Worst Type of Clients

[afox]

Oh man, I've got a list of bad clients. It's incredible the things they pull sometimes. At the time I will be seething, but looking back it's comical. But My worst client nightmare is a combination of This and That flying everywhere and going BOOM!!!! with the copyrighters. Those who actually want a completely identical site to a competitors. I've recently started declining work like that. If my empowering, "Think twice about this foolish mistake" speech doesn't sway them, I pass. Thanks anyway, but I'm not getting in any lawsuits :).

[SatanicPenguins]

Its always the smaller businesses that want an EXACT copy of their competitors.

"Take these pictures off www.****.com and use them on our page, and change the name to ours to. thats about it"

[Cwilk]

clients that "think" they know how to design and come prepared saying "can you do something like this?" - where in actual fact they've done a logo in word an flyer in publisher and actually want to use what they have "designed"

Totally agree with Ian on his point.

Also, it was the worst client, not 'bad' client. They are two different things.

I consider a client bad when they don't pay on time. They are considered the worst because while they pay on time and give you plenty of work to do, they always expect it right then and when you're in the middle of a deadline.

We were actually happy we lost this one huge client because we had to wait on them hand and foot. They always wanted a meeting right then.

BTW....that was Siegfried & Roy when we were in Vegas. And when we moved to CA, they dropped us completely (which we were happy for), but now they're using us again.

LOL : )

[jinny]

Some clients just won't accept that you're the designer and not them. Shame you have to be so polite all the time

[ianm]

don't let them walk all over you - be polite but firm, there is limit on how many times they should be able to change things around. and if someone is giving you too much trouble loose them.

[maritsaki]

The ones that try to come across as design conscious and say "I want this to be a really cool and innovative design and show how [I]creative and fresh we are[/i]" and in the end reduce all the great work you've done to a really conservative piece you'd be embarassed to say you had anything to do with it and that wouldn't even resemble a pathetic little sample of the creative thing they had asked for in the beginning... Makes you wonder what the fuss was all about in the first place and why you even bothered... :

Also the ones who manage to get you to give them a lower price and then try to squeeze out of you as much as they can out of you so they feel they're getting their money's worth when you know you have worked your ass off as much as for any other project...