a moral question
- Started
- Last post
- 27 Responses
- jimbojones
So you told the client that the project would take you 10 hours. But somehow you've managed not to visit QBN every ten minutes and actually finish the project in 1h. Do you
a. tell the client, get paid for 1h and do other project during the next 9 hours
b. tell the client it still takes 10h and read QBN / chase chicks / start farting contest with friends or whatever gets your creative juices flowing
c. tell the client it still takes 10h and do other project during the next 9 hours secretly
- sikma0
the client signed off on 10 hours?
then get paid 10 hours
- detritus0
Presumably, the client was happy to pay 10hrs worth in the first place?
If so, carry on as you were and add on a hell of a lot of customer service and extra shit-shining, so they come back to you for more again.
- Spookytim0
Yeah, ten hours is what you said, ten hours is what you should charge. Actually fuck it, email the client and say you underestimated and it will be 14 hours. Go on. GO ON!
- Kiggen0
Charge em for 8 hours, so it looks like you gave him a break.
greasing the wheels and all...
- lukus_W0
... think about all the times the opposite occurs .. as long as the client isn't on the breadline, I'd keep schtum.
- harlequino0
Depends. If:
A. this is a newish client and you want to get some nicey nice points, tell them you got it done quicker than expected, but don't go with an hour. Say it took like 4 or 5 hours, and charge for that.B. If it's a regular client and you have already been through various hells with them, do not reveal the time it took. Deliver what you said you would when you said you would.
In either case, beware. Clients will remember this and potentially expect it all the time. Also, depending on the nature of the project and skillset required, ask yourself the value of the work. If you charge 100/hr, and you would have stood to make 1k, is the project worth that?
- Sugary0
use the next 9 hours to organize your itunes library....
but really, when i finish something early i'll use the extra time to rework it with a different approach. Sometimes you end up making something better, sometimes you don't, but you have used the time that you're being paid for to do work for that client.
- visionary0
make sure you have various iterations so you can prove you've been working on it
- ninjasavant0
You're probably about to get 9 hours worth of revisions at least.
- CALLES0
pick at it for 9 hours and maybe something new comes up?
- CALLES0
pick at it for 9 hours and maybe something new comes up?
- Rand0
I'm probably an idiot, but I'd only charge for 1 or 2 hours. One if it's an ongoing client
- But you quoted 10 hours? That's 10 times more than it actually took. Client may not believe future "guestimates".seeessess
- if I estimate time I usually tell them if it takes a shorter time the bill will be less than the estimateRand
- but I don't give a fuck what anybody else doesRand
- you're not an idiot, you're the only honest person here Rand. no wonder designers have that reputation...jimbojones
- u r an honest manheena
- ghandolf0
When you take your car to a mechanic, and 'the Book' calls for 10 hrs to repair & replace that radiator.... you're charged for 10 hrs no matter what it takes to do the job.
Oh.. you're probably not a mechanic are you?
As you were....
- formed0
I never charge new projects by the hour, for this reason. For ongoing changes, hourly works fine as you are comfortable with each other and the fee structure.
Look carefully at other things like communication time, etc., to make sure you don't give too much away.
If you aren't, I'd put things together in a nice presentation to make it look more thorough, which you could also use for the future.
I'd be very careful about setting the bar low. You might be excited as hell you got it done so quickly, but next time might not be so great. This is why I avoid the hourly, sometimes things take longer, sometimes not, you never know with design.
- Salarrue0
Even if you solve one project in 1 hour this time you have to charge for the creative solution, because if they know about it they will dump on you a lot of projects to be done in a hour time frame...
- Salarrue0
It is the experience and knowledge what you have to charge, we are not machines.
- huh? more experience, more $$$/hour, all is cooljimbojones
- it is the ideal non?Salarrue
- it's reality, just charge more every year. fuck them if it's too much and they ask their nephews.jimbojones
- boobs0
I don't give clients an estimate of how long it will take me to do a project. I give them a price for their project, and I tell them when I will deliver it.
How much work I have to put into it is my concern.
- VectorMasked0
c.
get paid for the 10 hrs. maybe 9. but not 8.
if you lower the hours and the oveall costs, sure you might (juts might) make them temporarily happy and get another job from them.
BUT to be honest it can also affect you as they from now on, will expect you will be meeting their deadlines quickly and that you will normally lower the price for them, and so when the days comes that the estimated time for a project is like 20 hrs, and you actually do spend the entire budgeted time or even go overbudget, they will not like it and will demand an explanation with a nice discount.
- VectorMasked0
I rented a car a few days ago and returned it several hours before my time ran out. I didn't expect them to give me a nice discount coz of it.
Now... designers get fucked more frequently by the clients than the other way around. Also they always ask for discounts and... we on the other hand, just ask to try to get as close as possible to the schedule, hours and budget... and still lose quite often.