Freelancer didn't do any work.

[c16555e2]

I've probably hired 6 freelancers on Upwork and overall I've been pleased with the service.  

I recently had a freelancer that didn't meet the deadline so I gave him an additional two days to do the work.   

I could see that he didn't log into the website so I knew he wasn't doing the work.  I canceled the contract two days after the due date.  

You never know what someone is going through in life so I just wanted to get an escrow refund and cancel the contract.   Upwork would not allow canceling the contract, without giving reviews. I basically just ruined this guys chances of getting more work because I couldn't consciously give a good review.  I feel like the system should allow canceling a contract without putting someone on blast.   

[wlyonsatl]

When you hire a new freelancer, do you care whether cients who have worked with the freelancer previously have left accurate feedback? I assume many clients do use prior client feedback and a freelancer's (potentially highly flawed) Job Success Score when selecting a new freelancer. 

It's unfortunate you thought it was necessary to "blast" the freelancer in your feedback, but if you were truthful that's the right thing to do. Some people just aren't cut out for freelancing and the bad ones can give Upwork and good freelancers a bad name, especially with clients who are new to Upwork.

I suppose you could have asked the freelancer to close the contract, which would have meant you wouldn't need to leave any feedback (if I understand the feedback process correctly). 

[c16555e2]

I could allow him to cancel the contract but the issue is he had full access to my website.

That's a degree of trust akin to giving someone your credit card information. 

So I leave it up to a person to cancel a contract that hasn't done any work in 12 days.  Probably, not the best solution.

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

If no work was done and no money changed hands, no feedback will show on the freelancer's profile, but the freelancer's JSS will take a hit.

This is why "nothing paid" contracts with no or poor feedback count negatively for the freelancer's Job Success Score.

[c16555e2]

Ok, that sounds good.  That isn't clear when you are canceling the contract.

When you give feedback you have to fill out all of the spaces or it won't process.

[prestonhunter]

re: "That isn't clear when you are canceling the contract. When you give feedback you have to fill out all of the spaces or it won't process."

Scott:

You are correct.

This IS confusing.

Those of us who are experienced Upwork users probably don't even think about this.

But, yes, if a client is actively asked to evaluate a freelancer, I can see how one would assume that those ratings will show up.

So for now you'll just have to trust us (or read the Upwork documentation on this topic):

If zero dollars were paid out on a contract, then it is impossible for the contract to show up in a freelancer's job history. It is impossible for anything you type or any of your star average scores to show up on the freelancer's page.