HELP! A client has me VERY angry.

I agree! To take it one step further though you need decide what is fair to you and what is just too much at this point...Set an amount of changes you will make and inform your client of that amount and stick to it and explain it to them in as nice of way as possible.

I know what you feel, your not alone.

Im pretty sure everyone learns this lesson at some point.

you've got all the information you need to make an action right here

+1.

But now it's time for OP to solve this issue professionally and try to do what's best for her and her client. In the end, if the door was open, it's NOT her client's fault.

Give her what she wants just estimate how much time it will take you and let her know thats about all you can do for the $100 send her updates about how much you've got done and and whatever you do get a testimonial from her. You're a smart guy just make sure its more spelled out next time. You could have figured it out yourself. Just remember you make the customer happy you make the customer happy you make the customer happy and you get better as you go along. We've all been here even the ones giving you a ribbing. Smile you're doing fine. Tell her you'll be glad if she recommends you to a few people. Its a strategy to remember if you do anything for anybody at a discount.

oh devonm, do I know what youre going through. This happened to me a couple times starting out. Dont get angry or discouraged and dont let it make you feel youre being taken advantage of. Giving accurate quotes is NOT easy and something you'll learn to do well in time.

Right now. Make a list of what things that $100 included. I know youre starting to hate this client, but it might not be too late to salvage the job. Let them know politely that 'the following' (your list) was what was included in their job and that it is now complete. Tell them that, if they would like more work done, to compile a list of tasks they want completed and you will give them a quote on the additional work. Sometimes clients go off on 'do this, do that' tangents because they aren't organized.

Their reaction could be anything under the sun, dont be afraid. You have some choices from here on out.
1. Best Case Scenario, They'll go for this and you will give them a quote for more work.
2. Worst Case Scenario, They'll flip out and demand their work to be done.
In this case you can suck it up, finish the job, keep your money and learn from the experience.
OR. Kindly tell them that you are not the person for the job, give them their money back and take the site down.
DO NOT keep their money and cut them off. This is really unprofessional. You want to learn how to deal with clients
and eventually start building good relationships.

This is what helped me quote jobs better and keep people loving what I do for them.

Break the job down as list items:
* List out everything the job entails. (ex, wordpress install, custom design, custom logo, portfolio, 5 built pages)
* On the same line, estimate how many hours it will take you to do each task.
* Come up with an hourly rate that suits your needs
* Add up your totals.

Most of the time, this type of quote will be right on. I recommend estimating a little high, keeping track of your hours and coming down on price in your billing if youve come in under quote.

When you write out your proposal, highlight the tasks in your itemized list. Something like. "This quote includes wordpress install, custom design, a custom logo and 5 pages built. If you need additional work done, Im available at an hourly rate of $xx, or would gladly work up another quote for future jobs"

Also, while responding to a job request, compliment clients on what you like about their ideas. This builds excellent rapport and focuses your mind on how your client needs you to help them. Their site is more than a site, its their marketing tool. Many times, their entire business model.

During the job, never say things like, "if you dont like this i can change, move edit..."
Do your best work, complete your tasks, and let them decide what needs changing. Most of the time by this point, their changes should be so minimal you'll be happy to do them because they'll make your work better.

Best of luck! I hope this helps you establish some really great client relationships and you never hate your job again!

I made this mistake as well starting out. Like everyone else said, you have to get these details before you agree on a price.

If they're not sure what they want, charge them a fee for defining the scope of the project and then create a requirements document for them. Find out what their goals are, ask if there are other people in the company that help define what needs to be done. Then give them a price for completing the project. I've had several things happen from that:

1) They contracted with me to finish the project.
2) They didn't realize how big of a project it was and will scale back some of the requirements to fit in their budget.
3) They take the requirements document and find someone cheaper to do the work. I've only had this happen a couple of times.

At this point, if you promised open-ended changes and it's more work than you thought, just be honest with the client and tell them there's been a misunderstanding. Get a detailed list of everything they want to finish the job. They may be cooperative and offer to pay you more money for the additional requirements. If not, unless it's just a huge amount of work, I would finish the job and take it as a lesson learned.

Sometimes those 2 or 3 people that a P.I.A. client brings in are just like they are, and NOT the kind of people you want to work with.

Like this guy: He would call me twice a week and hound me that I wasn't getting his site done fast enough, that I was behind schedule, he's losing money, yadda yadda. I would make 5 changes Monday, he would send 10 Tuesday. Evidently he thought he owned me.

Did not end well. Left me for someone else (*sniff*), his site is now not even navigable. So much for helping out a friend of a friend for practically free.

Moral: this guy was a reference from a pain in the arse client. Should have said no. Also, charge MORE for a referral from a PIA, as you'l need some way to justify keeping him on when he makes ridiculous requests.

Be assertive.

I need to jump in on the side of figuring our what a (generous) amount of work would be for the price you quoted and explain to the client that that was what you were assuming.

While people are correct in saying that you should have had an agreement in place before starting, the fact is that there are some general guidelines in place for most types of projects. If the customer is ignoring those practices to an egregious level, there are two possibilities.

One is that they are genuinely unaware of what the standard package would be. You need to explain it to them and hope they understand and you can come to some sort of agreement as to the scope of work and payent.

Another is that you have put yourself in a position to be abused by an unethical marketer. One who will screw anyone to the wall to make a buck. In that case, the idea that you give them the consideration that you would expect to receive falls flat.

The end result of both is the same. You cannot work for nothing. Come to an agreement or refund the money. To save hassle it would probably be best to just leave the work you have done in place, as distasteful as that might be. You have already done the work, your time is lost, just making a point by undoing the work you have made is not worth the possible blowback.

Unless you positively know the customer is a jerk trying to take advantage of you, treat the them with respect in all your dealings.

You can't assume you know what a client expects - you have to agree on how many areas of customization you will do for $100.

Either do the work - or refund the money and tell the client the job is much larger than you expected.

If you fail to complete the work - and you keep the money - your rep is on the line, not the customers.