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sagarmaher
Community Member

Freelancer takes job, Waste months of time and goes offline and not responding

Hi,
I am having some issues with one of a freelancer on other similar platform who is also working on Upwork.

He has taken the project and not delivered and also not responding to my messages and also to the freelancer.com support team. he is gone offline there. but I can see him online on this platform.

It looks like he has manners and seriousness about work. I just need you guys to remind him of his responsibilities.

He has taken a project with 10 days limits, it's over 3 months now no complete project submitted, sometimes given app for testing with many bugs just keep asking for more time to fix them. In the end I just ask to handover the project in whatever state it is now and get paid for what work you have done but also not responding to that.

 

Yes, I am having the option to end the project via freelancers' support but that will not give me back my time which this freelancer wasted so I need to get the project to continue the work instead of starting from scratch.

I have validated that the profile on both platform is of same person.

8 REPLIES 8
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Sagar, 


I'm sorry to learn that you are having issues with a freelancer through another freelancing marketplace. We hope you understand that while this freelancer may use Upwork for their freelancing services, we cannot hold them liable for their actions outside of Upwork.

Thank you.


~ Avery
Upwork

Hi,

Yes, I understand that the upwork is totally separate platform and not responsible for other marketplace issues. and sorry for bringing this here. 

But this kind of behavior is not right on any platform. with some google search, I found him on multiple sites and upwork is the one where he is active most of the time. this kind of situation can happen here also.

 

I have no issue with him working on any platform I just need him to respond to messages and do the needful. 

 

So I am requesting to help me to short out this issue with this freelancer. as a platform is different but the person is the same. I am also don't want to bring this matter here but have no choice now as I have no other way to contact as freelancer or upwork no one can share personal contact details and i need to be dependent on this platform to short out the issues.

If this same issue was happening in a direct contract without any platform then I was having a legal judicial way to short out the issue.

 

Sagar, the mistake in this situation was to continue working with a single freelancer whose work DOES NOT MEET the needs of your project.

 

And when I say "his work", I don't just mean the quality of his work. I also mean the timing, his work schedule, meeting deadlines, communication l etc.

 

There are many freelancers on Upwork and many freelancers on the other platform... the one you actually used to hire this person. In EVERY job niche and pay level there is a statistically predictable failure rate when it comes to hires.

 

You should only work with freelancers who meet your needs and provide you with the best value for your project.

 

Hire multiple freelancers and only continue working with the best. Or, at the very least, if you insist on hiring only a single individual at a time, continue working with that individual only as long as it doing so is beneficial to you. YOU DON'T OWE this freelancer anything! You are not his uncle or mentor. Stop putting the needs of one underperforming freelancer ahead of the needs of your project.

 

I really hope that you get things sorted out as best as possible for you and your project. But two points can't be emphasized enough:

- Upwork can't help you here, because you are talking about a contract you have with someone on another platform

 

- The problems you are having are entirely yours to manage, and you don't need the help of a platform or their Customer Support. The biggest mistake here was hiring and relying on a single individual even when his work didn't meet your needs.

Hi,

thanks for checking this issue.

Yes, I do prefer to work with a single freelancer whos work and other things are satisfactory. it was my 3rd project on platform and 1st for android so I was not having a freelancer for hiring again and gone with this freelancer after checking his profile and bid. 

 

initially in December freelancer started working and was doing well in the project, and he has said that he will complete the project in about 10 days. till  January there was no issue, his giving regular updates.

 

but in January he started not responding to messages and gone offline for a month. and when return he told me he was having some family problem so I accepted the reason and continue work. but after that things get going worst his not responding, when giving project updates for testing there is always some major issue in that, creates a new issue when solving previous. and just keep trying to get more time. and when for resolving this issue I contacted the support he went offline completely and asking to cancel the project. but now I can't cancel the project, I have not given this much time just to cancel the project later.

 

if he is not interested in working or can't complete the project then I just ask to handover the project t the current state which was about 80% complete and gets paid for work which you did but also not doing that and not responding.

 

He was also not responding to support team so I started searching for him on web and found his profile here on Upwork and there is 3 project on which he works during that same period. that clearly means he was lying about his absence issue about a family issues.

You are putting a freelancer's needs ahead of your own. This is not a "best practice."

 

If you have more than one person on your team, then when one team member has problems that would lead to deadlines being missed, then the other team members can take up the slack.

 

Also: Your project manager should be receiving and archiving the completed source code continually. Every day.

 

So there should never be a time where a freelancer disappears and you worry about getting him to turn over source code files.

Either way, none of this has anything whatsoever to do with Upwork.

So, what you are trying to say is a person who was working on an active project on other similar platform and also working on Upwork. in time he gets a better value project on Upwork and he leaves the project on other similar platform in middle does not respond due to his more valued project on Upwork. and there is nothing wrong with this?

 

what would Upwork do if freelancer stops working on a project before completion and goes offline on Upwork?

 

It's not about upwork.com or other similar platform its about basic freelancing working rules. but it seems no one care about basic working ethics.

 

Maybe I am sounding a bit harsh but that's the fact.

Sagar, I don't think you sound "harsh." I think you sound noble.

 

I think you care more about this freelancer then you do about your own project.

 

You are like Mr. Miyagi in "Karate Kid" and you want to teach Daniel your wisdom.

 

Rather than focusing on your own interests, you seem compelled to teach this errant pupil of a freelancer the correct ways of freelancing and working ethics.

 

There is nothing Upwork is going to do to help you in your quest, but that just makes your quixotic efforts all the more fascinating.

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