Abandon ship? Have you terminated a contract?

[jimmiecat]

I have an extremely extremely shitty client. The contract is airtight, for sure I have room to abandon ship and be paid, and have copyrights still etc. so no problems there. But I guess ethically I'm having issues. The project is a logo and there's only 1 woman who's my contact to work on this with me. She has NO CLUE about design or the creative process, I would swear she was colour blind and living under a rock for years..and likely a princess growing up. Not only that but she's extremely condescending and is incredibly sensitive to me critiquing her ideas and she cuts me off when I'm talking to her (to which I've begun to repeat "I'm not finished. I'm not finished." overtop of her until she stops and lets me finish) and she words things in such as way to not take responsibility...sort of in that passive agressive, "oh...I'm surprised you did it that way..it's not a bad thing, I'm just surprised..." She really is a piece of work.
Out of a solid round of work under her "expertise" and "direction", the logo is crap. No one liked it, no one approved it - the thing that kills me is so many things people hated, were things she was picking fights with me to include!
Anyways, I'm at my wits end. I emailed her superior and said I would like to talk on the phone about project and it's lack of movement...I bit my tongue in the email, sounded diplomatic and didn't outright bash the other woman. (her superior is in another city, so I'd have to do some searching for her # to call her directly) Her superior simply apathetically wrote back, "have you addressed these concerns with X (the other woman)?"
Red flags are going up now in my head- What superior wouldn't be eager to hear an elaboration if they're blowing money and the graphic designer is thinking of bailing? I was really hoping to have a call to elaborate on all this and atleast set myself up for a peaceful departure if the design process isn't cleaned up..atleast to save some face.
I'm torn between ratting this stupid woman out to her boss and just walking away now b/c I'm sensing her boss doesn't give a crap either and if they're buddy-buddy, I'd rather not let the hens out.

Should I just walk away from the contract? For sure there's pro's and con's for either argument but I figure I'm wasting so much of my day negotiating how to deal with this, that life would be way happier and more productive if I just moved on.
Has anyone dropped out mid-contract before? Done the old, "I'm not the right designer for the job"? It's not you, it's me?

thanx!
Jimmie

[Ovaltine]

Never bailed on anything myself.

Have you tried a passive agressive response to her? I mean, if she's playing that card, turn about is fair play, right? I.E. Since you know the logo will be reviewed by more people than just her, add in versions of the logo you believe will work along with her poorly directed one.

I suppose that would only work if you presented it in person (kind of like... well I have these versions as well, how do you like them?...when they don't like hers) and wouldn't work if she's the go-between.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[Ned]

Grrrr... my response vanished from the board logging me out too soon, and now I've got too much work to get done. :mad:

I'll try to make it quick here. Her boss's response was dead on. You are simply letting your emotions blind you from seeing that. No, he's not being buddy-buddy with her, he is telling you that you need to start at the root of the problem, and follow the proper procedure to determine if this action needs to be taken further. By what you said ("I'm not finished yet, I'm not finished yet..."), it sounds like your discussions are heated arguments. You probably won't be able to resolve this with her, but it is not fair to anyone involved, if you do not talk it over first. This problem is between you and her, not you and the company. He may take a different stance and give the job to a different employee, if he sees you have taken measures first.

Remember, it is your job to educate your clients. Show them that you are the professional, and they will trust your instincts, and follow your direction. Whenever a client presents an idea to you, always listen to it. Never discount it as bad, rather state simply why the idea won't work, and leave it at that.

[D-Frag]

my personal opinion. kick em to the curb, never look back, and screen your potential future endeavors with more insight. seriously, its not worth your time, there are literally thousands of people right now looking for someone to do work for them, your next client is right around the corner.

[jimmiecat]

Hey Ned thanx for the thoughts - Yeah, I hear you on the professionalism thing (though I wouldn't say they were heated debates, I just made her aware when she cut me off;). A side that I didn't mention to keep my question short(er) - I have talked to this woman about the process going in circles and suggested we should regroup, rebrainstorm and flesh out some key ideas. To which she blantantly told me "No" b/c she hired me to be the graphic designer, and I should have to come up with everything, b/c that's what she's paying me for. I then asked if I could talk to anyone else about getting more ideas out, she said no. (the logo is for a youth division of a larger chapter, and needs to tie in to the adult one, while rep the kids group behind it, and she's the middleman...so feedback from all groups is pretty essentially, and getting details and ways to tie is pretty vital.) I do hear what you're saying though, the fact that her boss (also a woman by the way) said that doesn't necessarily mean she's buddy-buddy but is in fact acting professionally so I do likely atleast owe it to her to explain why I went to her directly.

[crazy8]

Honestly if it was me, Id be super ticked. I would let all hell break loose (given its as bad as you say) let all the hens out and tear them apart with their tallons. In addition Id demand my money back. As for the contract I dont see any reason why you shouldnt get at the very minimum 50% of your money back considering that yes they did do some work but did not provide a satisfactory end product. In the end there has to be a point where you draw the line and say "enough is enough" and cut your losses. I hate getting screwed, it does happen but not much.

Good luck

[jimmiecat]

crazy8: I am the designer!..and completely lacking feedback from my client.

[pantonedream]

As for the contract I dont see any reason why you shouldnt get at the very minimum 50% of your money back considering that yes they did do some work but did not provide a satisfactory end product.

It sounds like you switched sides near the middle there. He's not looking to get money back for a product he isn't satisfied with. He's the one providing the product and the client/vendor relationship is proving non-productive.

Honestly, this is where periodic billing helps a lot. Clients sometimes don't think in terms of cost until its time to add all of the hours up. Also, document your ideas keep your old files, even if they are turned down, so there is a paper trail.

If you can get out, that might be a good choice. The more heated this gets, the more likely the client will be tempted to spread bad press about your company, even if it is not true. Reputation is a powerful tool in this biz. That's why those naked photos I took were such a bad idea.

[crazy8]

yea pant does make some good points on how to handle this, now that i understand the situation better. And pant, nakid pics are NEVER a bad idea, especially if your the photographer and if your in that biz;) only good things can come of that.lol

[Drawing a Blank]

>>runs to catch thread which has bolted into left field<<

[jimmiecat]

I took what Ned said (about the boss acting professionally) ended up emailing the boss and explaining myself diplomatically. SHe sounded pretty kosher to it all and into talking about it further; I'm happy things have atleast diffused a bit.

[budafist]

I've never bailed either. I just do as I'm told and get the job out the door as quickly as possible. Just don't put those jobs in your portfolio.

[icekitty37]

Too bad you can't tell from the beginning how stupid and annoying some clients are. And they really can't change. They think they know what's best when the world disagrees...

[crazy8]

Not only that but clients sometimes seem to for get that they hired you to do a particular job and that your the "expert" not them. Well good luck with all of this, hopefully it works out for you in the end.