Sometimes the customer isn't always nice

Rude customers are sometimes hard to deal with. I've been working with
one of my brides to finish her wedding album and she's driving me
crazy.
Her wedding was a year ago and she's mad at me that she's just now
getting her album, but then she didn't make the final decisions on
photos until
the end of May 2004. I told her that it takes 2-3 months to complete a
wedding album, but that hers would take even longer because she wanted
a custom made album with special pages in it. So, I told her it would
take at least another month for that. So, for her the clock started
ticking and she
expected it in two months because she was moving out of state.

Well, after trying to order the album I discovered that the
manufacturer would not do a custom album like I needed. I was stuck.
I told the bride that
I was checking with some other manufacturers, but they wouldn't do it
either. She was adamant about the design and didn't want to change it.
So,
I had to make the pages myself. They ended up looking nice, but I
wasn't 100% happy with it. So, I shipped off the album and guess what
happened?
It got caught in one of the hurricanes and was completely damaged!
Nothing was salvageable; $700 down the drain.

I informed the bride in August and told her that I needed to re-order
the album cover, pages, materials, photos etc. She wasn't happy and
started complaining.
What was I to do?

Round 2: Another big expense and a lot of time. Everything finally
came in and as luck would have it. We were in the middle of moving and
I had to stop work on all of my projects. After pulling three
all-nighters and reprinting the photos about seven times the album was
done. It shipped via FEDEX overnight in time for her anniversary which
cost me $101 and as luck would have it, she hated it. She sent me a
terribly long email about how here whole family was distressed and that
she couldn't sleep at night etc, etc. Feeling really bad about the
whole thing, I sent her a special chocolate/coffee gift basket and a
day of pampering at a Spa in her town. The gifts went out
that day. No response from the bride. I actually had to call the
vendors to find out if they sent the gifts. They did. Hmm....

Round 3: The Bride sent back the album COD $59.00 along with 57
post-it notes telling me what was wrong with the album. She even added
a ton of changes for me to do digital liposuction on everyone of her
photos, on her mother, head swaps where people had their eyes closed
and too many other details to mention. She also sent a very long email
basically telling me that I was a horrible photographer and that I
needed to make all the changes ASAP or hire someone who could get the
job done. I was totally stressed out. She also sent me several nasty
voicemail messages. At this point, I basically had to shut down for a
few days. I didn't answer my email, voicemail or even work on her
album because I needed a timeout.

After a couple of days I resumed my hectic schedule and worked on the
album. I literally pulled two all-nighters to make it happen. The
another email arrived telling me that she wanted her cousin to inspect
the album before I mailed it to her. Mind you, her cousin is not a
photographer and does not have the same critical eye as her cousin.
So, I was in a dilemma. I finished the album, called the cousin and
then she arrived to "inspect" my work. She made a few changes to the
album and then I asked if her if she wanted to "inspect" it again. She
said it was fine to go with the changes. As soon as she left, I rushed
to get the work done. Rushed the photos through the lab and paid 200%
more for the fast work. Then I packaged the album so it would
withstand a nuclear blast and added five small albums for her to give
to her mother and all of her bridesmaids to make up for the hard
feelings and to redeem my reputation. The next day it shipped
overnight via USPS. I was so relieved that it was done that I just
slept and laid around the rest of the day.

The dreaded email: Several days later. I received another nasty gram
from the "Bride" and all she could do was talk about how terrible one
of the pages was in the album. No acknowledgment of the $1300 worth of
extra albums that I sent to her, or of all the work that I did on the
album to make her look beautiful in every single photo. She actually
demanded that slim her down in every single photo, basically lopping
off about 15 pounds. I won't even go into the plastic surgery I had to
do on her mother.
All I can say, is that I am a damn good digital artist! To add insult
to injury she even left me a nasty voicemail. I was so mad about how
ungrateful she was that I didn't return her email for a week.

Nearing the end: Today, I sent the Bride a note telling her that her
problem page was almost complete and that it would be sent out in a
couple of days. In my haste to get all of my wedding albums done, I've
finally finished her page and it will ship tomorrow.

I've had some difficult clients before, but she has been by far and
above the worst client for several reasons; 1) she was unhappy with
her wedding cake, 2) she was upset with how her divorced parents acted
around each other, 3) she was not happy with the way she looked (20
pounds over weight) and 4) she was unhappy about having to move to
North Carolina and so she focused all of her discontent, unhappiness
and boredom into and obsession over the photo album. I was the lucky
recipient of all of her unhappiness.

If I hadn't been pregnant through this whole process I would have
reacted differently, but every time I got a nasty gram from her or a
nasty voice mail I could feel my blood pressure go up and I just
couldn't deal with it at times. The other day, I figured out what it
cost me to complete her contract and it amazed me. She actually paid
me $3200 to photograph her wedding and provide her with an album and
all of the negatives. But after I tallied all of the hours and money
spent on her, the actual value was more than $6700! I couldn't believe
that I spent 166 hours working for her.

From now on, I'm adopting a new attitude about my work. 1) I can do
anything you like, but it may cost extra. 2) if you want it done right
and fast, it won't be cheap. 3) custom work just costs more. 4) I
won't sacrifice time with my family for someone who doesn't deserve it.
5) I'm not going to give anyone anything for free. 6) I'm only going
to love the people who love me back.

As self-employed people we will always encounter individuals who think
they can take advantage of us because we work out of our home and
therefore, do not consider us to be as legitimate as a storefront
owner. However, when we let someone into our home, we should be as
cautious as a lion in his own den and let everyone know what the ground
rules are up front and nobody gets hurt.