so sorry that this happened to you, it SUCKS 🤦‍♂ I went through a similar thing early this year and I just ended up cutting communication after a while. Very very similar thing and they just kept wanting revisions (after I already included 3 in the price) so I offered to send the edited+raw files over - and they wouldn't even want to pay me for that 1 hour for the time it would have taken for me to render it all out and do that. I have a contract they sign, even for the smallest project - and they have signed it before we got started. I'm sorry, but there are only so many favors I can do for someone.... It's all in writing, all we can do is be nice and recognize the gut feeling beforehand not to take those projects. Cause I sure had that with this one. / Also, side note: it's ALWAYS the smallest projects with beginner artists/clients, and it's always on thing you're already giving them favors on top of the fee haha / follow the good vibes and put yourself first proud of you! 🥰❤

i quit filmmaking because of a bad client. i made my own mistakes too but the nail in the coffin really was a bad client. a bad experience with a bad client made me decide to stop filmmaking in my free time and just rest instead. client gave me a deposit of 1300. she wanted to shoot a video at a yoga studio. she didn't tell me she didn't own the studio and the owner wouldn't let us film because they had a regular class scheduled. client and i decide to shoot at a park on a different day. different day comes and i get to the park. we actually got some shots done but then about half an hour in she's not "feeling it" and says it's "totally gonna show in the video" so we stop and then... we go pick her son up from school and then we go to her house. she makes dinner and we talk about shooting a different day. i stay for dinner because yes food. but then later she goes to put her son to bed and i frickin leave. few days go by and she whatsapps me saying she can't shoot that week because she's going to Morocco. I say ok no problem but then we have to wait until next month because i'm going to Philippines the following week so we have to shoot when i get back. she freaked out like "wtf you can't go to the Philippines it's not vacation time for you we have a contract we're already so delayed" for real that's how she responded, plus curses and exclamation marks. and so i sent her back a grand, told her "i quit. i've returned 1000 and i'm keeping 300 to cover the work we did. goodbye" and i waited for her to freak out again. she immediately freaked out again, claiming we did no work and i owe her photos and video. i tell her uhhh yes we did, i packed my bags and showed up twice for you, and we actually do have photos and video from that one day in the park. she tells me she's gonna post screenshots of our whatsapp conversation EVERYWHERE like yelp and google and all over social media. and i tell her go ahead and she left me a string of voice memos saying no fuck you lmao and so then i told her hey if i give you back the other 300 do you promise to drop this whole shit, let me quit, and leave me alone forever? she agreed. i sent her the 300 and i told her ok you got my time, my effort, parts of my sanity, and all of your money back. keep your promise. she said okay. haven't heard from her since.

Good thing you had your communications saved. Thanks for the knowledge & tips Mario!

Cheap clients always cause the most amount of problems. Thought I do think you should have an up-sell on the reivsions during the discovery process.

This video should be getting a lot more attention. I feel you... I really do. I'm needing to update my contracts to include a few things. One of the clauses I want to add is something like this- "My video production company will only communicate with one party for the duration of the entire shoot (including pre and post-production). We will only communicate with the one and only decision maker." Something like that. I get so bothered when I'm working with one person at a company, and all of a sudden, other employees or their marketing agency people jump into the email sequence and start giving opinions. It's the worst. Goodluck friend! EDIT: Also, one thing I've noticed is that this happens to me when I don't do a proper pre-production session. That pre-production session should be where we establish the rules and shoot going forward.

I completely feel you on this ! To be fair your girl warned you twice. But I do get it, you try to help people out and be creative but it tends to backfire. The people that pay the least always want the most ! Keep rocking and the right/easy going clients will continue to come !

