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kgreen72
Community Member

Bait and Switch Freelancers

A quick search of the term, 'Bait and Switch' in this community forum reveals many threads that discuss bad clients who change the terms of a contract after a proposal is accepted... but what about freelancers? What are the rules?

 

When hiring for a project, I review a freelancers portfolio and prior feedback... but also the rate that they've proposed. What I'm finding is that after a short period of work (maybe a couple hours or a single milestone) the freelancer asks for a raise.

 

While I have nothing wrong with freelancers raising their rates over time, this seems suspicious that they seem to get the contract by promising a low rate and then immediately ask for a raise once they've started working.

 

As with many businesses, hiring someone new has a cost associated with it. There is a process of knowledge transfer that must occur as we integrate a new hire into our workflow. I always pay hourly and I never ask for work for free. I recently paid for 10 hours of work for zero deliverable before terminating the contract. Just because I wasn't happy with the freelancer's performance didn't mean that he shouldn't be paid for his time... so I paid him anyways.

 

However, I seem to have a repeated experience in which a freelancer asks for a raise almost immediately after being awarded the job. I find this to be dishonest and unfair. It's a case of 'Bait and Switch' in which the freelancer is effectively changing the terms of the contract and I stand to waste my time and money if I don't comply.

 

I'm open to the thoughts and feedback from others here... clients and freelancers alike. Have you had this happen to you? What can we do about it?

14 REPLIES 14
petra_r
Community Member


Kristin G wrote:

However, I seem to have a repeated experience in which a freelancer asks for a raise almost immediately after being awarded the job.


What price segment do you hire from? Do you hire people at their profile rate or a lower rate negotiated with the freelancers?

 


Kristin G wrote:

It's a case of 'Bait and Switch' in which the freelancer is effectively changing the terms of the contract and I stand to waste my time and money if I don't comply.


Not really.  Just because a freelancer asks, this does not mean you have to comply or end the contract. You are free to just say "No."

 

Maybe make it clear during the hirin process when rates will be revisited (after 6 months or whatever.)

 

Personally I hire people at their profile rate, just as, as a freelancer, I only accept new hourly contracts at my profile rate. Long term clients are grandfathered into their old rate, but I don't accept new work at a lower rate. 

 

Clients who approach me with offers at a lower rate are declined.

 

kgreen72
Community Member

Good points!

 

I hire from the price segment that fits the budget... usually the budget is very low. Perhaps that is something that I should do differently but if someone says that they are an expert in XYZ and they send a proposal for $20/hr... I expect that they will do the job for $20/hr. I never haggle or question whatever rate they propose. Only recently did I discover that some of them have different 'normal' rates.

 

I guess what I'm getting at is that if they 'advertise' themselves by sending me a proposal at a given rate, they should honour that rate. Why would they offer themselves at a rate that was lower than their normal rate?... unless it was to get the job.

 

You are correct in that I could simply say no but I also risk losing them after I've taken the time to groom them into the position.

 

It's like the ferryman asking for more money half way across the river.

petra_r
Community Member


Kristin G wrote:

I hire from the price segment that fits the budget... usually the budget is very low. Perhaps that is something that I should do differently but if someone says that they are an expert in XYZ and they send a proposal for $20/hr... I expect that they will do the job for $20/hr.


It may not happen with people who charge $ 20 an hour 😉 

 

To be honest, I've never had that happen to me when hiring for myself or for clients (I've managed teams). So it must be connected to the demographic of the freelancers you tend to hire. My thought is that you may be paying very low rates for the work you get done. If that isn't the case, then there must be something else  those freelancers have in common (other than you).

 


Kristin G wrote:

You are correct in that I could simply say no but I also risk losing them after I've taken the time to groom them into the position.


I get that, but you can prevent that from happening by setting and agreeing a timeline after which rates may (!) be revisited, right from the start, before hiring. That should sort it. Not by saying "Don't ask me for more money after the first week" - but by saying "...and we will review your performance after X months, and will be open to give you an increase if your performance is strong. Are you happy with that?" which both drives the point home and gives them an incentive to do great work.

b2680bc0
Community Member

I just had this happen to me. We set a budget for our project and looked for folks who could deliver at the hourly rate we estimated to complete the project. We invited folks based on the matching criteria and received several proposals.   We paid for 3 candidates to send us samples based on our needs and then selected one.  After selection, he raised his rates 300% and said it was an error in the upwork software that didn't update. Mind you, we saw the rate when inviting, and then again when contracting for the samples.  After we said we liked them and he was our preferred choice, he sent a project quote that was triple what we expected.   Is this an expected negotiation process here? We are brand new to this platform.  

re: "Is this an expected negotiation process here?"

