Client unfairly paused the contract

[katarina-petric]

Hello, my dear friends. I have a small concern here.

A client sent me the proposal that I've gladly accepted since it definitely fits my skills. We have had a great communication, I've sent him an example of work *audio voice-over*, he gave me precise instructions what he needed fixed and what he wanted, I fixed a part, he was pleased and we've started the contract. We figured out that we can do it hourly and that's how the contract was made. 

Tomorrow, unfortunately, I had an accident and I was in a hospital, not being able to reach out to him. We didn't have a specific deadline, btw. Anyways, after few days I could pick up my phone and I've immediately wanted to reach out, but I was pretty much surprised: after, like, 4 days, he had paused my contract, as he said "indefintely", because I was silent during that 4 days. Of course, I've apologized and explained my situation, and not only that, I've sent him my work, and told him that I will not take the money, because, even though my situation was not something I've wanted for myself, I can totally understand that my accident is not his concern, so I was like - nevermind, I will be fair, and do it for free, since, again, his business should not suffer because of unpredictable circumstances as a freelance being in an accident.

Anyways, he ignores me since then and keeps my contract paused. I thought this was not a big deal, but now, since I am a newbie here and I did 6 jobs, my JSS is 60 percent. I only have satisfied clients, who gave me 5.00 and great reviews, but since I have just started on Upwork, this contract has affected me immensely. I also have one client who paid me, who was super satisfied, but haven't closed the contract yet, even though I politely asked her to do so. My JSS is now 60 percent and I am not happy about it, but I understand the Upwork rules, and again, I know it's nothing personal, it's just how the system works.

My question is this - since this client is ignoring me, should I close the contract myself? I would give him a bad feedback, since I do not think that this is a fair treatment of a freelancer, especially since I have explained my situation and did the work for free and sent him an excellent piece. I think that at least he should have said - tnx, I am closing the contract, talk to you never.

So, what can I do now, having in mind that I want my JSS to be a real representative of my work? And do I have to wait for 6 months to JSS to be calculated again? Am I doomed?

Thanks in advance,

Katarina.

[jr-translation]

If all  your clients were happy your JSS would be at 100%. My guess is that even though they gave you 5* their private feedback was really bad. One job alone does not take 40%.

If the job you are talking about has just been paused, it is not yet in the calculation.

I do not believe that the contact was paused unfairly. Clients can do it any time. You have no work guarantee with hourly projects. You might feel it has been unfair because you had an accident, but as you recognize yourself, that is your problem. You decided to make up for it. Many will reply you should not work for free, but maybe you will be lucky and you are going to continue the contract just because you did some free work. You knew it would be for free, so why bother.

The JSS is calculated every second week. The result shown is the best out of a 6, 12 or 24 month period. You are not doomed because you have to wait 6 month but because it will be a lot of work to reach 90% again.

[cupidmedia]

It's unlikely either of your in-progress jobs are affecting your JSS because they haven't been inactive that long. More likely one of your other clients gave you a low private feedback (on purpose or otherwise).

You should close the contract that went bad and focus on submitting great proposals. Try and get a quick win with another small job and some great feedback, then close the other inactive job yourself if your client still hasn't at that point. You can recover, but it'll take a lot of hard work to do so.