The client who argued a 30 day cancellation clause wasn't fair

Had a client last spring in Portland who signed a retainer agreement with a standard 30 day cancellation clause. Three months in, they called and said they wanted out immediately with no payment. I reminded them of the clause and they told me it was unethical and that I was trapping them. I explained it protects both sides, not just me. They kept pushing until I offered to split the difference at 15 days notice. They refused and threatened to leave a bad review. I held my ground and let them cancel at 30 days with payment. That interaction still bugs me because they acted like I invented the clause just to be difficult. Anyone else had clients treat a basic contract term like it's some kind of gotcha?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_cameron19d agoTop Commenter

Listen, I'm gonna go the other way on this one. That 30 day clause you had is pretty one sided for the person writing the contract, which is you. You said it protects both sides, but come on, how many clients are gonna hold you to a 30 day notice if you want to drop them? Probably zero. The whole point of a cancellation clause is to give the paying party a way out without getting stuck with a bill for work they don't want anymore. 30 days is a long time in construction or legal work, and if they lost trust in you after three months, why should they have to pay for another month of your time? You could have just settled for the 15 days and moved on, but you doubled down because you felt disrespected. Its not about the clause being unfair, its about you not wanting to bend when someone called you out on it. And threatening a bad review is a dirtbag move on their part for sure, but your hard line just made things worse for everyone involved.

derek65619d ago

Man I gotta push back on that a bit. The client signed the contract knowing the terms, so it's not like the 30 days was a surprise, and asking for a last minute change right before signing is kinda sketchy on their end too.