Serious help with "boss" needed!

[catnapper]

Ok, looong story short: I am a freelance interior designer, and have been working with an independant sales rep for nearly two years now. She and I get along great personally, and because of that she takes advantage of me with work. I know she does, but at this point, I am at a loss as to how to set her straight.

Right now, she seems to have lost sight of reality. She REFUSES to buy a color printer. So she makes me print out everything for her and mail it to her. In the begining it ws no big deal, a sheet of business cards here, a color coded furniture plan there. All of the sudden, she made me run off at LEAST 100 business cards (10 sheets) at a time. Ok, still not too bad, but she's asked me SEVERAL times. TEN sheets, of FULL color business cards with a colored background! Now, tonight she asked me to run off 20 full pages advertisement sheets. I emailed her and said NICELY that I can do it but it'll take a lot of ink (hoping in a passive aggressive way that she'd get the hint). So what does she do? E-mails me back saying that if I am worried about using too much ink that I should buy her a color printer for Christmas and then I'd not use my own ink. OMG! The worst part... she was SERIOUS about me buying a printer for Christmas!

I am at this point blazing mad! I have used well over $60 worth of ink for her over the past few months (not all at once, but if you think of a little here, a little there, it's added up, and lately her demands for color copies have increased)

I sent back a polite but firm email stating that I have not saiud anythign because I wanted to help her, and that I never requested she reimburse me, and that its getting to the point that she's going to HAVE to because its costing me some serious money. I also told her I never asked her to replace the business cards I used - and those weren't cheap either.

This is only ONE thing she's been doing ot me lately. Just one. WHAT can I do to get her to stop walking all over me? Every time I TRY to stand my ground, she gets testy and nasty. I then back down. Sigh.

[Cookiebaker]

Nobody can take advantage of you, unless you allow them to. When you send her the business cards, enclose an invoice for them.

In my line of work, I make business cards all the time, and my prices are:

100 Full Color, printed and cut: $22.50
250 full color, printed and cut: $37.50
500 full color, printed and cut: $72.50

The reason she makes you do them, is because she gets them for free, and she can't go anywhere else cheaper. Nothing in this life is free. AND, she can get what she pays for. If she doesn't pay you, I would print them out in black and white, and on the lowest possible quality.

To give you a little perspective: my mom is a seamstress, and she has a neighbor that likes to ask for "favors". My mom worked on a 3 hour job, and asked for $15. The neighbor got so offended that she has refused to talk to my Mom since. The thing is, nowhere else could she have a custom job done like that for $15, and she was only taking advantage of my Mom. Nobody needs a "friend" like that!

I hope this helps you a little bit, but I definitely would not do anymore printing "for free" for her. If she pays you, or returns in like kind, then that is a different story.

[sabies]

You say you get along great personally but it sure doesn't sound like it. I printed a newsletter recently as a 1-time project and I wanted it in color. Wow was I surprised at how much the cost added up. I looked into having it printed by kinko's or something and the cost for color was ridiculous.

Cookiebaker has great advice. I'm sure you know what you need to do to get her to stop walking all over you - don't back down.

(PS this is the type of do as I say not as I do advice, good luck!)

[catnapper]

Actually, when we are talking about things outside work, we get along famously. I cherish her friendship and opinion. But when we start talking work, she seems to forget that its business now, and to leave the personal stuff for later. Another friend we have in common has been working with her the past 6 months, and he's having the same problem with her. Sigh

[tz1]

charge her ass or fire her

[Laura's Babies]

I would just say from now on, I am out of ink and don't have the money to buy any right now.....end of story! (also adding that hubba is complaining that we are always out of ink and now has you on a budget because of it)


Or just outright say "NO!"....