Hi, so I have had my first just terrible experience on Upwork.
I made a post, to hire a client to draw and color some designs for me. I had several submissions with the price that I was paying, included in the ad. Well, then I had a freelancer submit, so, obviously I spoke with them before hiring them. I was completely new to Upwork, so I was a bit confused on how everything worked, like their contract system and such. In the beginning, I made a'mock' contract, which essentially just outlined everything that I wanted her to do and how much I would be paying for her to do them. As it is against ToS, I did not ask for her signature, on the contract. I read that the only way to go around paying on Upwork is if you pay them a fee and contact them, and that communicatio only had to be on Upwork before a contract was agreed upon. So, I asked them if paying and communication on Upwork was fine, and they said that it was. So, we created a contract.
Please keep in mind that she, wholeheartedly, agreed with all of my prices, and when she did ask for a raise, I aske a few questions before giving her the raise that she wanted. We were supposed to have an ongoing contract where I increased her price every couple of weeks, as my site grew busier. Her work was good, and we agreed on everything beforehand because I knew I wouldn't be able to change artists, in the middle of the project. She was aware of this, as well, as often told her.
A little ways through the project, I made more milestones. Now, I always paid her on time because I wanted her to get her money as quickly as possible. But, she never submitted to me the actual works, just pictures. So, I didn't get the png or translucent files that I needed. Apart from that, i thought, hey, I can get it, myself. So, she stopped working and told me that she would like me to end the contract and give her a 5 star review and she would continue working afterwards, on the origina offer. Of course, I was confused and asked her why it mattered since this was long term, and she told me that she was new and it would mean a lot to her if I could do that for her and then we could continue.
She seemed so lovely, thus far, so I didn't think anything of it. I did what she asked and gave her raving marks since I really did like the art. Then I created anew contract, as I said I would do. She didn't respond to me for two days, and when she did respond she said that would only work if I paid her quadruple what we had agreed upon. Mind you, about 33% of the work had been done and paid for. She only asked me, I think, because I told her that I would increase her pay as we moved along and that I needed her for the project. I guess she wanted the price increase immediately and since she thought I needed her, she thought she could get away with it. Obviously, I told her 'no' and that we had a contract that she had wholeheartedly agreed to. She told me that we ended the contract and I had given her raving marks, so unless I agreed to her new price then I would have to find someone else and that would have been caused by my own decision. I even attempted to increase the price, double what we had previously agreed on, but she wanted more because she thought I needed her.
I told her that she didn't deserve the 5 star review that I had given her because that was not a good way to do business. She knew from the beginning that it was a long term job and the price she'd originally been excited about before learning that I could offer more. She told me that I knew nothing about what she did, and that I had become very cheeky and rude before wishing me luck in finding someone else. Obviously, I was frustrated because I'd lost $100+ in art that I could no longer use because it would be unprofessional to have two different artists. So, I posted an ad, found several people who wanted to work for the price I offered, and began a new contract with someone else. I also changed her review to a 1 star review and explained to her why I had done so. She took advantage of my lack of experience with the site, and made me end the contract (she told me 3 times to do so otherwise she would stop working). She was very sneaky. I don't mind offring more when my freelancers ask because I like to keep them happy, but it's the fact that we didn't have a problem until I brought up that I could pay more as time went on that she did this. She was very rude and kept belittling me. So, I was very truthful in my review because I feel that is what upwork is for. Honesty is what keeps the site going. I said that her artwork was really good, but her work ethic wasn't, she could be rude, and that she could be sneaky.
She quickly grew angry and sent me this message.
**Edited for community guidelines**
I will upload the files that I have of the 'mock' contract that I sent her, in the beginning, as well as our messages regarding the contract. I never told her to sign the contract nor to work on any place apart from Upwork. It was exactly what I called it, a 'mock' contract, used so that she would know what I wanted to pay for. Neither parties signed the contract, and we made a contract right on the site. Then she told me that I was angry which was unjustified and unnecessary and that I should return her back to the grade that she had, originally. I, immediately told her 'no' due to the fact that she had just threatened, for something that didn't even break the rules, which I'm sure is against Upwork's TOS, and because her work was now worthless to me. I didn't even ask for a refund and instead just hired someone else. I didn't report her or anything, and when I was speaking with her earlier, she did nothing but belittle me and tell me that I had no idea what I was talking about, regardless of the fact that I got 60+ entries on the job where my price was clearly stated and had been hiring artists for years.
She has tried twice now to threaten me because of the 'mock' contract that I sent in the beginning, but as you can see from the screenshots, I told her to look over it, see if everything was okay, and then made a contract on the site. She was never asked to sign this contract nor do any work off site. We haven't even had any correspondance off the site. She is trying to use anything to attempt me to change her feedback back even though she knows that she doesn't deserve it.
She was very rude and aggressive towards me, so what should I do now to make her leave me alone? I feel that she will continue to threaten and message me until I change her feedback, but she does not deserve it. Is there a way that I can block her?
Reused old Thread, ignore past answers, I'd like new ones.
