Constant Content

Just writing this as a vent/general question type of post. Sorry it's so long!

I had my first private request today (yay!) where the client wanted a continuation of an article of mine she'd purchased. She felt it was incomplete and wanted me to finish it. I thought that was a strange request but just took it to mean that she wanted the article longer. We messaged back and forth a bit and though she isn't a native speaker and I didn't entirely understand the details of what she wanted, I only clarified a few times, feeling tentative and a little like I didn't want to screw this up. By the end I thought I understood what she wanted and it sounded pretty open ended.

So, I wrote the article I thought she wanted. We agreed on a price (the same price that she'd paid for the first article) and I spent most of the day researching and writing it up. Normally, I try to keep a good hourly wage of around 50$ with these articles. This, I went far over because it felt like progress to me, getting a private request. And the woman sounded urgent so I wanted to get it done today for her. So I submitted it and waited. I wasn't sure if she'd actually buy it because I'd been reading about private requests never coming back for their order.

Well, I got a sold email (yay!) and then the messages started rolling in. She hated it. Called it lousy and said that when she paid 55$ for an article, she expected some work put into it, not something I've knocked off in an hour. She didn't understand some of the figurative language I used and apparently I misunderstood a part of what she wanted in the article. Boy, was she not happy.

I don't really know how it works but I was pretty certain they can request revisions. I don't know if this is possible after purchase or only before or even how it works. But I messaged her back, saying how I hadn't worked only an hour, that she should have been able to request revisions before paying what was clearly an exorbitant price, and that I was sorry I misunderstood one of her points and that I was sorry she thought it was lousy.

Any advice on how to further handle this or how revision requests work? Does anyone else have any stories like this? This is one of the reasons I'd been nervous about doing a private request and all the fears are realized!

Hi!

Sorry you had such a bad experience, the customer sounds awful! I have had revision requests before, but they just suddenly appeared in the revisions section. I think the customer is responsible for submitting a request for revision.

How much of your articles are you displaying in the preview section? If you set it to 100% then customers can read the whole article before deciding whether or not they want to purchase. It will hopefully avoid situations where a customer purchases an article and then decides they do not like it.

If the customer is really that unhappy, maybe tell them to request a refund from CC. Don't let this experience put you off of private requests though, most customers are lovely!

Sorry for your bad experience. I agree though that you should maybe ask the client to request a refund from CC.

In my experience in writing and other fields, bad clients are nowhere near worth the stress and poor morale they cause - if you've honestly done your best but it's not worked out, politely cut them loose and move on with head held high

As a related example, one of my first private requests here came back with what I thought was an unreasonable revision request resulting from a badly written brief. I declined the revision, put the article up for public sale at double the price, and it took a couple of months but sold in the end. So believe in your work and don't be discouraged

Thanks guys. I know I fret too much over things I can't necessarily control. I'm not sure how I could have better handled it but I'm one of those sad sacks who goes over and over it all in their head, trying to figure out how it could have gone better. There's definitely a lot of stress and bad morale! Think it's put me off CC for a bit.

I do only display 33% of the article because I'd been reading about people scraping content and then reselling it elsewhere. I'm probably being too paranoid. What are the chances of anyone stumbling across my stuff and doing that?

She's already published half of the article she just bought, so I'm not sure about asking her to just ask for a refund. I don't really want to make things worse though I did expect her to do something like that. Possibly she's just as new to this as I am and doesn't know what recourse she has.

Have tried contacting Constant Content support on this matter? They might be able to advise you how to handle the situation, especially if the client is already using the article online. Maybe try emailing support and cc'ing the email to a specific Constant Content representative too. Can't hurt and it might help.

Don't let one bad apple turn you off Constant Content. Maybe just try writing for the open catalog for awhile on topics you enjoy writing about. Might take longer to sell (or not) but it's a heck of a lot more enjoyable! Good luck! [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]

First of all, you have to push this out of your mind at some point, because MOST private request customers aren't like this! It's like any job - there are always some customers who make us feel terrible, but most are fine. Don't let it put you off. You have heaps of supporters here!

I would definitely not ask her to request a refund. You did your best, you worked for hours, you communicated well, she has posted some of it online already, and of course she can request a revision through the system if she wants something changed. I would think CC would be on your side about this, because no-one is allowed to send abusive or mean messages to other people.

In my experience, I've found that some buyers are easier to work for than others. I'm happy to write for new clients, but after a while I figure out which ones I am willing to work for and which ones I will leave for someone else.

Please don't make yourself miserable over this.

Abba

Hi Abba,

I have been slowly pushing it off of my mind. The weekend has really helped. The misery lasted less than it normally does because I couldn't think of anything I could really have done better.

Thanks for commenting. I know people must have mostly good experiences with it, I was just hoping not to have a bad one on my first go! Oh well, maybe second private request will be better.

Gail