Syed H wrote:
Hello Upwork Community,
I am hoping to get some advice from other clients on what they have done in a similar situation. But I hired a freelancer on a website development project 2 months ago.
The developer made many commitments written in a contract which were much better than other freelancers such as doing the website in nodejs and reactjs as opposed to PHP laravel, do it a lower cost than other freelancers and in a shorter period of time. They also promised that they will have a project manager available 24 hours and I will get daily feedback on my project.
If a freelancer claims to complete your project at a lower cost and a shorter period of time then other freelancers, then that may be a warning that something isn't quiet right. Also, if an agency or freelancer tells you that they will bring in their OWN project manager, that should cause you concern. If you are going to use a project manager, and I strongly advise that you do, it should be someone not affiliated with the agency/freelancer. IMO, a project manager is someone who can determine if a project is on the right track, being developed correctly and on time. Someone associated with the freelancer will favor the freelancer and overlook errors, time commitments and other things. When payment is cheap, and timelines are much shorter then normal, and promises are not fulfulled then that's the problems you get
As the project started they soon advised that they cannot complete the project the agreed time period and they need an extra month. They did not provide daily updates rather updates a few days later and the work progress was very slow.
If you have or had a reasonable deadline for the amount of work, weren't getting daily updates as they said they they would and the progress was very slow, = and that's what a project manager is supposed to keep on top of, then you should have closed the contract and went with another freelancer.
They asked for funds to be released earlier than usual and most importantly I just got an email from them saying that they cannot complete the project in the decided language anymore as their developer who would work on this has to leave for medical reasons and now they can only code this website in PHP laravel.
Get whatever work they have done so far in the language/code you requested. pay them - up to that point - and then close the contract and hire a freelancer with a more realistic proposal.
Please note one of the reason the project was assigned to this team because they committed to doing the project in nodejs and reactjs.
Were they the ONLY one who said they can do it? Did you specify that this project NEEDS to be done in nodejs and reactis? You can also search for freelancer who have that skill set listed in their profiles.
If anyone can advise on some feedback on their experiences in a similar situation and what they did. Thank you again to everyone in the community.
Don't go for cheap. Hire a few freelancers and then keep the one who performs best (of course pay the other freelancers up to that point) and hire your own project manager who has that certain skill set.
