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Client asked for 'unlimited revisions' and I got burned on a $2k logo project
Took this client in Austin back in March. They wanted a brand identity package. I was new, didn't think to cap the revisions. Big mistake. They sent 47 rounds of changes over 6 weeks. Tiny tweaks like 'make the blue one shade darker' then 'actually lighter'. Finally pushed back and they threatened to leave a bad review. Lost $600 in real labor value after factoring time. Now I write '3 rounds of revisions' in every contract. No exceptions. Has anyone else had a revision clause save them?
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luna2611d ago
Ask if you started charging hourly after the first few rounds like gray314 mentioned. I'm curious why you didn't switch to a per-hour rate once you saw what was happening. Was it just being too nice or were you worried about losing the job entirely?
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shanes661d ago
47 rounds? Jesus. After like round 8 I would have just started sending back the same file with a different filename and seeing if they noticed. I had a client once ask me to rotate a logo 3 degrees left then 2 degrees right then back to exactly where it was and I realized some people just get off on the power trip of making you do pointless stuff. Your 3 round cap is smart but I'd also add a line that says "revisions must be grouped in batches of at least 3 changes" so they can't nickel and dime you one pixel at a time.
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47 rounds is nuts but honestly I gotta ask what kind of changes we're talking about. If they were just shifting colors back and forth you could have said "pick from these three options" after round three and moved on. I've had clients ask for tiny tweaks before and I just tell them no or charge hourly after the first few. A bad review from someone that unreasonable probably would have looked worse for them than you anyway.
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