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Paid $400 for a rush job on a client's website and got ghosted 3 days later
I was freelancing web design on the side last spring when this guy from a real estate agency in Phoenix reached out. He needed a landing page done in 48 hours for a big open house. I told him my normal rate was $200 but he begged me to take $400 to prioritize his project over my other work. I figured the extra money was worth skipping sleep. Finished it on time, even added some custom map features he asked for at the last minute. Sent him the invoice and a link to the live site. Never heard from him again. No payment, no replies to my follow ups. Turns out his agency had a history of doing this to freelancers based on a post I found later on a local business forum. Has anyone else been burned by a client offering a rush premium that never paid?
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the_laura10d ago
Yeah I get what you're saying about the math being weird but honestly I think everyone is missing the bigger red flag here. The guy reached out through a freelance channel and immediately offered twice the rate without even negotiating? That's not a generous client, that's someone who knows they're not gonna pay and wants to make sure you jump on it fast. Plus the real estate agency part - those guys are basically professional gamblers with other people's time and money. They'll throw around big numbers because they're used to dealing with commissions and flips where $400 is pocket change to them. The whole rush premium thing is just a trick to get you to skip your normal vetting process like checking references or asking for a deposit upfront.
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the_rose10d ago
Wait your normal rate was $200 and he offered you $400 for a rush job? That math doesnt really add up. If $200 is what you normally charge then a rush premium should have been more like $300 or $350 not double. Sounds like he knew exactly what he was doing by throwing a number that seemed big but was still pretty low for the stress and time crunch. Real estate agents are notorious for this stuff especially the ones in Phoenix from what Ive heard. They love to promise fast money and then vanish when its time to pay up.
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