Attitude
I work for a company that is a gigantic corporation. At least, it is big to me. This company works with other companies all the time. It seems like this company doesn't do anything except pay other companies to do work. It is difficult to get other people to do things they are supposed to do. they spend more energy and time avoiding work than just getting the job done. Their objective is to get this company to pay for everything without doing any of the work themselves. The golden rule of business is make it more work for some one to avoid what you want them to do, and make sure they know it.

By the way
Definition
The term "By the way" refers to last minute or after the fact changes made by people on a project. They come after design is frozen, sometimes after the product is delivered.
Signs of pending By the way
When people give vague or incomplete instructions or specifications, it means they don't know what they want. They have every intention of waiting until you give them what they asked for and then bitching. This is a constant problem at my day job.
Solution
The first thing you can do is get everything in writing. This doesn't help, if you don't have recourse. I have no recourse at my day job to tell people "That is exactly what you asked for." I can only add more time to the project. I've caught myself adding days to projects when people ask for stupid crap. It isn't like they are being charged any different. I'm still doing work. it is just their stuff that gets bumped. I would rather work on some one's project who knows what they need and asked for it. I figure they deserve better service.