My freelance contract hit a weirdly specific word count and it bit me...

I was reviewing a new client's contract and noticed the 'termination for convenience' clause was exactly 250 words... which triggered a weird fee in my own template. I'd set a rule that any clause over 200 words needed a summary, but I forgot I wrote that. So my own system flagged my review with a 'complexity charge' for the client. Has anyone else had a milestone in a contract that came back to surprise them?

4 comments

4 Comments

lee.cora2mo ago

Oh man, that's the kind of beautifully dumb mistake I would make. It's like your own rules set a trap and then you forgot where you put it. In my experience, the stuff you write for "future you" always comes back to bite "present you" when you least expect it. That's a pretty funny way to find out your own system is working, I guess.

jessica3312mo ago

Remember when you set a phone alarm for something important but forget why? I did that last week and panicked when it went off in a quiet store.

keith16424d agoMost Upvoted

Haha, that "beautifully dumb mistake" line from lee.cora is perfect... that's exactly what happened to a buddy of mine with his own scheduling system. He set up an auto-reminder that would nag clients if they were late paying, but somehow the thing glitched and started emailing him threatening notices for invoices he forgot to send. @laura_wilson hit the nail on the head about systems needing a manual override because now he has to double check his own calendar before it reaches out.

laura_wilson2mo ago

Honestly I used to think those kinds of automated rules were just smart business. But a similar thing happened where my own invoice system late-fee'd me because I missed the payment window I set for clients. It completely flipped my view. Now I see those systems need a manual override you can actually remember, or they just create new problems. Your own tools shouldn't punish you for following their logic.