Need Quick Advice: I'm in a sticky situation here

[thevoicemachine]

SO on my voice-over gig I have set my rate at 1 gig = 90 seconds of voice over with a 48 hour delivery time.



A buyer just came along and order 1 gig. Sent me a script that is over 3 minutes long, and demanded I delivery in 24 hours. When I told them that they needed to purchase a 2nd gig (I offered them free rush delivery to try and be nice), they said no and told me that they don’t negotiate with a new talent, which I find quite offensive.



My issue is I just became a Level 2 seller and already had to cancel an order yesterday. I don’t want to cancel a second a risk falling down to Level 1. Plus I already recorded the voice-over. I am withholding it on the principle.



What should I do?

[thevoicemachine]

Reply to @vedmak:



He wants to cancel if I don’t delivery the whole thing

[viser1000]

I suggest that you go through with it. Make it the best you can (even if it’s a ridiculous request) and when it’s done ask them to pay for the extra minutes. If they won’t that’s the time to report 🙂

[Guest matt_garry]

wow thats spooky I had someone a few days ago who did the same thing I wonder if it was the same guy… I did the extra time and rushed it for him and revisions and still got a thumbs down I suggest you cancel because people like that will never be happy with you’re work no matter how much you do for them. and a thumbs down hurts so much more then a cancelation…

[Guest matt_garry]

if it is the same guy he will claim you missed part of the script after you deliver and then he will demand cancel after you deliver

[thevoicemachine]

Reply to @matt_garry: I hope its not the same person!



They offered to negotiate further pay after I deliver. I told them this:



“I will deliver the full gig.

I will give you the link to my tip gig when I deliver. You can leave a tip if you please. I’ll leave that decision up to your moral standards.

Sincerely,

Matt”

[maestromaster]

Goin with Vedmak here

[thevoicemachine]

Reply to @vedmak: Good point.

[viser1000]

vedmak said: This time its 3 minutes, next time its 6 minutes, next time after that they will ask you to sacrifice your firstborn and record 12 minutes all for $5. You have to put your foot down.

 

The sad part of showing generosity... But sometimes hunger makes you do anything from the mundane to the insane...

[musiclover]

Please don’t allow anyone to push you around. I would’ve requested a mutual cancellation, contacted Customer Support, and tell them the situation. If it boils down to it, have CS cancel it. Can’t give in to someone who is being completely unreasonable.

[fsupanda]

I offer a voice over gig as well and I have gotten a few clients just like this. The way I handled it is I use mathematics via their script and an average of words per second and I get an estimated time that script will take if when it is voiced and on an mp3 or wav file. Then I tell them how long the script will be in length when I voice it. I kindly ask them to pay another gig and I will not charge them for any extra time, (lets say they want 3 minutes but they pay for one minute) I would give them the 60 seconds for the gig and if they order another gig I will do the rest. So it’s like a buy 2 gig, get one free.



We have to choose very wisely what we do, but, we want to keep the clients happy, very happy but not let them get away with just anything. If you need to use Customer Support, provide them the proof, even if you send them the script + your voice file. It’s proof that you did what they asked but they didn’t return the favor.



I wish you luck and if you ever want to collaborate or need help calculating things, send me a personal message. I’m always available 🙂

[thevoicemachine]

Reply to @fsupanda: Sounds great and good points.