A Resurgence in Abusive Clients / Prospects

[#1]

Hi there, I noticed a trend over the last 6 months and wanted to see if anybody else has experienced this as well.

I've been dealing with a high number of clients who are promising work and then failing to deliver, either by ghosting post-signing, "stringing along" (i.e. multiple contacts and/or "test jobs" before signing), pausing mid-contract with low provision of support/communication, etc.

In other words - I'm dealing with a LOT (and I mean a lot!) of flaky clients right now.

In addition, I'm seeing lots of clients who are interviewing too many people for very short (and apparently high urgency?) jobs

Is anybody else noticing a decline in the reliability/trustworthiness of clients here on Upwork over the last 6 months? I've been on the site for about 6 years now and this must be my worst streak. It's gotten so bad that I've become averse and fearful of even signing with people who are throwing me offers.

[#2]

Hi Shaun,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I'll make sure to share your feedback with out team so we can look further into this.

[#3]

Thanks, I really appreciate it

[#4]

What I can say is that Upwork will be shooting itself in the foot when the reliable, experienced freelancers on the platform leave because they're aware of what's happening and clients refuse to use the service anymore after too many low-quality attempts.

And we ARE aware of what's happening... those e-mail blasts don't just turn up picture perfect job posts in the top slots with "Job no longer listed" for no reason... and that's not the only clue here...

There's a saying... "burning the candle from both ends"

[#5]

I am a new user on Upwork, and I have sent quite many proposals. 

What I have noticed is that way too many clients

1) Do not even check the proposal. I mean, you send them everything personalized, you attached portfolio... maybe 10% of clients will even open you proposal, read you cover letter, check the portfolio, etc.

2) Even if they send you a message, all they want is a free sample, tailor made for them. After that, they likely ghost you or if you follow up they say that "they were looking for something else". 

3) Most interestingly, so many job openings remain open weeks after I applied to them, without anyone ever checking my application. I would guess they chose someone and close the job, right?

In any case, I would like Upwork to offer some special feature for paid "test samples", on which we could clearly say we charge x amount for it. Maybe it will discourage some clients from that mindset while looking for freelancers. 

[#6]

I think there is a decline in the trustworthiness of clients, but I think it's driven--in part--by their fear of choosing low-quality, unskilled freelancers, which has increased significantly over the past few years.

I made a similar statement in another post: Many clients are more selective these days, and for a variety of business and financial reasons. Some clients are using Upwork and other platforms to screen freelancers (i.e., "test the waters") with no real intention of hiring them. These are legitimate clients, but this specific action is abusive--especially when the client knows a freelancer must spend Connects to respond, and knows the freelancer is unaware of his/her "fishing expedition."

For example, a business looking for a freelancer (or an employee) can post a job on Upwork and receive good responses--some with complete solutions to their problems. Once the client has screened these responses, they make a decision on how, when, and where they will hire them, which may not occur for weeks or months, and could occur outside of Upwork.

Those clients don't care about the Connects we spend to send proposals; they're only concerned about getting their needs met, which means they might post jobs to look for capabilities, gather ideas, or get solutions. Many clients find this easier than posting jobs on career websites and waiting days or weeks to receive resumes. On Upwork, they receive proposals within minutes.

I think more clients are leery these days--mainly because of their distrust of the system (i.e., bots/scams, unskilled freelancers, etc.). Because of this, those clients are willing to abuse their job postings (i.e., unresponsive, ghosting, requesting test jobs, etc.) to satisfy their own needs. I'm not dismissing it or giving those clients a pass; what they're doing is abusive and it contributes to the overall risk freelancers take when using Upwork.

[#7]

Hi Clark, 

Yes, I noticed that pattern everywhere, even on career websites. Most of the openings for full time jobs are kinda fake, with only a "possibility" of maybe hiring someone who applies. Anyway, even if/when they hire, they will likely hire a friend or someone through a recommendation. 

Now, I understand that too many people nowadays have little to no skills even if they have degrees. The quality of higher education has gone downwards, people graduate without necessary knowledge but have a self image of being professionals. After a failure to land a job in one field they try to change a career and they believe that cheap online courses + AI tools will make them experts, but it will not. You need to live your passion long term with a substance in order to actually be skilled. Most people are too lazy for that. 

As a visual artist, I see that pattern and how people have a moderate success by not even knowing the basics of arts and aesthetics, simply because the taste for art is so subjective and clients may not understand certain people are unskilled.

The problems arise only if the lack of skills lead to "design fails" or underwhelming results which may harm a client's reputation and then they complain how "so many people are unskilled, who should we hire". 

Anyway, Upwork should do something to discourage these practices of "testing the market". I guess connects were introduced to discourage freelancers to apply to zillion of jobs without even reading the posting, but something should be done about clients too. 

[#8]

Yes this is what Upwork has become. A place for clients to post FREE jobs. Then go and ask for FREE consultations from the top 50 freelancers in their industry. Only to not make a single hire.

I see this happen on a weekly basis. It happened to me last week with a client. I had an hour long free call with them and took a deep dive with an issue they were having. A few weeks later I saw that they had not hired for the job. When asked why, they said the job was on pause.

So basically they knew they weren't going to make a hire. Yet they posted a job on Upwork and received god knows how many FREE consultations. But Upwork doesn't have an issue with it because they are profiting from it.

And I know some people are going to say, just charge for consultations. But that will reduce your likelihood of landing clients in an already terrible market.

[#9]

Or he took your great advice and hired somebody from Fiverr for peanuts. 

Happened to me.

Before I knew better, I gave a free consultation with tons of advice for a client's project.  Instead of hiring me, he immediately posted a new job that included all my recommendations.  I sent him a message and asked why he'd turned my advice from our Zoom meeting into a new job post.  He said he couldn't afford me and was searching for a cheaper freelancer. 

Lesson learned.

[#10]

I stopped doing consults, but now a potential client wants a 500-word article on, surprise! the same projects for the job.

[#11]

If I stopped doing consults, I wouldn't land a single job. Most contracts I do are 3k+ and the clients hardly ever just hire without wanting to speak to me first. 

[#12]

I'm glad they work or you. I grew tired of clients trying to get a chunk of the job through the consult.

I never allow a contract until I speak to the client, whether they want it or not.  If I have any concerns, in any way, shape, or form, I insist on a video.

Some freelancers like consults, others don't.

[#13]

This is why I never offer consultations - clients will abuse the opportunity.  

[#14]

Yes.

Unethical and/or abusive clients keep asking for free consultations because freelancers keep providing them.

[#15]

Shaun,

I strive to ensure smooth interactions with clients by offering estimates for both time and cost following our initial meeting. This approach helps establish clarity from the outset. I propose scheduling a 30-minute session with clients, during which we can discern if there are any concerns about potential undervaluation. If so, we can then decide whether to proceed with those clients accordingly.