Love the transparency, need more content like this🙌🏻

Never overlook red flags you get in those early convos.. I leave “money on the table” plenty of times if I sense a headache coming.. also my girl will read people instantly like that too, they’re always right haha

Haha I have a business call tomorrow with a client to talk about revisions. So this was a fun video to watch and get me prepared for what might come lmao I do corporate videography and this one client that I've just started doing a few projects with has kinda been a headache when it comes to revisions. I take on some of their projects becaue the money is unfortunately too good for me to pass up at the moment, but I honestly just do the same thing you do. I have a thorough conversation prior to shooting, make sure they understand everything, and then I personally ALWAYS go that extra mile with my customer service to make it known their getting a great deal (i.e. sometimes staying a little later to get "the shot", turnaround video edits WAY before they're expecting them, interviewing a couple extra people even though we only prepped for 2, etc.). And so when those times come at the end when they try and milk me for more, it just makes me feel a little better when I either tell them "no" OR "sure, but before we continue I'll be sending an invoice for the amount needed to do X and once received, I'll get started" (unless it's an on-set favor, in which case depending on the request, I send the invoice later that night). If they complain, I not only reiterate and sometimes even show them what it says in the contract, but then I start bringing up the extra mile stuff I've already done for them and then hope that calms them down. I haven't run into a client just yet that's gone as far as slanders me for it. Most will either ghost me after I send a quote or they'll think about it for a bit and sometimes pay out. These situations fucking suck and I honestly get anxiety when talking to clients about contract, revisions, money, etc... I just wanna create man... but unfortunately, running a business means you gotta take care of business from all ends...

You handled it well and now you’re more aware of the early red flags (right before you said your girl warned you I was thinking the same cuz we really do be knowing lol). It’s nice that your true intention is to help artists have access to quality work so don’t let one bad apple discourage you. You were clear from the beginning about what they would get and that’s that. As soon as someone starts complaining from the start it’s worth thinking about accepting the work. Being nice to the wrong people will always drain you. Stay blessed!

Mario you know we don't do cheap project for this reason. 1 stop that project or 2 stop that project lol. Cheap work always bring headache

First thing First! your girl called that BS out yhu should of listened cause they be knowing haha.. secondly yhu should of refund them when it was starting to get weird..last but not least yhu did the right thing by being considerate and being a businessman..But all this could of been avoided if you would of followed your first mind...This just a lesson bro! we all get frustrated !..next time don't ignore the signs

bro u spitting facts!

nice one on this insight

Hi! I got written down contract in 4 pages, when they put a signature thats it. If they have issues later on they can go to court. They always have to check my previous work and if they agreed, they agreed. In contract also states how much it costs for all extras if they want to change it! I had a couple people, they sent me 14 pdf pages for changes, i just told them you agreed on my rules, and i can charge you extra to change, or you can find another editor.And couple just understood and went away. Its all about contracts not a text messages or phone calls!

Always good to have this stuff over text which ya did. I guess out of 20 clients, you now know it’s probably a good call now to include that any revision rounds will be an additional $250. Either way, you were clear and concise, you just had a super difficult client.

I literally just put out a video on this same type of topic . Dealing with Artists can be very problematic. Especially in HipHop. I’ve been threatened as well had guns drawn on me as well. Thank I also come from that element and was able to handle it but I get scared sometimes for people who’ve never had to deal with that before. It can get real tweaky in the music video space. Hopefully you don’t let this situation take you away from being a creative.

I always tell new clients that if they want to do a 1 off video, they can find someone else.. I'm here to grow with them and make assets to make them successful in the long run. If they stuff up with small things like that you know it already...They don't want to pay a miserable extra few hundreds for your hard work? Just leave it, it's a client you don't want in the first place. Just keep clients that are respectful, see the value in what you do and always excited to make new cool projects with you. Why stressing with this, don't waste your time with close minded people.

What is a "live" video? I feel your pain. As content visionaries, we bring the clients vision to life. We have the experience and knowledge to do so in any circumstance. Pay attention to red flags. If I feel some $&^T is going to cause me a headache, it's not worth it. Refer the client to another creative executer.

This was an annoying client not a bad client. I'm a photographer and had way worse situations than this. This is par for the course. My advice is if things like this make you feel like you should quit or give up then maybe you should because people are going to try you often. As he said just have everything in text or written down.