Advice on how to deal with this client please.

[groveChuck]

qftmft

:grin:

ROTFLMFAO!

Seriously, read mcgee's grinder link- lots to learn there:
http://library.creativecow.net/lindeboom_ron/clients_or_grinders/1

In the future, I do all of this type of work when first dealing with a client:

• I will generally do a few emails or phone calls so that we both know what we're really discussing, perhaps a physical meeting depending on the scale of the job.

• Sometimes an entire proposal for the production would be in my hands if I am effectivey acting as the producer or even complete production entity for the job (as it appears you were).

• I generally ask for payment in thirds: one third upon the client accepting my proposal for how I will execute the job (that is generally a basic budget, a time table and a Scope Of Work document), the second payment at commencement of production (as in "hand me a check before I pull out the camera) and the final third upon completion and delivery (when I hand over the finished work, often in the form of a hard drive).

• It doesn't matter how small the job or how green you are. Work is work and we must all strive to be professional.

• For a smaller job this could probably all be handled in a short email of a paragraph or two, but the basic information is the same.

Excellent, Mitch! And an industry standard.
Should be a sticky for all the new guys that keep getting in these situations. :thumbsup:

This applies to the "underpaid" thread, too.

Scope of Work is one of the most important aspects of an agreement, because it Spells. Out. Exactly. What. You're. Agreeing. To.

And if the scope starts expanding in a form of mission creep, it's incumbent upon you to say "Wait. This is what we agreed to. If you would like more, I'll be glad to help, but it will cost $XYZ more."

Jason, can you stick this???

 

[Searcher]

I didn't mean to be condescending. Apologies for that. I meant to be brutally honest. Chalking it down as several lessons learned is the best outcome. Take your pain and move on to better things.

Hey no hurt feelings. I know that I made mistakes.

 

[Searcher]

:grin:

ROTFLMFAO!

Seriously, read mcgee's grinder link- lots to learn there:
http://library.creativecow.net/lindeboom_ron/clients_or_grinders/1



Excellent, Mitch! And an industry standard.
Should be a sticky for all the new guys that keep getting in these situations. :thumbsup:

This applies to the "underpaid" thread, too.

Scope of Work is one of the most important aspects of an agreement, because it Spells. Out. Exactly. What. You're. Agreeing. To.

And if the scope starts expanding in a form of mission creep, it's incumbent upon you to say "Wait. This is what we agreed to. If you would like more, I'll be glad to help, but it will cost $XYZ more."

Jason, can you stick this???

Yeah I certainly feel like there's not as much talk about this stuff on here as there could be. There's some mega thread on here about how to find work but having people talk about how to deal with clients once you get it would be great too. Maybe there is such a thread and I can't find it?

 

[stip]

Listen to your gut feeling. Don't put any more work into this. Try to get your money. As I understood you covered the whole concert, just 2 hours of the presumably most boring shot are missing? You might have never covered anything of the 3.5 additional hours of concert if you only had media for the assessed 3.5 hours with you.

My advice would be, don't invest any more time or nerves into this client, try to get your money, it's yours already.

 

[Searcher]

Thanks stip for advice. In the end I took the approach of simply breaking up our relationship as painlessly as possible. I apologised for deleting the footage and gave the footage back. He still wanted me to edit it but he was obviously a grinder from the second email so I just wanted out.

Lessons learned and I move on.

 

[EDV]

I did a similar gig years ago. 2 Cameras ( from different angles ), edit of 4 specific songs only plus interview with lead singer.
Gig was under 3 hours.
I had to hire one camera with tripod ( $180 ),
pay a friend to work as an assistant carrying equipment ( a big part of the job ) $50
Transport and parking fees ( $30 )

They payed me $600 for it and I thought $800 would have been a fair price ( HD was kind of new when I did it )
Doing it for $250 wouldn't have allowed me to break even.

 

[Patryk_Rebisz]

On a pro set deleting a card means we'll NEVER work again together.

However at $250 you are not a pro (even if you are a pro), you are a hobbyist and as such you can f-up. Lesson learned to both of you. If you want pro treatment - demand proper rates. Lesson for him - if you want pro treatment - you need to pay up.

 

[Searcher]

On a pro set deleting a card means we'll NEVER work again together.

However at $250 you are not a pro (even if you are a pro), you are a hobbyist and as such you can f-up. Lesson learned to both of you. If you want pro treatment - demand proper rates. Lesson for him - if you want pro treatment - you need to pay up.

Yes there's not much worse than deleting a card. I wouldn't work with me again either! This thread was in no way my attempt to wiggle out of the severity of that offence. I realise now it was simply a thread about how to deal with a grinder. The deleted card just complicated the whole thing.