Client not responsive and did not end contract claims that she's not happy with my work

[nicolemandap]

Hi, 

I've been in UpWork for quite some time now. Last week, it was my first time to encounter a problem with a client who has been very happy with my work. We had 3 projects and she was very satisfied with the first 2. She even left me a very nice review. Those past 2 projects were fixed-priced milestone ones.

The 3rd project was an hourly contract. This is where is started, she began complaining about the number of hours logged (because manual time is allowed) i was very transparent and even sent screen shots and time stamps for her reference. After submitting the final output on a Thursday and having received word from her that she will review during the weekend and circle back. She did not message me at all. It was for a webinar set on Wednesday the following week. So i was worried that she might ask for me to do editing last minute, so i asked her if she reviewed it already and if she needs further assistance come Tuesday. That was the only time she responded and told me my work made zero sense and that i was only concerned about the fee per hour. I told her i was just following the UpWork rules. In her last message she said i was all about Upwork and that showed in my output which wasn't my best work. She told me she will pay me the following day and then she's done. 

it is Sunday now from that Tuesday and she hasn't replied after i messaged her that since she was not happy i decided not to bill her anymore and thank her for the opportunity to work with her and that i wish her and her firm well. She did not approve my manual logs and did not reply anymore. Also, she did not end the contract. 

Please help me out on what to do next. 

My JSS is improving and i want to be a Rising Talent soon, I'm afraid this will affect my JSS. 

Thanks, 

Nicole 

[LuiggiR]

Hi Nicole,

Sorry to hear about your experience. After checking your account, I can see that the hours logged for the project you're referring to belong to this week's billing cycle. The hours will enter a review period as of next Monday at 00:00 midnight UTC and upon approval from your client, the funds will become available to you on Wednesday the week after. Feel free to have a look at this help article for more details. 

As far as your JSS is concerned, the feedback left by your client may indeed have an impact on your score. I suggest that you check this other article to help you get more familiar with how this feedback could reflect on your score. 

Thank you.

[nicolemandap]

Hi, Luiggi. 

Thanks a lot for the response. I will look into these articles. 

Also, you've mentioned that the feedback she left might affect my JSS, does this mean that she already left one? 

It's just disheartening that we do our best for our clients but when they are not providing information or are not responding when being consulted, it's quite unfair for us freelancers when they say they find the work with zero sense. She did not give enough instructions for this project compared to the 2 past ones. She also did not ask for me to edit this one out and just replied last minute. 

Now I need to suffer from her comment. How do i bounce back from this? 

Thanks again. 

Luiggi

[petra_r]

Clients don't "approve" manual logs. If you manually logged time, the client is automatically charged on the monday following the work week. There is no such thing as "approving" time, manual or otherwise. The client can only dispute that time. However, as there is no protection for manual time, a client who disputes manual time during the review period will always win by default.

You should also stop sending messages to that client. It is completely pointless as the event your work was for is already over.

If the contract is still open, the client hasn't left any feedback. The client may well avoiding you so she doesn't have to leave any feedback

I would leave the client well alone and wait a week, then quietly close the contract. If the client closes the contract, she WILL leave feedback. If you do, she may or may not. 

As an aside, you can't become a rising talent, that is only for freelancers who do not have a JSS yet.

[nicolemandap]

Hi, Petra. 

Thank your for your advice. This is very helpful. 

I think my last question would be, how do i close the account "silently"? 

Also, yes. I never messaged her after the last on anymore. I will also follow your advice to wait for at least a week. 

Thanks!

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Nicole M wrote:

I think my last question would be, how do i close the account "silently"? 

When I said to clse the contract quietly, I meant without talking to the client again, which would onlydraw attention to it.

[nicolemandap]

Got it, thank again, Petra.