Content freelancer refuses to take client back after they tried to replace her with AI, then came back to offer 40% less than what they paid before: ‘They failed’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Aug 26, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

They should have offered her 40% more, not less.

Anyone who has worked with clients knows they tend to approach any work you do for them as if you always have to prove why you are worth the money they pay you. Even though they willingly hired you to do the job, they still act as if they believe it's not worth the money, and they could have done it themselves for a lot less.

Most clients, once you actually provide the work, will come to the understanding that what you do is actually important to their business, while some will back out after a few months with the claim that they want to try to do it alone. Or, in the case below, with the help of none other than AI.

You know it is only a matter of time before they eat their hats and come crawling back to you.

This content freelancer, u/NegotiationStrict473, posted a story about how brands tried to replace them with AI and miserably failed. Like any business that just discovered the wonders of AI, they thought they could do their marketing alone with these tools and were shocked to see their numbers plummeting after posting these AI-generated videos everyone hates. 

So, after this experience tanked, the brand had no choice but to come back to the freelancer and offer to take them back. However, after they stupidly cut ties with this freelancer and after they suffered from their experiment, you would think that they would offer to pay the freelancer much more than before. But no, the offer they put on the table was actually 40% less than what they paid the freelancer before they went the AI route.

So they broke the previous agreement, failed with their experiment, learned nothing, and then came back expecting a discount. 

Even though the freelancer could use the money, they don't think it's right to accept this insulting offer. But what should they do instead?

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  • Freelancer talking to client on the phone.
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Freelancer talking to client on the phone.

    Image shown for illustrative purposes; person depicted is a model.

  • Brands replaced me with ai, engagement tanked AND now they are back in my DMs offering 40% less than what they paid me before. THE AUDACITYY

    so i am just supposed to be okay with this?? for two years i made content for this brand, ugc kinda videos of me talking about
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • products.I worked with 8 brands regularly which i got through an agency .I was getting good money and thought it was stable.
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • In march the briefs stopped, i checked my email every day waiting and assumed i'd done something wrong and spent some time too going over old messages trying to figure out what.
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • Found out through another creator four months later that they had switched to ai generating voices and fake testimonials .Like could they
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • have not informed mee? i just stopped existing to them and had to figure out why on my own about this.
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • i cried about it if i am being honest because it felt like a personal rejection even though it wasn't personal.
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • Then this month my phone started buzzing again and it was the same agency with same brands and it was like we never stopped talking.
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • They gave me new briefs attached and at the bottom of each one a rate.
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • Client and freelancer shaking hands.
    via Mina Rad

    Client and freelancer shaking hands.

    Image depicted solely for explanatory purposes.

  • every single rate was lower than what they paid me before they left and when i asked the poc about why they did not contact me for
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • months, she acknowledged the ai experiment and why it ended. Basically the engagement had collapsed, CTRs tanked because
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • consumers could feel something was off and now they are back to giving contracts to "REAL" ugc influencers(yes she said REAL Û)
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • but i am being offered less for it than i was worth before any of this happened.
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • So they failed, learned nothing and came back expecting a discount.I have asked them some time to think about it
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • What do you guys think i should do?I need the money too
    via NegotiationStrict473
  • randomhobo130 Name your price and let them make a decision. Your pay should be higher than what it was before IMO
    via randomhobo130
  • Mustrum_R At least don't just accept the low offer. They intimately know you are needed now. I would start a negotiation with a counterproposition at a slightly higher rate than original.
    via Mustrum_R
  • XorAndNot I'll imediatelly reject any product advertised using Al, not only because of principles, but because I assume it's hot garbage and they need to fake it.
    via XorAndNot
  • posh_punk_ this would make me so stubborn if you already proved my work performs better, there is no way i'm coming back for less
    via posh_punk_
  • no_name113 Reviise the payment as 50% more than what you were making (ie. If it was $10 it's now $15) make them pay for their stupidity
    via no_name113

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job offer job work content creator client brand ai service freelance
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