My $250 contract template saved me from a nightmare client

I spent $250 on a detailed contract template from a legal site after getting burned by a logo client last year. He kept asking for 'just one more version' and I did 8 rounds before saying no. The template had a clear 3 revision limit with a $50 fee per extra round. Has anyone else found a pre-made contract that actually stopped the endless tweaks?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_robin7d ago

I get the appeal of having a template with hard limits. But honestly $250 seems steep for something that might not hold up in your specific state. I had a similar template from LegalZoom and my client just ignored the revision cap. Said he'd take me to small claims over the "quality" issue. The template didn't stop him from dragging me back and forth for 3 more weeks. Ended up costing me more in time than the $50 per round I was charging.

wells.evan7d agoMost Upvoted

Haha yeah I've been there too, unfortunately. I tried using a template once and the client just ignored the deadline I set, saying the work wasn't "up to their standards." The template didn't stop them from emailing me every night for a week straight. I ended up doing three extra rounds of revisions for free just to avoid the headache of small claims court. At that point the template felt more like a suggestion than a real contract.

flores.mark7d ago

I gotta push back on what the_robin said about the template being too steep at $250 and not holding up. Look, $250 is nothing compared to what you lose doing 8 free revisions like the original poster did. I've been down that road where a client runs right past your limits because you never put them in writing in the first place. The template isn't magic, you still have to enforce it and be willing to walk away if they push too hard. If they threaten small claims over "quality" issues, that's when you point to the exact line in the contract that defines what "quality" means and how many rounds they get. A good template gives you the backbone to say no, and that alone is worth the money.