What recourse do we have with freelancers who take projects then end the contract days before?

[odeskbuilder]

I'm so tired of hiring people to have them end the contract because another project came up that prevents them from doing mine. There should be a way to leave feedback so that others can know that they do this. They shouldn't be able to just end the contact without consequences. It's a slap in the face of every person who takes the time to post a project, wade through freelancers, award someone, expect work to be done in a week or two only to have them cancel the project a few days before the end. They go on their merry way without any consequences.

I have now had my project delayed by over a week by someone who then just dropped it. It shows a lack of regard for clients.

No there should be a way for us to leave negative feedback on their freelancer profile and warn future people who wish to hire them.

This is making the experience of using UPWORK pointless. I come here to get work done not to have people drop projects. They shouldn't take them on if they don't think they can do them. Its that simple. 

[prestonhunter]

re: "I have now had my project delayed by over a week by someone who then just dropped it. It shows a lack of regard for clients."

Hire multiple freelancers.

Hourly contracts.

Assign tasks.

If a freelancer isn't quickly completing a task, assign it to a different freelancer.

[odeskbuilder]

Cant do that as it would cost too much. This was a simple task no more than $20. So a simple one time payment. They had a week to complete it. They said, yes i can do it. Then a few days before ended the contract. No consquences for them. Upwork should allow us a way to leave negative feedback on their profile and alert future clients to this behavior from this person. 

I generally don't do hourly. And so if i pick one time payment and hire multiple. I then have to escrow all those payments and pay people for the same job. 

My point here is that there should be a way for us to leave feedback EVEN if they end the contact. As reality is, they have wasted valuable client time taking on a project only to drop it before the deadline.

[feed_my_eyes]

If this is happening to you repeatedly, then perhaps the tasks aren't as simple as you're assuming, and the freelancers are deciding to cut their losses instead of spending a week working for $20? Just a thought.

[4c5b9f71]

Multiple freelancers bailed  this is definatly sus. 

Plus I see only 20$ only a newbie would agree to the task. 

That being said can you please in the support complaint detail the conversations for these tasks.  

I am sure this will show light on the situation. It will help the upwork team know exactly where the breach took place. 

Since everything is recorded here it should be simple for you. 

Thank you 

[tlsanders]

I'm a little confused by your story. A $20 task should take no more than 30-60 minutes, maybe a few hours if you are hiring a freelancer at the extreme low end of the spectrum. If you have a few days left, that should be time enough to get the project done many times over.

A couple of things to know:

-Though you can't "warn other clients" with public feedback, your private feedback does impact the freelancer's JSS. 

-For reasons I don't understand, freelancers who want to get out of projects for reasons they don't want to share, such as that the information they were given was wrong and the project is much more complicated than they expected or just that they find the client impossible to work with, are often advised to tell the client they've gotten too busy because it's perceived as being less offensive than the truth.

[odeskbuilder]

I can't find the support area, all i see is help categories. There is no, submit a ticket here area. Please provide the exact link

I'm so tired of dealing with freelancers who take on projects then end them a week into it, leaving me with nothing and they get to walk away without any negative feedback. Other clients need to know about these unprofessional freelancers who are making a mockery out of clients and upwork by taking on projects with NO intention of completing the project. 

Upwork you are allowing freelancers to just BAIL out of projects without any consequences. They never have to worry about bad feedback because they can just hit a button and walk way. That is unprofessional, a waste of clients time, and should not be allowed. Their accounts should be flagged

[AndreaG]

Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with this freelancer, I understand this is a frustrating situation to be in. I'd like to clarify that you should be able to leave feedback on a contract even if it was closed by the freelancer. You can go to Jobs > All Contracts and find the contract there. Within the contract, you can find this option under the Details tab and click on Provide End Contract Reason in the lower right corner of the screen. 

[odeskbuilder]

Unfortunately that is useless. As when you go to all contracts and details tab. That option is for "Anonymous feedback"

I want my feedback LISTED on their profile under jobs they worked on to show they BAILED on the project so that future clients are aware that they may not be reliable. What is the point of giving ANONYMOUS feedback? It clearly states 'This feedback will be kept anonymous and never shared directly with the freelancer'

The freelancer never sees it, future clients never see it. 

Its basically letting them get off SCOTT FREE for ruining this project and experience.

This should not be allowed. FREELANCERS should not be able to END the contract WITHOUT negative reprucssions otherwise what is to STOP them from doing it again, and again, and again?

Sure let them end it but there must be a way for the client to leave VISIBLE feedback that all future clients can see. That way it would encourage the freelancer to THINK twice before taking on a job they plan to quit on and it would encourage them to complete the ones they have taken on.

So no, this does not help

[AndreaG]

I understand you'd like to be able to leave public feedback, however, this is not available on contracts where no payments have been made. That said, I can assure you that the private feedback you can leave does have an impact on the freelancer's profile, specifically their Job Success Score, which is one of the most important stats. 

We appreciate that you've shared your sentiment about this here and we'll be sure to forward your feedback to the appropriate team. 

[prestonhunter]

Okay...

But I use hourly contracts and always get work done by deadline.

I don't have to put up ANY money up front. No money is tied up in escrow.

I can hire six freelancers and if only one freelancer does any work, I only pay one freelancer.

I think you are putting the needs of freelancers and the needs of other clients ahead of your own needs.

