report a Freelancer

[45df3c1e]

hello,

I have give a job to a freelancer. And the job was good. I ask him to give me a documentation for his work and what exactly he have change on the wxisting files.

At now I get no answer from him and I need this changes urgently.

What I can do to get this doc?

BR Salvatore

[prestonhunter]

Upwork does not have the document.

If you hired a freelancer who no longer responds to your requests or meets your needs then you should stop working with him.

Only work with freelancers who provide the most value to your project.

[45df3c1e]

I know, but without the documantation this job is for nothing.

[robin_hyman]

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Salvatore G wrote:

I know, but without the documantation this job is for nothing.

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It sounds like you won't be getting the documentation and need to hire another freelancer.  Do your due diligence before you hire to make sure your freelancer can 1) do the job 2) can do it within your timeline and 3) will be responsive.  Read freelancer feedback and take into account their JSS (job success score).  

Not all freelancers behave this way on this platform.  

[BojanS]

Hi Salvatore,

I'm sorry about your experience with this freelancer. Our team will reach out to you directly to assist you with getting in touch with the freelancer.

Thank you for reaching out to us! 

[vicodinchik]

I'm just curious if documentation requirement was listed in the project or mentioned when you had an interview with freelancer? 

[prestonhunter]

BR Salvatore: I really do want you to have success in your hiring efforts on Upwork.

I do not know the details of your situation. I can't speak with any amout of specificity about what you are facing. So let me speak in generalities about my own hypothetical perspective.

I was hired using a fixed-price contact to do a certain task. I did that task. The job was completed. Then the client asked for documentation. Writing up a detailed document or report about the process is an entirely separate task unto itself. It would take me extra time to do that work. Doing this was completely outside the scope of the original agreement. I had nothing to gain by doing this extra work for free. But I did not want to argue with the client. So I simply ignored this client. I felt that he should know enough about Upwork to realize that he was violating Upwork ToS by asking me to work for free.

But this client apparently REALLY wanted that documentation. He offered me $250 for the documentation.

Well, that dollar amount really caught my attention. I quickly wrote back and said that I would be happy to write the documentation and provide it to him. I asked if a 24-hour turn-around time would work for him, and he said yes.

The client asked if it would be all right if he paid me half up-front as a bonus ($125), and then paid me the remainder after I delivered the document. I thought that sounded very fair, and I agreed.

[Now... obviously the freelancer in this story isn't me. It is a friend. I think my friend was being rude and somewhat unprofessional by not clearly communicating with the client. I would have told the client that the documentation he is requesting is outside the scope of the fixed-price agreement, and requires an additional contract in order to get done. But my friend didn't do that. Was my friend right? No. BUT: My friend is a REAL PERSON. (hypothetically speaking) Some people, including some Upwork freelancers, act imperfectly. But sometimes, as clients, we can still get what we need from them.]

[prestonhunter]

There is another potential, which Robin wisely alludes to:

You may never get what you want from this freelancer.

The freelancer may have actually BLOCKED you in the Upwork communications tool. In which case, no dollar amount that you communicate to him will reach him. So offering to pay him for additional work won't work.

Also: He could have died. Or won the lottery and stopped using Upwork. Or fallen in love. Or adopted a puppy. You don't know.

It is possible that nothing you or Upwork does will reach him, and it is possible that if you do reach him, he won't want to provide documentation, or it is possible that he is incapable of providing what you need.

So Robin's advise is helpful. You may need to set up a new contract to either:

a) hire a second freelancer to provide you with the documentation that you need, based on the first freelancer's work

[or]

b) do the entire task over again, this time with the documentation being a clear, necessary deliverable

If you do end up hiring another freelancer, instead of working with the original one, one of the most important things you will do is to not try to communicate any further wth the original freelancer. Don't try to get money back from that first contract. Let that go, because it is a distraction and any thought or effort focused in that direction will only limit your ability to achieve your goals.