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I wasted $600 on a retainer fee contract that meant nothing

Last spring I signed a 6 month retainer with a marketing guy in Phoenix for $100 a month. He promised unlimited revisions and fast turnaround. After 3 months I had sent 12 emails and got maybe 4 short replies. He kept saying "I'll get to it" but nothing changed. Anyone else get burned by a retainer that was basically just a promise?
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3 Comments
torres.riley
It's like people forget that a promise without a deadline is just a nice thought, same as when my neighbor said he'd help fix my fence last summer.
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scott.alex
scott.alex20d agoMost Upvoted
yeah man I feel you. what finally worked for me was switching to a pay per deliverable setup instead. like I told this graphic designer I needed 4 social posts a week and he said great here's my rate per post. we set a deadline for each batch and that was it. no monthly promises, no guessing games. if he didn't deliver I just didn't pay. it really cut down on the runaround. I also started asking for a single sample project first as a trial before agreeing to anything bigger.
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the_mary
the_mary20d ago
Trial projects first should honestly be the standard for any retainer deal.
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