Man, this stuff is really killing me. I'm a freelance graphic designer with a few clients who are agencies with their own clients.
Last month, I had a 5-day weekend for some family time. It was a big trip for me, because I haven't seen my mom in a couple of years and she hasn't met my girlfriend yet. And it was THREE WORK DAYS. I've heard sometimes people take vacations that are a week long. In Europe, I hear they might even go longer.
The owner of the agency told me that the client needed a project done Friday, or Monday at the very latest. I was out both of those days. I said I needed the approved content on Wednesday if they want it done. Even then, it was an absolutely insane turnaround time I was offering. She said it's not possible to have it done that early. So I say I'll get to it next Tuesday. She says it's not acceptable.
I won't tell you too much about the project, but there's nothing remotely urgent about it. And it's about a half day's work. It's not time sensitive. No big earnings call it has to go out before, it doesn't mention a certain date anywhere… It's just due then because that's when the client wants it. And since it's a big client, they get exactly what they want.
Anyway, Thursday and Friday come and go. 5 minutes after close on Friday, I get a text saying that it's absolutely required that I work on this and get it done by Monday. Like, not only do they expect me to work on a weekend (which I never do), but they expect me to work on the weekend of a vacation that they knew about, that I expressly said I wasn't available for! So I said I couldn't do it. She kept pushing. I asked if she'd rather I cancel seeing my mom, or seeing my friend I haven't seen in person for 7 years. She side stepped and just said the client needs it on Monday no matter what.
At this point, I figured out what happened. I said I wasn't available, but she told the client it would get done, and then she couldn't convince me. So she had a disaster on her hands, since she can't just take back saying that we'll get it done and admitting that I'm not there. So she ignored my boundaries, lied, then got caught up in the fallout. As a side note, they don't tell clients I'm not an employee. I think they want everyone to believe I'm available 40+ hours a week even though their stuff is a fraction of my actual work.
At this point, I'm absolutely furious, and it ruins the rest of the weekend. I never want to look at my phone, because she keeps texting me over and over telling me that I have to do it. I go to a comedy show, and my phone is just buzzing throughout it. But I really want to stand my ground and not do it because I said I wouldn't. And I genuinely was that busy on this trip. Every hour was booked, and this was a 5 hour job, as I told her. How am I supposed to find that kind of time on my vacation? Sorry, it's not getting done.
She texts me over and over Saturday, then finally asks for my password on Sunday so someone else can get into the files and get it done. I feel like this is reasonable, but I'm at a coffee shop on the way to a spa appointment. I run back to the hotel for my laptop, set it all up, get to the spa kind of late, but it's not that big of a disaster. She found someone else to make it. Really annoying, and I'm definitely billing time for it, but it's done… Right?
Nope. 8am Monday she starts texting me again, needing me to fix things the other freelancer did. I'm literally packing to get on a flight back home. She bugs me until I can't stand it anymore, and I give in. I work a few hours from the hotel room and from the airport, cleaning up the project so it's perfect enough for the client, even though the freelancer did a perfectly fine job. I tell her when I'm boarding, and she KEEPS TEXTING ME. She wants me to work on it the second I get home late in the evening, and keeps texting during the flight.
In the end, the project was done enough, and it got used. The next day was business as usual. I never got so much as a 'thanks'. In fact, I'm pretty sure she expected an apology for being difficult. This may be the worst part. If she was beside herself with how thankful she was and she gave me a bonus for finishing it, I would be less mad. But, you know, I'd still be pissed.
I'm just really burnt out on this stuff. If the end client knew I was away to see family, I would say there was about a zero percent chance they would insist this little project get done. And if they did, there was plenty of time to find another freelancer who was available. And when all that failed and I did help, I get absolutely no recognition whatsoever. I really can't fucking wait to retire.
And here's the thing. I got back to a ton of emails from another job. Their client wanted to finish a project on Friday. Instead of saying the guy working on the project wasn't around, they just stalled! And the second I get back, everything is past due and on fire. This is the exact same type of situation. There's no reason they needed it on Friday, and they would have absolutely understood that I wasn't available. Why is it a shameful secret when somebody is out of town?
It's getting to a point where taking time off is more stressful than just staying home and working.