The customer, instead of the promised 3 hours of my time, has been making edits for the 4th day, what should I do?

Question

Freelance

The situation is this: this is my first order for Elance, the customer said that he was on fire and had to do the work in three hours. The work has been dragging on for the 4th day because he is on the move changing his mind about what to do. Rather, he is an intermediary and supposedly the client changes his mind on the go, with whom I did not communicate, but only know about his existence. The edits are very stupid, I'm tired of redoing them, there is a suspicion that they will not end for a long time. Or never end. Who had such situations as razrulivali?

Answer 1

I met somewhere on the Internet a note called, if I'm not confused, "We do the last job for free."
The author does not start a new work until full payment for the already completed.
I do pretty much the same thing.
Did you work 3 hours? Money for a barrel, and we work further.
The first work may be the last and possibly free ... And it happens.

Answer 2

Return the money if he paid you something, close the project and give the customer a negative review. This will be the easiest. Before closing the project, make sure that it is clear from the correspondence on the exchange website that it requires something else, but does not want to pay extra for it. If I'm not mistaken, then a closed project for which not a cent has been paid will not appear in your history. At least that's the case on oDesk.
Also, oDesk has a rule according to which a customer cannot be an agency if he has registered as a customer. If he "proxies" the work, then he is an agency, and the agency cannot publish orders. He breaks the rules. This is another point that can help you if you enter into some kind of dispute with a client. Again, it is important that he mentions in personal correspondence on the exchange website that he, they say, is an intermediary, and not a customer - if he did not mention this, then you need to somehow divorce him for this.
Otherwise, in similar situations, I usually balk and say that there is no way I can continue to work until I receive payment for what was agreed. I add all sorts of fantastic stories that, as if they recently threw me like that and I can’t trust anyone, etc. etc. Everything here is limited by the imagination. The main thing: in no case be rude to a person, you can politely send three letters, twisting everything in such a way that the customer will be delighted.
The main thing, and not only in such situations, is not to pull the rubber. The softer and more pliable you are, the longer you put off questions that are “unpleasant” for the client, the more often others will use it, pushing you as far as possible. This does not mean that you need to be rude and rude to everyone right and left, it means that you need to immediately inform others that something does not suit you - politely, but firmly.
I can only sympathize with your situation, but sooner or later everyone faces this. Over time, a sense simply develops, which allows you to immediately see that a particular project is published by an inadequate client. As Alexgilev said(half an hour ago :) ), all sorts of phrases, like: “urgently”, “my programmer friend told me that there is work for five minutes”, “an hour or two for those who are in the know”, “quick money”, etc. .P. is one of the signs of inadequacy.

Answer 3

My advice to you from a person who has been on eLance for 4 years. Never apply for jobs with titles that contain phrases like: 'Urgent', 'Easy job', 'Should be a quick thing'. Firstly, it will not end in anything good, secondly, they will take out your brain and thirdly, you will not even add this work to your portfolio, because it will turn out to be miserable, thanks to the client and his endless imagination.

Answer 4

You should talk with the customer and explain to him that the tasks went beyond the agreed and he can, for example, pay extra.

Answer 5

You had to create a list of works and continue to show work only on it. if the client comes up with something that was not agreed upon, then you must do this work for an additional fee. payment, and only after the initial list of tasks has been submitted and paid.

Answer 6

Referring to the initial TOR, ask for payment first, saying that according to that TOR everything is already ready, and then for each hour of invented edits, agree separately on the cost.
Clients very often like to do this, because. at first they only have thoughts, and then seeing this in reality, many additional ideas appear, and this could be so, but this is so, but this is still so and there it is in a different way. Therefore, the implementation of the initial TK -> payment, additional services for finalization for a separate cost.

Answer 7

and hourly not:?

Answer 8

There are interesting options
Of course, to appeal to him to understand how hard it is for you - this will only harm the cause.
Change this attitude towards the customer to this - he is trying to deceive you and ride on your back. But if you punch him in the face, then you won't get money, try to act wisely. The immediate question is how?
1. Speech reception - " I understand correctly that this is the last thing you do not like? " After that, see how he answers. If he starts to claim that he doesn’t, “you yourself see that this is far from all,” you answer with his own weapon, “but you yourself see that we have been cooperating for free for 4 days, do you think that this is my fault? I mean, mine and more draw? Let's think about what to do!"
2.Limit yourself to the last list of improvements - one sheet, no more, no less. When he brings you a sheet for verification, you will find yourself in the position of an evaluator and you can say - I’ll fix this jamb, it’s easy, but this one is no longer a refinement, development is needed here, and the allocation of funds
3. Appeal to his self-interest . If you still haven’t yelled at him - then he sees that you are a worthy person - instead of three hours you’ve been doing it for three days (exception - if he considers himself the most cunning type in the world, you would feel it) - say that if so work and not earn money, then it's easier for you to go find a useful person than to spend your life without guarantees, and most importantly, say that "he understands this very well." If it's easier - try to hint that a little more and you're leaving. He must confirm that he understood it.
4. Say " of course I understand that if we break this deal now, then I will lose first of all , so the point is that I am interested in a permanent job, and I give guarantees for it! If it seems to you that these guarantees should go to a gift, then let's better see what I will lose if I ask for a few rubles for them? (this is already an edge and a very impudent move)
5. Ask the left person to write to your customer , say that you are ill and that he is from you, asked to accept the last list of corrections for evaluation, said that he would work despite the illness, and therefore really asks you put it all on one list.

Answer 9

Did the job - ask for money. If you are already making corrections, then set the conditions - two amendments after the delivery of the work are free, then - for money.
Then the customer will already think and put the exact amendments.

Answer 10

Tell me, if there was only one budget, but the customer initially brought down the price, is there a possibility of paying them a lower price for the order if there is a different amount in the budget? I for myself, you need to know if there will be any whims again. In general, of course, the first pancake is lumpy ...

Answer 11

it is not reasonable to take on edits without a clear approval and understanding of the list of works
, the ticket system is a good analogue here.