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It's posts like these that make me grateful to be retired. I had a client like that once, and although it was a Word document, I was facing the same problem. I developed something closer to the former. The "client" refused to sign and demanded that I produce the final document. I refused to budge. With the shipping deadline approaching, he was asked by the VP of Ops about the supporting documents and my client told the VP that I refused to supply them without getting my money up front. Fortunately, the VP called me and asked if that was true, so I told him what I needed signed and why. I didn't know it at the time, but my "client" was not well liked in the company. I got lucky. The VP had the client sign my document. I gave them the completed files. In less than six months, I got another call from the VP asking if I wanted to contract for the organization as a Publication's Manager. It seems that my client's publication specialist reworked my document and virtually destroyed it. Both the client and publication specialist were no longer with the company. I admit, I got lucky, but if you have the same type of client, you need to cover your posterior.
Hope that helps.
Al Geist-Geist Arts
Fine Art Photography
Mobile: 231-301-5770
E-mail: al -at- geistarts -dot- com
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Technical Writing, Help, Publication Management
"...I walked to work, quit my job, and kept walking. Better to be a pilgrim without a destination, I figured, than to cross the wrong threshold each day." (Sy Safransky)
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+al=geistarts -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+al=geistarts -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Chris Morton
Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2017 12:59 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Needed: Document Release (Waiver) Form
I've been tasked with updating a very poorly constructed, "house of cards"
InDesign file for a client. It's a 150-pp., multi-chapter, single-threaded POS that doesn't even use styles. True to form, it mysteriously repaginates itself anytime I even think about it.
I do plan on breaking it up into separate chapters and then booking the thing before turning it back over to the client on Monday.
However, for certain the client (an impossible-to-please PM) won't understand why I did this, nor will her trusted ID genius who initially set this up for them.
This is a client I intend to fire ASAP, but need to cover my bases given the rocky relationship. My plan is to provide a perfect PDF (it's in the
can) version first along with a document liability waiver that indemnifies me when their genius blows the thing up again. Only upon receipt of the signed waiver do I intend to hand over the INDD file.
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