Hey all, I have been dealing with this client from hell for two months now on a wall graphic project. The entire project has been done under a highly adversarial dynamic that she has projected and as a new business owner here, I was blindsided by. She went to college with the previous owner's daughter here at the shop, so I assumed at least some friendliness might prevail.
I've since found out from other local colleagues that she deals with everybody like this and most refuse to do business with her company.
They provided the artwork, have revised it multiple times, monkeyed with layer after layer, adjusted colors, etc. and we've provided proof after proof after proof, etc. all in good faith. The contract allowed for a few rounds of 24" x 48" proofs, color profile adjustments, but no reprints. We've already reprinted at full size once, printed the equivalent of another full set in proofs and went and installed what was verbally signed off as the final approved version on Friday.
We laid out the entire print on the floor, she said it looked great, we went about our business installing and throughout the 3 hour process she kept affirming how great it looked. It was a tough install because part of the wall is curved inward and the bottom part is flat. Plus, she wanted as few seams as possible and we did one horizontal seam on the upper panel. After we finished the install, she and all the other employees all raved about it and she told me to send her the invoice, which I take as an implicit "approval" of the finished work.
Now, she says the color doesn't match the proof she physically "signed off" on which was two sets of proofs ago, but she verbally approved the last set of proofs, just so we could "get this thing done and they could move on". She also says the continents don't line up between the upper and lower panel and we explained to her in the beginning that spanning a flat and a curved wall like that with a 2.5" wood shelf between the two would never fully align. when you stand directly in front of the wall, they line up.
My question is, can I just walk away from this pig? I don't even care anymore about getting paid the balance due? And I'm not about to return their deposit like they are now asking for.
I feel like we've done everything in our power to get a good print up there and if allowed to do so, she'd continue this forever. As things started going south, I tried to incorporate a clause into one of the proof approval sets making them at least partially responsible for the cost of any further reprints and they refuse to sign it.
Her bad mojo is infecting my shop and we need to move on to more reasonable customers.
Any thoughts or similar experiences I can relate to in order to find a solution?
I've since found out from other local colleagues that she deals with everybody like this and most refuse to do business with her company.
They provided the artwork, have revised it multiple times, monkeyed with layer after layer, adjusted colors, etc. and we've provided proof after proof after proof, etc. all in good faith. The contract allowed for a few rounds of 24" x 48" proofs, color profile adjustments, but no reprints. We've already reprinted at full size once, printed the equivalent of another full set in proofs and went and installed what was verbally signed off as the final approved version on Friday.
We laid out the entire print on the floor, she said it looked great, we went about our business installing and throughout the 3 hour process she kept affirming how great it looked. It was a tough install because part of the wall is curved inward and the bottom part is flat. Plus, she wanted as few seams as possible and we did one horizontal seam on the upper panel. After we finished the install, she and all the other employees all raved about it and she told me to send her the invoice, which I take as an implicit "approval" of the finished work.
Now, she says the color doesn't match the proof she physically "signed off" on which was two sets of proofs ago, but she verbally approved the last set of proofs, just so we could "get this thing done and they could move on". She also says the continents don't line up between the upper and lower panel and we explained to her in the beginning that spanning a flat and a curved wall like that with a 2.5" wood shelf between the two would never fully align. when you stand directly in front of the wall, they line up.
My question is, can I just walk away from this pig? I don't even care anymore about getting paid the balance due? And I'm not about to return their deposit like they are now asking for.
I feel like we've done everything in our power to get a good print up there and if allowed to do so, she'd continue this forever. As things started going south, I tried to incorporate a clause into one of the proof approval sets making them at least partially responsible for the cost of any further reprints and they refuse to sign it.
Her bad mojo is infecting my shop and we need to move on to more reasonable customers.
Any thoughts or similar experiences I can relate to in order to find a solution?
