A client in Austin told me to 'never work for free' after I did him a favor

I helped an old contact with a quick website fix, thinking it would build good will, and he turned it into a weekly request for more free help. He finally said 'you're too nice, you should never work for free, even for friends' when I asked to be paid for the next job. Has anyone else had a simple favor blow up into an unpaid side gig?

3 comments

3 Comments

brian_ramirez22d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy fixed a friend's car once and suddenly became their free mechanic for months.

simonb9222d ago

Yeah, that reminds me of what brian_ramirez said about his buddy.

ryan18314d ago

Totally! It's like when you do one favor and people just expect it forever. Brian_ramirez's story is the perfect example. I see this all the time where someone's good at something, like fixing a computer, and suddenly their whole family is calling them for tech support. It never ends with just that one thing. People really take advantage without even realizing they're doing it.