. About 60 pages into the project, I had the following conversation with the client:
Client: So, when are you going to start changing the font?
Me: Which font?
Client: All of them.
Me: I was never planning to.
Client: You need to. The font is too manly; it needs to be more feminine.
Me: It needs to be more feminine? You approved this layout and these fonts. You approved everything at every stage throughout the briefing process. I have a signed approval with this font in it. If I change it, I'll have to redesign much of the book, and I simply can't do that for free or as part of your edits.
Client: Well, to be honest, I thought you could just press a button and change it.
Me: A fair misunderstanding, but I'm afraid it's not so easy.
Client: Well, I can't afford to pay you any more for further work, and if you don't fix this, it's a clear breach of contract and I won't be paying you anything.
Me: It's not a breach of contract.
Client: Look, this is going to get messy if you keep this up. I assure that breaching a contract is serious and I can sue you for it –
Me: As per the conditions of our signed contract, in the case of a dispute, I'm going to burn you a disc with all my work. You can cut me a cheque for all the work I've completed so far, and you can feel free to use the remaining money to replace any fonts you want to.
Client: I think don't think we're understanding each other ...
Me: There's no misunderstanding on my part. You approved something, and I worked to those standards set out in a brief. It's your business to change those standards, but it's my business to protect myself if a client tries to bully me.
This article was originally published in issue 250 of net magazine. To read more stories of client nightmares, head over to Clients From Hell.
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