That client who ghosted me for 3 months came back with a rush project

I had a client in Austin disappear after I sent the first draft of their website copy (3 months of silence). They just emailed me last week needing the whole thing finished in 5 days, no extra fee offered. Has anyone else dealt with a client like this and how did you handle the timeline request?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowanw912d ago

@alext52 totally changed my mind on this - I used to think ghosters were just rude but now I get there's usually a story.

alext522d ago

3 months? That sounds more like they went on a long vacation (probably got side tracked by some other project) than a true ghost. Five days is tight but not exactly impossible if the draft was solid and they're not asking for massive rewrites. I'd just reply with a straight timeline of what I could deliver in 5 days (maybe stripped down from their original wish list) and see if they balk. Half the time clients like this are just panicking and will happily take 80% of what they asked for if you frame it as the "quick turnaround" version.

black.oliver2d ago

Oh boy, another ghost client rising from the dead expecting magic on a silver platter. I swear some folks think we just hit a "finish project" button and out it pops in 5 days. I once had a client vanish for 4 months, then got mad when I couldn't drop everything to save their bacon. I'd just tell them you can do a 5-day version with less polish and see if they think it's worth the rush. Otherwise they can wait for the full treatment on your normal schedule.