I recommend that you put yourself and your project first.

When I hire multiple freelancers to work on a task that has a tight deadline, then I assume some will work, and some won't. I don't need to predict which freelancer will work out and which won't work out. Once the task is done, all of the contracts are closed. I find your posts on this subject interesting, because you seem so concerned about freelancers who are strangers on the Internet. I just get my work done and I don't even think about it if some of them were flaky or not.

[tlsanders]

I bet you pay more than $20.

[bobafett999]

Pay more to get work done.  Also, if you can leave feedback they can too and you wouldn't be happy with that.

[bobafett999]

Yeah, but he wants to spend only $20. It will cost him too much money to hire multiple freelancers!

[prestonhunter]

re: "Yeah, but he wants to spend only $20. It will cost him too much money to hire multiple freelancers!"

The budget is indeed a factor in this.

Usually the reason clients hire multiple freelancers is to SAVE MONEY.

For example, if my budget is $10,000 to develop a website, then I am going to hire 6 to 8 freelancers initially, and then I will evaluate their work and their relative cost very early on. After each has worked a few hours, I will determine which ones provide the most VALUE. In other words: Which ones provide me with the most usable work for the least amount of money. Then I continue working only with 2 or 3 that are the LEAST EXPENSIVE with regards to actual output. (Which is NOT the same thing as "lowest hourly rate.") That way I can save many thousands of dollars on the project.

To be clear: I hire multiple freelancers not so that I can spend MORE, but so that I can spend far LESS money.

But if my budget is only $20 for a project?

There is not really any way to hire JUST ONE FREELANCER for a $20 payment and know for certain that they will do the work.

As a client, I am certain that I CAN FIND A FREELANCER to do the task for $20.

But I will need to hire 10 freelancers at a rate of $20 each if I am using fixed-price contracts.

Out of those 10 freelancers, I may find one or two of them who will do the work on time and whose quality will be good enough for me to use.

But it cost me $200 in order to find one or two freelancers who will do the task for $20.

The other money is just thrown away, because I can't use those freelancers' work, or they end up not doing anything at all.

That's because I am using fixed-price contracts.

Did I gain anything through that exercise?

No, not really.

I DID find 1 or 2 talented freelancers who provided quality work at a very low price. But those freelancers were just starting out on Upwork. Two months later, when I want them to do another task, their rates have already gone up considerably. Because they realized they were under-charging for their superior skill and services.

Alternatively, I can hire low-paid freelancers using hourly contracts. This IS A GOOD IDEA. If I hire 10 freelancers and 8 of them are flaky and never do any work, then I only pay two of them. Maybe I end up paying less than $20. Or maybe more. I need to pay all of the freelancers who logged time.

WHEN I HIRE MULTIPLE FREELANCERS FOR A SMALL JOB, I am doing so to ensure that I get the work done by the DEADLINE. I am not doing this in order to save money.

I do NOT HAVE A MAGIC SPELL that can guarantee me a way to hire only ONE FREELANCER for $20 and know for certain that the work will be both usable and done on time, or done at all.

The original poster's desire violates the basic principle:
"You can have it done right.

You can have it done fast.

You can have it done cheap.

Pick two."

It seems like the original poster want ALL THREE.

But you can't have all three. You can only have TWO.

This is a general principle.

Upwork can't change this.

[prestonhunter]

A key takeaway point of this thread is that this is NOT an Upwork Customer Support issue.

The original poster's question has nothing to do with Customer Support, and is not a question that any client should ever contact Customer Support about. Nobody who works for Upwork Customer Support and nobody who manages Upwork systems can do anything about this. There is no "feature" that anybody at Upwork can come up with to overcome these principles.

That does not mean clients have no where to turn. This Community Forum is an excellent place for clients to post questions about these topics.

[williamtcooper]

I love that diagram. I am always at the intersection of Fast and Good which is more expensive.

[sajal36]

What happen if company facing attrition. They do not close the project rather they manage the risk of damage due to attrition. Coming to the point, if you are not able to convince the freelancer to complete the job than either you are dealing with high risk resources or there is mismatch in the costing of the project. This is a two way road & both party at some point or other may act in the way you are facing the issue.

 I believe even if it is freelancing or short term job, building Trust and compassion is important. I believe once you do that than you start seeing similar people around you. I am just suggesting and do not mean that you are not practising it.

[williamtcooper]

If you have paid any monies, you are able to leave a Review. Otherwise go to the next freelancer and seek a professional with great Reviews and $50k in earnings. Professional freelancers complete their jobs; so use a professional. Thanks!

[bobafett999]

Yeah, but no professional will be tempted by $20.

[williamtcooper]

I agree professionals will not touch $20; that would be marked as spam if I received a request for $20.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Professional freelancers complete their jobs; so use a professional."

I would say that professional freelancers are FAR MORE LIKELY to compete their jobs.

But it is certainly possible to hire a great, professional freelancer who ends up not completing a job.

A key thing for a client to do is never think that this is his only choice. If you hire a freelancer who is wonderful usually, but they aren't productive on YOUR job.... don't second guess yourself. It does not mean you did something wrong when you hired the freelancer. Don't try to figure out why. The "why" does not matter. Just assign the work to other team members.

[25005175]

If the job is simple and only costs $20, then use the Project Catalog.