Some clients...

[neato]

And I don't mean to either.... been taking Prednisone for a few weeks and it sucks.

Sorry, hope all is well!

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Sorry, hope all is well!

Thankfully its working this time and I am getting better, just the side effects of agitation and pounding heart rate are unpleasant... on the flip side though, I can hurl my 28' fiberglass extension ladder around like it's a feather..

 

[TimToad]

I'm not even going to read this whole thread, I already know what the other posts are going to say, because this place is nothing if not consistent.

You shouldn't have to tell a customer that you do design work for that modifying existing files for them is going to cost them money. Anybody suggesting otherwise is, at best, woefully ignorant.

Everybody has a different business model and approach to customer relations. Phil revealed that this client only came to him for design work, was a high volume customer and never questioned a fee before.

I take him at his word and trust that he wasn't trying to pull anything on some unsuspecting, unaware client.

We judge each case of these kind of scenarios individually and usually base it on the dynamic we share with each client. Regular, mutually respectful and friendly interactions without an adversarial tone earns an occasional free file transfer or edit.

We are doing both design and producing signs, decals, etc. For the vast majority of clients. In a design intensive business like we're discussing, one's labor is the primary thing being transacted. Without material markups and profits added in to offset the costs some are suggesting we just throw in, a graphic designer is being paid strictly on the labor they provide.

Late payers who give us grief, are overly demanding, not friendly or cooperative, ETC. Pay for EVERYTHING we do for them.

 

[gabagoo]

On a side not, I agree that your time is worth something and $15 is not going to break the customers bank...but a $15.00 invoice costs at least that in typing up the invoice generating a printout / emailing the invoice, then waiting for payment...( with the posibility of having to call for payment) then depositing said payment and then pulling the invoice and finally posting that it has been paid. I say they pay CASH!!!! lol

 

[StarSign]

I'm getting ready to bill a customer for the time it took to read these posts.

 

[equippaint]

I think Neato's problem is, if you are using a hamburger joint for an analogy is the people who get the meal with a drink and keep on going back to the soda dispenser and keep on filling their cup up for free. In fact his customer is the guy who bought a meal a long time ago and saved the cup and came back in with his saved cup to fill it up without buying anything.

Very true... never thought of it that way. That's the reason for the free refills on same visit only signs. If it's not in writing, some people will take advantage of things every chance they get.

 

[TimToad]

If you're spending $10 on a hamburger, why are you complaining about .50? It's their business model and I think they're doing something right.

If Whataburger's sauce packets that Kerning? Texas_Signmaker? ( sorry, I get confused on which identity it is from month to month) is complaining about are anything like the EXTRA sauce you can get at In N Out Burger, it's like a 2oz packet about 6 times the size of a typical ketchup packet. If the ample amount of sauce that the burger comes with to start isn't enough for someone, they should be prepared to pay a little for more.

 

[Gino]

Are you still on that crap ?? Try to stay up with the program and stay focused.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Lol, I have him blocked...I hit "show ignored content" to see what you were responding to...waste of time... I made the right decision on keeping him on the block list along with CNN

 

[Stacey K]

Talking about wasting time - here's a good one. I have a client who also rents from me that is making stand for event fairs. He has spent hours talking to me about this stand that he expects me to make and how he's going to operate his racetrack. I said I don't make stands, I make the signs that go on them. So, he runs to the store, buys a 6' table, brings to my shop again, expects me to make the top braces for him...or I should do the engineering. I said no, I'm not interested. I don't make stands. He left the table there for me to "think about". I said I'm not doing it - I don't know the first thing about making stands. Comes back with pvc piping to make this stand in my shop! He brings a drill and starts working on it and tells me to help him. I said I'm not helping, just tell me what size to make the sign. Hold this, hold that, do you have masking tape, a tape measure...NO I'm not helping - I have to charge you if you expect me to stand here all afternoon and help you, I have work to do (I had some serious deadlines that week). Next day, brings a helper and asks me how to apply the sign with velcro. Seriously, I'm ready to blow a gasket by this time. I finally yelled at him to stop talking to me because I have work to do. Calls me at night, calls me on Saturdays to see if he can work on his table - drives past to see if I'm here at night. NO...get your table out of my shop! He wants me to drive 2 hours every Friday this summer to sell t-shirts for him at his racetrack...NO, NOT INTERESTED. But you will make a lot of money...NO, NOT INTERESTED. You should hire someone to do it...NO, NOT INTERESTED. There's a possibility for a lot of business to come my way and he did order enough stuff and he is sort-of a friend based on the rental situation but TIME...TIME...TIME...I was mean about it and he didn't get the point. Finally, after enough b*tching to my boyfriend, he started getting mad (and concerned) so he stopped in when he was here and I introduced them. Now...I hadn't thought much about the 'creep factor' since this guy was born a guy, then changed to a woman and is now a guy again but my boyfriend said once a man, always a man. Suddenly, his next visit was short and to the point. Not sure what the moral of that story is but it's creepy and I always have a scissor in my back pocket now LOL

 

[Johnny Best]

I was reading the entire post and wondering why you did not punch the guy out for bugging you and then you said you bitched to your boyfriend and realized you were a girl, Stacey can be a boy's name. Then the guy bugging you turns out to be a Dude turned Dudette and then back to Dude.
Glad your boyfriend has taken care of the creepy situation for you.

 

[Gino]

I'm lost.................................

What do some of those things have to do with anything ??​

 

[Johnny Best]

Gino, you need to have some of the brownies Toad left in the lunchroom.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I took one look at that rant of a post and skipped right over it... Johnny's post compelled me to go back and read it... what a complete waste...thought I was going to read something juicy

 

[kcollinsdesign]

I tell my design clients to contact me any time they need a copy of the files they have purchased rights to or a minor revision. I explain to them if it only takes less than 10 minutes or so, I will not charge them. If it is more involved, they will be billed at my standard hourly rate. It takes me a few minutes to field the call, enter the job into the workflow, then produce an invoice and collect and deposit the payment. If I can satisfy them without having to bother with all that, I can afford to support them, and the knowledge that they will not have to pay for every trivial thing adds value to my service and encourages them to go ahead and contact me. It's a good touch point, and often results in new sales.