Difficult client- I had a bad experience with a buyer and she wants to continue working with me

[kimii_]

Hi, I decided to share a recent experience.

A client contacted me, and from the beginning, I had a strange feeling; I knew something was wrong, but I decided to ignore it since I was sick and had to be away from Fiverr for the last few months. This affected my sales, and when I returned, I was desperate for new orders.

She started the conversation on one account and continued on another, which I found strange. Her rating is 4.7 and 4.8, but she doesn't have any negative comments.

She complained about the prices and the deadline but still ordered a book cover as a test. As soon as she accepted the offer, the problems started. She asked for the character in a way and then asked me to change it completely. She wanted to add a spine to the cover but didn't know the measurement. I explained that I needed more information about this, and she didn't know how to tell me, and even so, she kept insisting on it. It took her days to respond to me, even though she had asked for a shorter deadline. She approved the sketch, but I had to ask for an extension because I couldn't meet the deadline.

After submitting the order, she asked me for three more revisions in total, with a list of demands and changes to different things each time, from changes that could have been made since I first sent the sketch to the font I used. I had to send her several new options to choose from because she didn't like them, and in the end, she said that the first one I had chosen would be ideal. This went on for another 11 days, and I even thought about canceling the order because I was exhausted, but I thought it was unfair since I had spent a lot of time on it. She reviewed me, but I don't know what she said since I haven't left my rating yet. For the first time, I intend to leave a negative comment to a buyer, I want to warn other sellers.

After that, she sent me a message asking for new illustrations. I told her we shouldn't continue with the project, and I explained my reasons. I thought it was over because I had seen her online several times and hadn't received any messages, which brought me relief. After two days, she came back, apologized, and said that she had no idea that it had been such a dramatic experience working with her and that she had done that number of revisions because she was undecided and wanted to test other options for the drawing. She said that she was willing to extend the deadline and pay me $5 more for each illustration.

I haven't replied yet because fortunately, I received other orders and didn't have time. I don't intend to continue working with her; it was very confusing, and if I had problems with just one cover, imagine the chaos with 21 illustrations. 

 

Now I'm thinking about changing the number of revisions I offer. I've never had problems with that before, but now I want to be prepared for future events. I'm also going to pay more attention to my intuition. The only times I've had problems here were when I ignored it.

Have you ever had similar experiences with clients? Did you give a low rating?

Have you ever had that feeling that you shouldn't work with someone, even without a reason at the beginning?