How to deal with this bad customer

wally666 · Dec 21, 2012

Fire this jerk. I do the same thing for a chiropractor who is really cheap, so we trade. But I know she doesn't really *get* why things are done. If they think they can post funny/interesting pics and get the likes, then screw 'em and let them do it themselves.

I know they are seeing what you do and saying "big deal, I can do that" but they can't. If they could...they wouldn't have hired you in the first place.

I have learned over and over that some of these jerks just don't get it. Let their FB page and business fail if they don't have a comprehension of how to do anything, and find a client who doesn't suck.

You can try 1 more time though. Say something like "This isn't about posting a funny picture and getting paid. I understand the WHY and HOW that will get you more fans, but if that's not working for you or you think you can do it, then maybe we should part ways"

Or..

"Blow me, you asshole....do it yourself"

One of those should work.

upl8t · Dec 21, 2012

Walk now. It won't get better. It never does. When you end up in a deal like this where there are no defined expectations on each others part... you end up with what you have now. Time to move on before it gets real messy and sucks up all your time and energy.

skgoa · Dec 22, 2012

Thanks for all the great answers! And sorry for the formatting, I was pretty agitated.
As has been said above, I guess this is a valuable business experience. Because yes, I definitely should have seen it coming. Everything about that company seemed unprofessional right from the start.

Having taken the different views into account, I decided the very next thing I am going to do is to compile a detailed list of what the additional services he claims he expected me to do would entail (in terms of what I would be doing and thus would bill him for) and what that would cost him. He can either take it or leave it. TBH I should have insisted on this from the start. I guess you shouldn't let the client do all the talking after all.
I fully expect that to result in nothing other than us not coming to any terms that I would find acceptable. Which would be for the best anyways, judging by the experiences people wrote about in this thread.

BTW we had agreed on ?400/month (i.e. a smaller project but not insignificant) and in my case "local" means eastern Germany.

Funnyly enough though, if anything this has given me the drive to really take action now. I've started implementing several methods for my own profit, instead of being content with working for others.

partymarty4870 · Dec 22, 2012

SkyrocketSEO said:
Sounds like UK client? Maybe I am wrong but in my case 90% of UK clients end up being some lame ass jerks. I don't have anything against UK in general, it's just my statistic. They are always like:"I expected Don Draper meets Shakespeare ." for the lowest possible rate on the Earth.
On the other side the best clients : Australia

thats because of how much we drink, and because all our women walk around in bikini's all day

danny0085 · Dec 22, 2012

Avoid this kind of customer

balamut · Dec 22, 2012

danny0085 said:
Avoid this kind of customer

Unfortunely you wanted or not but you can't, you just have to learn how to deal with it.

wally666 · Dec 22, 2012

skgoa said:
Thanks for all the great answers! And sorry for the formatting, I was pretty agitated.
As has been said above, I guess this is a valuable business experience. Because yes, I definitely should have seen it coming. Everything about that company seemed unprofessional right from the start.

Having taken the different views into account, I decided the very next thing I am going to do is to compile a detailed list of what the additional services he claims he expected me to do would entail (in terms of what I would be doing and thus would bill him for) and what that would cost him. He can either take it or leave it. TBH I should have insisted on this from the start. I guess you shouldn't let the client do all the talking after all.
I fully expect that to result in nothing other than us not coming to any terms that I would find acceptable. Which would be for the best anyways, judging by the experiences people wrote about in this thread.

BTW we had agreed on â‚¬400/month (i.e. a smaller project but not insignificant) and in my case "local" means eastern Germany.

Funnyly enough though, if anything this has given me the drive to really take action now. I've started implementing several methods for my own profit, instead of being content with working for others.

Good for you. Believe me I know it's tough when you are just trying to get going and get a client, just to make some money. But the ones like this suck, and just aren't worth it.

Doing this marketing stuff is the first time in my life I have seen people just assume they can do it too and so why should they pay you. I had a local bar want the same kind of Facebook thing with getting new fans and running viral coupons and all of that. When I gave them the price, they said "Wow, we can't afford that, but why don't you give us a price that is fair for both of us".

F**k off, that WAS fair you bastards.

Anyway,.....good luck!

OfflineMaster · Dec 22, 2012

I agree...we do "specials" and they have a definite expiration or "you must pay before" date. I can't tell you how many people go, "I'm sure you can still give me that discount in 2 weeks." Nope, sorry, you can pay now and start your calls later, but if you can't afford it, that's not my problem.

Our prices set our value. If you don't see the value, you will be a pain in the butt as my customer. I want you happy, but I want you invested. If you pay pennies for what I do, then you're going to feel like you can run the show, and you won't see WHY you're paying me to do it.

Trust me, if they knew how to do what you do, they wouldn't have called in the first place.

How to deal with this bad customer

wally666

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upl8t

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skgoa

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partymarty4870

Elite Member

danny0085

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balamut

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wally666

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OfflineMaster

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