Client Red Flag BingoWorst of 2026
How many have you heard? Tap each one that sounds familiar.
Today’s board · 25 Oct
What is Client Red Flag Bingo?
Client Red Flag Bingo is a free BrieflyGo game for freelancers: a 5×5 board of the things difficult clients say — “it’ll be great for your portfolio”, “just one more small change”, “we’ll sign the contract later”. Tap the ones you’ve heard, get your score and a shareable card, and see a practical way to protect yourself from each flag. There’s a new board every day, drawn from over 50 client lines. No sign-up, nothing you tap is linked to you.
Glossary: what a “client red flag” is →Client red flags for every freelancer who survived 2026, and what to do
General practices freelancers use — put them in your quote or contract before the project starts.
| Red flag | Practice | How to protect yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Just polish this ChatGPT draft | Written scope | Price it as editing or a rewrite — say which, in writing. |
| Can you just add AI? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| AI can do this for free | Fixed fee | Your fee stands on its own — no discounts for promised future work, no exposure instead of pay. |
| Make it sound less like AI | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| We ran it through an AI detector | Written scope | Agree up front how originality will be checked, and by which tool. |
| Can it be like ChatGPT, but ours? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| It’ll be great for your portfolio | Paid trial only | Offer a small paid starter package. If you do work free, cap it in writing. |
| Just one more small change | Revision limit | Count the rounds. Extras go on a change order. |
| We can pay you in exposure | Fixed fee | Quote your rate. Exposure is a bonus, never the fee. |
| We’ll sign the contract later | Signed before you start | No signature, no start. |
| We pay when we get paid | Payment terms | Your payment doesn’t depend on their customers paying them. |
| “Paying next week” — every week | Payment terms | Due dates, a late fee and a pause clause. |
| Make it go viral | No guaranteed results | You deliver the work, not rankings, virality or conversions. Say so in writing. |
| Our intern used Canva, just fix it | Fixed fee | Your fee stands on its own — no discounts for promised future work, no exposure instead of pay. |
| Can you match the AI version’s price? | Tiered packages | Cut scope, not your rate. Offer good, better and best options. |
| We generated a logo. Just trace it. | Asset licensing | The client supplies licensed fonts, photos and music — or pays to license them. |
| Quick Loom? It’s 45 minutes. | One approver, set hours | Name one person who approves, and state your working hours and response time. |
| Async, but reply in 5 minutes | One approver, set hours | Name one person who approves, and state your working hours and response time. |
| Can you be on Slack 24/7? | One approver, set hours | Name one person who approves, and state your working hours and response time. |
| Prompt engineering is included, right? | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| Can you train our AI on your work? | IP transfer on payment | Using your work to train AI is a separate licence — price it or say no. |
| Our AI wrote the brief | Written scope | List exactly what’s included — deliverables, formats, quantities — and what isn’t. |
| Budget’s on hold, keep going | Fixed fee | Your fee stands on its own — no discounts for promised future work, no exposure instead of pay. |
| Can you also post daily on LinkedIn? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| I’ll know it when I see it | Written scope | Get the brief signed off, with approval checkpoints. |
| Need it ASAP. Like, yesterday. | Rush fee | Rush fee, in writing, before you start. |
| Ghosts for weeks, then “URGENT” | Client-delay clause | A client-delay clause moves the deadline; keeping the old one costs a rush fee. |
| Unlimited revisions included, right? | Revision limit | Strike “unlimited” and set a number of rounds. |
| Feedback from five different bosses | One approver, set hours | One named approver. Feedback arrives consolidated. |
| “Just make it pop” | Written scope | Ask for three reference examples. Define “done”. |
Already signed with a red-flag client?
Check what your contract says about payment, revisions and rights — free, in about a minute.
Questions
What is a client red flag?
A sign early in a project that a client may cause trouble later: refusing a contract, pushing for free samples, haggling before you’ve quoted, vague briefs, or “we pay when we get paid”. One flag isn’t a verdict, but several together usually mean scope creep or late payment ahead.
How do I protect myself from difficult clients?
Most red flags are handled by a few habits put in writing: a clear scope, a set number of revision rounds, a deposit before you start, payment terms with a late fee, change orders for new requests, and rights that transfer only on full payment. Each square on the board links its own tip.
Is Client Red Flag Bingo free? Do I need an account?
Yes, it’s free and there’s no sign-up. Your board is kept in the link itself — there’s no account to tie it to. We only keep anonymous usage stats, like how often each square is tapped.
Which boards are there?
A general board for every freelancer, plus boards for designers, developers, writers and copywriters, and photographers and videographers. Each one has 24 squares and a free centre square.
Does the board change?
Yes. Every board draws its 24 squares from a larger pool of client lines, and there’s a new board every day — the same for everyone, so you can compare scores with friends. “New board” deals fresh lines from the same edition, and each edition (Agency, Cheap Client, Payment Nightmare, Worst of 2026 and the profession boards) has its own set. The classics show up on most boards.
How do I challenge a friend?
Finish a board and press “Challenge a freelancer”. Your friend gets the exact same board, sees your score, and when they finish, both scores appear side by side.
Is this legal advice?
No. The tips are general business practices freelancers use. For a contract with real money at stake, have it checked — you can run a free risk check on BrieflyGo or talk to a lawyer.
Just for fun. Tips are general business practices, not legal advice — for a contract with real money at stake, get it reviewed. Last updated .