Emergency situation with a client

[marijapetrusek9]

Hi! I have a situation, so I need your opinion. I made an agreement with the client at the beginning for cooperation and he himself sent me the schedule when he wants me to publish his posts. I respected that schedule. My package includes 20 posts per month, and he decided to post every third or fourth day, and I agreed to adapt to him and say that it's okay and if it suits him, we will cooperate. I ask each client to let me know if something is wrong, and I sent posts for review throughout the month, I corrected every mistake and everything was fine. The end of cooperation has come, the last day. He wrote to me in the chat that he expected some things to be understood, the messages led to the fact that my work was not right and he told me to send him the other number of posts at once so that he could post them. I don't know what to do now because he asked me to make those 6-7 posts and that's it, and now I have 13-14 more posts left that I can't do in one day because he didn't even announce it to me, he just said it now at the last minute. We worked together for another week because he ordered the package too early and all the details we agreed on were clear, I don't know if it could be clearer. I said that I would work for free for that week after the package expired, because we were negotiating the details that week. I don't know if I'm disorganized or if it's simply a client who doesn't know what he wants and doesn't know how to communicate.

[newsmike]

14 minutes ago, marijapetrusek9 said:

I don't know if I'm disorganized or if it's simply a client who doesn't know what he wants and doesn't know how to communicate.

... or is trying to scam you. The best advice I can offer you is to ask "Did I deliver everything that was promised in the offer and in my gig description?" If the answer is yes, then stick to your guns and do not agree to a cancel. TOS backs you on this. It states: 

 “orders are not eligible to be cancelled based on the quality of service/materials delivered by the seller if the service was rendered as described in the gig page."

https://www.fiverr.com/terms_of_service

The fact that he waited till last minute suggests scammer to me. Go get 'em.

Edited April 17, 2023 by newsmike

[imagination7413]

24 minutes ago, marijapetrusek9 said:

I don't know if I'm disorganized or if it's simply a client who doesn't know what he wants and doesn't know how to communicate.

I suspect a bit of both. Managing a client's expectations (what you will do AND what your won't do) is a big part of every freelancer's job. Proactive communication is also how you feel out how invested in the task a (potential) client is, and can hint at early warning signs and red flags that could happen.

Your post is a bit unclear as well, so the client might want out if they're detecting red flags from you about communication issues, and just not bringing it up with you.

You mentioned that details were still being worked out. If it can at all be avoided, it's not a good idea to start work on an order unless you have everything you need to complete it. Did you or the Buyer look into making this a Milestone Order, before the initial order was placed, or was it bought directly from your gig without prior communication?

Edit:

Is this the same Buyer you posted about back in February? 

Edited April 17, 2023 by imagination7413

[marijapetrusek9]

53 minutes ago, imagination7413 said:

I suspect a bit of both. Managing a client's expectations (what you will do AND what your won't do) is a big part of every freelancer's job. Proactive communication is also how you feel out how invested in the task a (potential) client is, and can hint at early warning signs and red flags that could happen.

Your post is a bit unclear as well, so the client might want out if they're detecting red flags from you about communication issues, and just not bringing it up with you.

You mentioned that details were still being worked out. If it can at all be avoided, it's not a good idea to start work on an order unless you have everything you need to complete it. Did you or the Buyer look into making this a Milestone Order, before the initial order was placed, or was it bought directly from your gig without prior communication?

Edit:

Is this the same Buyer you posted about back in February? 

I also have doubts about my organization because I've been having some problems lately, so maybe it affects my work and the organization itself. He is a customer from the beginning when I still didn't know how to arrange everything. We negotiated for 3 days and everything was quite clear. I got all the details. He decided to order and I was okay with that because I have everything. After the order, he continued to negotiate, which I think was unnecessary, but I guided myself by pleasing him and making him feel safe to cooperate. I didn't think that the arrangement would last 7 days, because if I had known that he would continue with it, I would have told him to order the package when we finish that part, so that everything goes according to plan. The whole month he was perfectly fine, he didn't say anything. He didn't say either "Can you please include this topic in our posts?", "Can you elaborate on this topic?" It's not going to happen. In the end, everything I mentioned happened. At the last minute, he said everything in 10 messages. I consider it disrespectful of my time and what I said at the beginning. I'm always the person who tells the clients if something is wrong to tell me and I'll fix it quickly.

[imagination7413]

3 hours ago, marijapetrusek9 said:

After the order, he continued to negotiate, which I think was unnecessary

You have a contract. After the order is placed, it shouldn't be negotiated. That's what is known as a "change order". If the Buyer wants changes to what was already agreed on, you should be ready to notify them on the cost of the change, so that they can make an informed decision on if they really need the change and if so to be ready to pay for it. 

I agree with @newsmike, you are being taken advantage of. Unfortunately you've already compromised your contract, as you've already agreed to work outside the scope. You must set your own boundaries. 

It's up to you if you want to fight, but you should probably brace yourself to this resolving in a expensive lesson in management and customer service.