That moment a client ghosted me after I sent the final files

I was sitting in my home office in Nashville at 2 AM, finishing up a 45 page website build for a local bakery. I sent the invoice and the final zip file, all set for the launch meeting the next morning. Come 10 AM, nothing. No reply to my email or text. I kept refreshing my inbox for three days straight, checking their social media to see if they were even alive. Turns out they had a family emergency and just... forgot to tell me. Now I always send a "checking in" message 24 hours before any deadline to confirm theyre still on board. Has anyone else dealt with a silent client after delivering work? How do you handle the followup without being annoying?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew551mo ago

That happened to me once with a client in Chicago. I ended up waiting a week before I finally drove over to their office and found out they had simply changed their mind and were too embarrassed to tell me. Now I always email them a quick invoice confirmation and say "just reply yes to confirm you got everything" so the ball is in their court.

michael_coleman101mo ago

Yeah but what if they say yes and then still ghost you, then what? Thats the part that gets me, like with @drew55 it was the embarrassment thing but sometimes its just people being rude and ignoring you.

tylerj221mo ago

Set up the same kind of email thing @drew55 does and it works maybe half the time. The other half I just get a yes and then nothing, which honestly makes it worse because now I know they saw it. I've started adding a little joke at the bottom like "no pressure but my cats are starting to judge me for not getting paid" to lighten it up. Doesn't always work but it's funnier than just sitting there refreshing my inbox like a sad robot.