What to do when a client complains

Every other guide on this site assumes the job went fine. This one is for the job that didn’t — or the client who thinks it didn’t, which costs you the same afternoon either way. Handled well, a complaint is forgotten in a week. Handled badly, or not handled at all, it’s the review that costs you the next three jobs.

Reply the same day, even before you know the fix

Reply within the day, even with nothing decided yet. A client who complains and hears nothing back reads the silence as you not caring, and that reads worse than almost any answer you could actually give them. A short message that says you got it, and you’re on it, buys you the time to work out the right response properly instead of promising something on the spot that you’ll regret.

Get the facts before you promise anything

Ask what happened, when it happened, and for a photo if the job is the kind you can photograph. A client who’s annoyed will often describe the problem in general terms — “it’s just not right” — and you need the specific thing before you can price a fix, or even decide whether you agree there’s a problem to fix at all.

Deal with the work before you talk about money

Settle the work question first: what’s wrong, and what would put it right. Only once that’s agreed should the conversation move to who pays for it. Raising a refund before you’ve agreed on what actually went wrong turns a fixable job into an argument about money that didn’t need to happen yet.

Cost the fix before you choose a response

Work out what a return visit, a part credit, or a full refund would actually cost you before you offer any of them. A return visit might be an hour of your time and no new materials; a refund is the whole invoice, gone. Knowing the real number behind each option is what lets you offer the one that’s actually fair to both sides, not just the one that ends the conversation fastest.

The four responses, and when each one fits

Once you know what went wrong and what each fix would cost, one of four responses almost always applies:

• Go back and fix it. Right when the work itself can be corrected and the cost is mostly your own time. It costs you a return visit, but it’s usually the response a client is actually hoping for.
• A part credit. Right for a job that’s mostly fine but fell short in one place — you can’t undo what’s already done, but you can take something off the price. It costs you a fixed, named amount instead of the whole invoice.
• A full refund. Save this for a job that genuinely can’t be corrected, or a client relationship that isn’t worth continuing. It costs you the entire job — materials, time, all of it.
• Hold the line. Right when you’ve checked the facts and the work was done properly. It costs you the disagreement itself, and sometimes the client — but agreeing to a refund you don’t owe teaches every future client that a complaint is worth trying on.

Put the outcome in writing, the same day

Once you’ve decided, confirm it in writing the same day — what you agreed to do, and by when. A verbal agreement on the phone is easy for either of you to misremember a week later; a written one is a record that settles the question if the same job ever comes up again.

Change the terms so it can’t repeat

If the complaint points at something your terms never covered — a missing scope line, no stated timeline, nothing about materials — fix the terms, not just this one job. The same gap opens again on the next job unless you close it in writing before you quote it. A part credit is worth recording properly too: a credit note against the original invoice, rather than a quietly edited number, keeps your own records straight.

When it stops being a complaint and becomes a payment dispute

A complaint is about the work: something’s wrong, and the client wants it put right. A payment dispute is about the money: the work was fine, but the client isn’t paying. If you’ve made a fair offer and the client still won’t pay what’s left, that’s no longer this guide — see what to do when a client won’t pay for what comes next.

Common questions

Do I have to give a refund if a client asks for one?

There’s no single rule — refund rights change by country and by what you sold. Decide case by case: cost the fix, then choose one of the four responses above. What matters most is that you reply the same day and put the outcome in writing, whichever way you decide.

What if the client is being unreasonable?

Deal with the facts first, not the tone. Ask what happened, cost the fix, and make your offer. If the client still won’t accept a fair offer, hold the line and say so plainly — you don’t have to keep raising the offer just because they keep pushing.

Should a full refund always be the safe choice?

No — it’s one of four options, not the default. Weigh it against a return visit or a part credit, which usually cost you less and still put things right. Save the full refund for jobs where nothing else can fix it.

What if the same complaint keeps coming up from different clients?

That’s not a client problem anymore — it’s a process problem. Once the same complaint shows up twice, fix the step that keeps causing it, and update your terms or your job checklist so the third client never has the chance to raise it.

Handle it once, then let it go

The whole approach runs on the same handful of moves, whether the fix is small or the refund is the whole invoice:

Copy the two scripts above, or all seven at once, and fill in your details at the top of the complaints and refunds pack — personalized the same way as the rest of the site’s scripts. Extra work that comes out of a fix belongs on its own record, priced with the extra work and scope scripts, and the same same-day habit carries over to the follow-up that wins the next job once this one’s actually closed. A booking that moves rather than a job that went wrong is a different problem, covered in cancellations and no-shows.