As an update to my last post and for those that commented…
I proposed a 50% for 2mo both of hours and cost. The phone call ended a little tense from the conversation where essentially I reiterated the contract terms and tried to be understanding and the client stating ‘this is a relationship business and I’m not sure I want to do business with someone who throws contract language at me’.
We exchanged texts later where he seemed a bit cooled off. Said we’d reconvene and he’d consider my offer over the weekend.
Got an email this morning that he is cancelling and considers the last months payment for time we didn’t use due to rescheduling once for weather and once for him as in lieu of the termination fee.
I’m allowing it, being a nice guy and not pushing the issue of the additional termination fee and he was very clear he’s been very happy with the videos made, will resume as soon as he can(we’ll see) and will still call me for listings he gets that need photos/video etc and plans to still refer me and resume regular business soon.
So… I maintained the relationship which has already given one project of work by referral for a one-off video project with another agent and the door is open for continued future business. But it’s costing me $800.
That being said, I’ll be revising my contract terms for retainers and considering dropping the rollover clause all-together and any such action will be solely at my discretion and not a built in allowance per the contract. Also going to up my termination fee to either 2 x monthly fee or 50% remaining contract so at minimum it looks worse than one month and if I did have to pursue anything it would be more substantial to recuperate.
Thanks for the feedback on the original post!
By - Saxplaya91
He doesn't want to do business with someone who adheres to contract terms?!?! Let him try that with his landlord or utilities company. 
And I literally quoted that I said any contract you enter has a penalty.
Yeah, man, stick to your guns. Don't let a client walk all over you.
I wonder how the client would react if OP billed him more one month. "Due to cash flow issues, I had to increase your fee this month. What do you mean that's not what we agreed to? Well this is a partnership and I don't think I can do business with someone who throws contracts clauses in my face."
That's not what he said(according to the OP). He said contract language. The wording and exact phrasing can come across very confrontational, contentious and unfriendly. So, the client/former client may not have necessarily had a problem with the terms, but just the way that the OP presented them via the wording in the contract during their conversation. It's the 'ole "You catch more flys with honey than you do vinegar" thing.
Sounds like you’re getting ditched and out the money as well to me…
At the end of your post, you say you’re going to go back over your contract & change things around for the future.. Why even do that if you’re just going to allow your clients to break the contract & not penalize them for it? Rescheduling for weather isn’t an excuse to avoid penalty fees, neither is him having to reschedule. You let him pause, & then cancel, the contract with no penalty, which is the sole reason to even have a contract in this situation to begin with. The whole point of a contract is for situations JUST like this. He was going to use any excuse to break that contract with you once you told him you wouldn’t be able to pause it, so he decided to use you bringing up the contract as that excuse. I highly doubt you’ll ever hear from him again. Clients like that come & go.
What an asshole client. It better cost him them more if they want you back later.
If/when he wants to resume I’m going to offer either a La carte at a 20%+ higher rate or slightly increased retainer and adjusted terms.
“Contract language” ahahahaah I hope you have a friend whose an attorney to check over your contract. But yeah you need to stick to it.
Hes not going to use you again and you just let him out of the contract. He knows it and is just refusing to pay you. You are either too nice or haven’t been fucked over enough to see it. People are shitty and always will be shitty. Also Jesus, he’s a house contractor. He more than like has $5k-$10k in cash in his truck in case he sees a good deal on something and will routinely write $20k+ checks. The $800 is nothing to him.