A ha. Now I think I understand. My reply to the designer would be something along these lines:
"In order for me to be willing to make these changes, Other Client (OC) would need to be willing to contribute a total of $X, which breaks down like this:
$X for 50% of the new ticket $X for 100% of change fee $X for 50% of travel time fees ($75/hour x # of hours)
If OC isn't willing to pay this amount, I'm not really inclined to make any changes. OC paying only the change fee or ticket price is of no benefit to me, and may even result in me incurring some additional expenses. I did mention that I would be willing to split trips, but I meant an even split, not another client benefitting significantly from my expense.
Keep in mind also that if these changes are made, you'll lose your first class upgrade. I don't have any more free upgrades to offer you, so the new ticket will be in coach. I just wanted to make sure you're aware of that in advance so you aren't unpleasantly surprised when you board.
Please let me know if you want me to proceed with the changes. In the future, I am still willing to split trips, but only if they're planned in advance. Changing things after plans have already been made is a big inconvenience. Thanks for understanding."
I would be annoyed by this. I think it's pretty unprofessional of the designer to put you in this position. I would want to tell her she needs to add this client's requests to the end of her trip, and they can pick up the change fee and hotels associated with her extended time, as well as paying her in-flight time when she leaves.
This is a lot of inconvenience just because this designer has the best rates. No worth the hassle, IMO.
I agree with the others that you should not have to pay for her to see another client. Client should split half the airfare + all of the change fee as well as half the travel time fee.
I also think she should have booked her own travel and billed you for the cost, rather than putting the onus on her client to manage the details. I sometimes travel for consulting work and that's how I handle my travel.
Hopefully, the other client will realize it's still a deal if he/she pays for 1/2 and you'll both benefit a bit.
I agree with the others that you should not have to pay for her to see another client. Client should split half the airfare + all of the change fee as well as half the travel time fee.
I also think she should have booked her own travel and billed you for the cost, rather than putting the onus on her client to manage the details. I sometimes travel for consulting work and that's how I handle my travel.
Hopefully, the other client will realize it's still a deal if he/she pays for 1/2 and you'll both benefit a bit.
This is what I was thinking, too. I would think that the cost of travel would just be included in the final cost of the job.
This is very...bold of the designer to ask of you and it seems like they are both taking advantage of you. I'd be pissed. Yeah you did agree to pay her travel costs, but now you are also footing the bill for another client. Not cool. I'd actually be annoyed enough to reconsider using the designer all together. The designer should never have brought it up this way.
But in any case, I wouldn't agree to paying more than half of your original travel expenses at this point, including the travel time. The other person or the designer should pay the change fee. That's not your problem.
And, I'm not flaming, because to each their own, but man this seems like a lot of hassle and expense for an interior designer. I hope she's really that good.
I agree with this 100%.
Also, I'd like to know how this whole thing went down. Like, how would this other client know that she was planning a trip to Seattle in order to ask her to do some work for them too? Did the designer bring it up to the other client? Like, "Hey, I'm going to be in Seattle. It's already all paid for. Want me to do some work for you too?" This whole thing sounds super fishy to me...
I would tell her to do it at the end of the trip instead of the beginning. The clock stops for you when your business is finished. Then the other client can arrange her return trip and pay for her time from the minute your business is finished and the time flying home.
The other client made a lowball offer; that doesn't mean you have to agree to it. Tell the designer your terms for agreeing to making any changes - the client pays 50% of *all* travel costs, which comes out to $X, plus the entire change fee. I'm thinking they won't want to pay that much for one day of the designer's time, but too bad. If she wasn't already coming out, they would have to pay all of it.
But I still don't quite understand the cost breakdown. Is the change fee $125 or $230? How much is the new ticket? You said there's no benefit to you - is that the case even if the client paid half of the $75 per hour travel time?
Sorry, I'm not clarifying well. The change fee for the ticket is $125 and the cost of the fare increase (because the ticket is selling for more than it was when I booked it), so the total is $230 to change the ticket. She did not offer to split the cost of the $260, because $260 split in half is $130 and the change fee is more (and she offered to only pay the higher amount).
And also to clarify - I would certainly benefit if the client paid half the travel time. I should have stated this more clearly, but what I meant its that as it stands right now, there's absolutely zero benefit to me in this situation. The other client gets to shop for art at a super discount, the designer gets some more business (this is a former client so not an active one), and I get to shoulder all the costs.
I really appreciate everyone validating my thoughts here. I didn't want to seem entitled or uncompromising, but I feel really put off by this whole ask because the single biggest cost I incur for this trip is paying for the designer's travel time and there was no offer to split that (I'd even have entertained a 25/75 split because she's only there one day for the other client and 3 days for me). I had told the designer when I first hired her that I'd be fine with splitting travel trips out (if she had other Seattle clients) because that would save us money, and be much easier on her, and I am totally fine with doing that if the costs are shared. I just felt like the proposal by the former client really takes advantage of me and if I'm going to pay ALL the travel costs, then I expect the trip to be ONLY for me.
And see, that's where I worried about sounding like a whiny brat!
If she had been taking a separate trip for this other client, the travel time would be the same. It doesn't change, regardless of the amount of time she stays in Seattle. Travel costs should be split 50/50.
If she had been taking a separate trip for this other client, the travel time would be the same. It doesn't change, regardless of the amount of time she stays in Seattle. Travel costs should be split 50/50.
Exactly this. TRAVEL costs getting to and from - split 50/50. The hotel is different. That I can see doing 25/75 since she's there for 3 nights for you.
So once you have contracted with this designer to work with you, I'm assuming that she's going to be making regular trips out to see you? Is it going to be a mess like this each time? This really doesn't make a good first impression on someone who is looking to spend a lot of money for your services.
If the designer does not get on the first leg of the flight, the second half of her ticket is going to be canceled. If she does work for this other client, tell her that you expect her to do whatever she wants after she is done with the 3 days she's working with you, but it is going to be up to the other client to pay her return trip home AND the other half of the travel fees, that you are only willing to pay the travel time to Seattle.
This takes all the onus off of you. The designer gets to choose what she's going to do and since you have told her up front what you expect, what she does after she is done with you is not your responsibility and you don't have to make the arrangements for anything. And you're not the one on the phone with the airlines looking to change her ticket, the other client can do that.
it sounds like the plan was for the other person to pay half the airfare, the change fee, and half the travel time. So if that works out and I save $450 or $500 I will not complain at all.
Yes it was very NOT clear from her e-mail but she seemed completely unfazed by this when I brought it up and was just like, 'Oh, no, that's the plan.' So either it was really the plan all along or she's a poster on MM and saw this thread and realized I would ask. Either way, thanks for the great advice and the well-worded script (which I used for our phone conversation)!
Sfgal, your stove costs more than most entire high end kitchens. I recall that you liked this designer on houzz or similar, but is she experienced enough for your house?Maybe high end designers advertise like that in other areas, but they don't here. Of course it would be great to find an up and comer!
Now I am nosy and want to know what kind of stove you are getting!
If the designer wants to do this, she takes 50% off your expenses for the trip as they now stand. Whether she gets reimbursed by the other client is up to her, but you should be paying no more than 50% of what you thought you would be paying. The change fee OR 50% is bullshit.