accepted an offer with published deadline.... what does that deadline mean?

[8a92a922]

A freelancer had an offer to do one product label with a deadline 3 days from the start of the job.

I accepted that offer and believed that a finished label would be produced by the deadline.

On the morning of the deadline I got a half baked draft (text random text off other unrelated labels, brand name spelt wrong, typos all over).  I immediately replied to try and get some edits and changes.. in fact the design wasn't to my liking at all..  But I got no response until the evening when freelancer tells me the deadline referred to the first draft and she will make revisions.  So I go along with it to try and get a label, but the revisions are just not related to my brand at all. 

I close the contract because I haven't got time to be messing about, I need to send my label to print today (3 days after the deadline). So to me the job hasn't been done.  

I closed the contract to stop the freelancer keep sending me random edits and offered to pay 2/5 of the fee for the initial draft.  

The freelancer is very upset saying I am unprofessional.  

What is a deadline, if it isn't an end time for the work? 

Should I just pay her the full fee (irks me) or should I go to a dispute?  

[AleksandarD]

Hi Diane,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience working with a freelancer. I checked and it looks like you purchased a Catalog Project. As the due date is enforced and the freelancer was late to deliver, you are entitled to a refund which you already requested. The freelancer now has 7 days to respond to the request. You can check this article for more information and feel free to let us know if you have further questions!

Thank you.

[8a92a922]

Hi Aleksander

Thanks for the quick reply and helpful information.  
Diane

[prestonhunter]

In a perfect world, a deadline would be a guarantee. But it is not.

There is no way for Upwork to guarantee a project deadline. Freelancers do not even work for Upwork. They are independent business owners of their own freelancing business who use the Upwork site to connect with clients.

If I want to ensure that I receive work by a tight, important deadline, then I must choose from the following options:

a) Work only with a freelancer that I have worked within before, who I know can deliver the work need, with the quality I need, by the deadline. Because she has done so before.

[or]

b) Hire multiple freelancers, enough to hedge my bets and ensure that at least one of them will provide what I need in time for the deadline.

[8a92a922]

Thanks for the reply.

This is my preferred option.. to move on and get my project finished the
best way I can (I'll do it on Canva but I know my own limitations)

The money is less of an issue than my time. I need to get my product labels
printed and the products on the market asap. I lose more than the job's
cost with each day they are not being offered to customers.

But with the freelancers reaction, saying I was being very unfair and
unprofessional, I thought I should seek advice.

So thank you for that.

Diane

[prestonhunter]

A big part of my success as a client when it comes to getting work done by an important deadline is that I EXPECT poor performances from some freelancers and I plan to pay for work that I can't use.

I expect that some freelancers will do no work at all. I expect that some freelancers will do low quality work.

I consistently end up delighted with the work I obtain when using Upwork because I focus on the high quality work the the top freelancers submit.

I don't spend any time thinking about the junk.

Last week I hired three freelancers to create a single illustration, and three other freelancers to create another illustration. All working independently. Some never did any work. Once I obtained the results I wanted, I had great work, done before the deadline, and I ended all the contracts.