Shoutout to the client who ghosted me after I fixed their entire WordPress site for $500

I spent three weekends rebuilding this guy's e-commerce store in Austin, Texas, because it was crashing every hour. He kept saying 'payment next week' for two months, then blocked me on everything. Has anyone else dealt with a client who disappeared after the work was done?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan27123h ago

Always take half payment upfront before you even touch their site, especially for small business owners. That $250 deposit would have saved you from eating three weekends of work. Get them to sign a simple contract too, even if it's just an email agreement saying payment is due upon completion. Blocking you after the fact means they knew exactly what they were doing, and that's on them, not you.

dylan_ward18h ago

The $300 I lost on a bakery website last year would have been covered by exactly what @logan271 is saying. I used to think asking for half up front felt like I didn't trust the client, but after getting burned twice I finally learned my lesson. Now I send a simple invoice for 50 percent before I even start any design work or touch their hosting. It's not about being rude, it's about covering your time and materials if they decide to ghost you. A one-page contract with basic terms like "payment due within 30 days" has saved me from three other clients trying to stretch payments late. Honestly, I hate that it has to be this way, but small jobs for small businesses seem to be where the risk is highest.

milesbarnes17h ago

That whole part about small jobs for small businesses being the highest risk really stuck with me. Have you noticed a pattern where the clients who push back most on the upfront deposit are the same ones who later give you trouble? I keep wondering if the deposit itself acts as a filter, like if they balk at half now they were probably going to be a pain either way. Maybe that $300 loss was actually cheap tuition in learning to spot the red flags early.