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Shoutout to the client who ghosted me after $800 of work
Had a small web dev project lined up with a repeat client from last year. They asked for a custom analytics dashboard, said budget was fine, no contract needed since we worked before. I spent about 30 hours building it over two weeks. When I sent the invoice for $800, they stopped replying to emails and calls. I shouldve gotten a signed contract with a deposit upfront. Learned my lesson the hard way. Has anyone else had an old client just disappear like that?
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the_betty2d ago
Wait, did you actually invoice them for the full $800 before you even finished the project? Or was that the final amount after you delivered the whole thing? I'm asking because if you sent the invoice after all the work was done with zero payment up front, thats a pretty big red flag even for a repeat client. Most folks I know at least get a 50% deposit on the first milestone so they're not fully exposed like that. Was there any warning signs in the previous project they did with you last year? Like did they pay slow or argue about scope back then? That might have been a clue you missed.
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aliceharris1d ago
Yeah the whole "trust until they prove you wrong" thing backfires way too often in real life...
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