Quick update to my previous posts about the nightmare client situation. Context: one client makes up $5k per month which is almost half of my revenue. They've been complete chaos, disorganized records, 2am receipt dumps, constant weekend emergencies. I posted asking if I should fire them and Reddit overwhelmingly said raise rates and set boundaries instead. I sent an email last week raising their rate from $5k to $7.5k per month and included an actual service framework with 10-day submission deadlines, rush fees for last-minute requests, communication hours Monday through Friday 9am-6pm only, and no more weekend work. They went silence for a week. I was legitimately convinced they were ghosting me and started mentally preparing for losing half my income. Yesterday they called me and we had this tense 20 mins talk with lots of questions and pushback, but I honestly couldn't tell where it was heading. This morning, I got their email response and I'm honestly conflicted about what to do. Screenshot attached. They want to move forward but counter offer $7k per month instead of $7.5k. They're also pushing back on the timeline, saying they want to start with 7 business days deadlines instead of 10 and work up to it over the next quarter. And here's the one that's really bothering me, they accept the Monday-Friday 9-6 communication hours but want to discuss exceptions for quarterly filing periods where some weekend work might be necessary. They did acknowledge that they kinda expected this coming given how they've been operating, and they need 90 days to review how it's working. But I'm genuinely torn here. Part of me says take the deal because I won the principle, $7k is still a 40% increase, and some of their pushback seems reasonable for a transition period. Part of me says hold firm because I set $7.5k for a reason, that quarterly exception language feels like the exact slippery slope back to weekend chaos, and they're already negotiating boundaries before even accepting them. I'm leaning more towards the take the deal part. What do you guys think? https://preview.redd.it/57jxtujji6yf1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=deb53723b067c6ddadac9b593edf1b46a22dc38f