 

No.

That is NOT expected. Not normal. I don't trust that person.

 

You don't need to play games, including guessing games.

 

It is tactically incorrect to "select one candidate."

 

If you have a large project: Hire multiple freelancers and continue working only with the ones who provide you with the best value.

 

Evaluate the work done by freelancers hired to work on the project. Be ready to fire freelancers quickly who don't measure up. Your goal is to identify a core group of freelancers who can do the work you need, at the level of quality you require, while saving you money.


Playhouse Merced M D wrote:

I just had this happen to me. We set a budget for our project and looked for folks who could deliver at the hourly rate we estimated to complete the project. We invited folks based on the matching criteria and received several proposals.   We paid for 3 candidates to send us samples based on our needs and then selected one.  After selection, he raised his rates 300% and said it was an error in the upwork software that didn't update. Mind you, we saw the rate when inviting, and then again when contracting for the samples.  After we said we liked them and he was our preferred choice, he sent a project quote that was triple what we expected.   Is this an expected negotiation process here? We are brand new to this platform.  


Seems very weird. I'd look for someone else.

mipaparazzi
Community Member

If we need to look at the situation where a freelancer asks for a raise, two things have to come to mind 1) Freelancer does not pay attention to details enough inorder to evaluate what the project cost and you as a client do you love people who don't pay attention to details? I guess that is a big mess

2) Freelancer used a manipulative form to get attention, in that case you will need to ask your self do I love sincere persons or manipulative persons to get my project done.

 

Truth is that for every project that you find one "perfect" freelancer there is another person who can get that job done but due to "time and chance" the person was not discovered by you. 

 

But another case to consider is when deliverables not stated in the job post is communicated after hire and as a freelancer on this space I've encountered clients that do this alot, but its a matter of coming to a compromise from both parties.

Was the freelancer playing games?

 

Or was the freelancer a serious, sincere professional who was presented with new information about a project and is now providing me with a realistic estimate or quote?

 

Ultimately, as a client, I need to put myself and my project first.

 

If a freelancer once said $100, but now tells me $300... Maybe that's "wrong", or maybe it isn't. But the most important thing is this: Are they the best person I know about right now for doing this task?

 

Will they do a better job than the freelancer who said $150 and stuck with that estimate?

 

What about the freelancer who originally said $75 and now says $150?

 

For a small job, it may not matter.

What if you are hiring freelancers to work on a much larger project? One that will be done over the period many weeks or months?

 

Hire all three of those freelancers for an hour or two and then decide which ones provide you with the best value. You may end up with more than one that you like working with. You may decide none of those are what you are looking for, or are as inexpensive as you would like, and you may test out additional freelancers.

Let’s not confuse hourly rates with project rates.

If the freelancer lures you in with a low rate only to ask for a raise soon after you’ve taken the bait and chosen that freelancer for the contract, that’s dishonest and misleading. To continue the fishing metaphor, I would call that, “Setting the hook.” They know that you’d have to start all over again and you’ve committed yourself to them.

On the other hand… If the freelancer gives an estimate and then adjusts that estimate as new requirements are revealed, that’s different.
petra_r
Community Member

The thread is well over a year old. I'm fairly sure the OP has resolved the situation by now...

 

 

re: "The thread is well over a year old. I'm fairly sure the OP has resolved the situation by now...

 

Playhouse Merced M D posted his question on July 29, 2021. Just a few days ago.

kgreen72
Community Member

I see no evidence that the issue being discussed has been adequately resolved.

re: "I see no evidence that the issue being discussed has been adequately resolved."

 

Kristin:
I am sorry if you are disappointed in the actions Upwork has taken regarding this issue.

 

I don't work for Upwork. I'm just a user like yourself. This is what I believe:

 

- Upwork is not going to "do" anything to resolve this matter.

- There is not really any technical or procedural solution to your concern that Upwork itself can take.

- The only way that this will be "resolved" is what you yourself, as a client, decide to do to resolve the matter. This is something that Upwork users - especially clients - may discuss here in the Forum, in order to think up "best practices"... ways to avoid this. Ways to handle this.

 

If anybody can think of something that Upwork itself could or should do differently in order to eliminate or reduce this sort of thing that the original poster is concerned about, I hope they won't hesitate to offer suggestions. I have seen no such suggestions.

I agree. I only objected to shutting down the conversation with the assumption that the OP had long gone and thus it was no longer relevant.

I simply see value in further discussion. That’s all.

I’m with you. I don’t think this is a problem with Upwork or something they could solve. This is simply something that clients need to be aware of and know how to respond appropriately.
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