Bad Review

[#1]

Good morning. I am dealing with a review issue. I am basically being held hostage by a client. About a month ago, I entered into a contract to assist this client in finding a lawyer. I am a former attorney in the same state and thought I'd be of assistance. The client had very specific demands for the contract and I stated these to each attorney with whom I spoke. None of the attorneys with whom I spoke would take the case. In order to help the client further, I ghost wrote  a letter for him which was filed with the Court in his case stating his predicament. I did a lot of work on this and, even though our agreement was I'd be paid when he found a lawyer, I asked to be paid and to be let out of the contract due to the amount of work done. I made a request to be paid. The client cancelled the contract and left a scathing review of me which I contend is false. Once tensions cooled, I informed this client that I had found an attorney that would work with him under his terms and he stated he'd remove the review once the contract was signed. I went along with this request as I desperately need this review removed. I presented him with the contract, made his amendments as suggested and he's now told me he's "traveling" and cannot sign the contract. Meanwhile, the review remains on my page. How do I get this review off of my page? I have made many requests of the client who has now gone silent for a couple of days. I made a major mistake getting involved with this person but I don't want it to ruin all of my future work prospecs on Upwork. Thank you. 

[#2]

It's a five dollar job.

Refund the five dollars to get rid of the bad review from your job history.

Or don't refund and leave the review there.

[#3]

It's not a $5 job. The $5 was for postage. He sent me $5 for expenses and I mailed letters related to his project. The dispute related to the fact that I had done a lot of work, nobody would meet his demands for accepting his case, I told him this was an issue and asked to be let out of the contract and be paid for the work I had completed. At that point, he requested a refund and posted the review. The funds were in escrow, I never saw a dime for anything other than costs. I initially disputed his refund request but withdrew the dispute. Now he has said he will remove the review if I, essentially, continue to do work for him and get him what he wants despite the fact that the contract is cancelled and I will get no payment whatsoever. In order to save my reputation on here I have complied with this person but he is dragging it out unreasonably in my opinion. 

[#4]

Well, I don't trust him.

So this scheme about him making you work for free for as long as he wants and you do whatever he tells you and maybe in the future he'll change the review?

If I was the freelancer, I wouldn't go along with it.

This client is blatantly violating Upwork ToS, including engaging in feedback manipulation and asking a freelancer to work for free.

I advise you to move on two fronts:

- take care of things that you can take care of without Upwork doing anything.

- and also contact Customer Support to report this client for his ToS violations.

But my advice?

Don't work for free.

re: "The funds were in escrow, I never saw a dime for anything other than costs. I initially disputed his refund request but withdrew the dispute."

So you are saying that five dollars is all that is on the line now? All the other money is gone.

If I understand you correctly, there is no other money in escrow. The contract is closed. The question you face now is:

Do I refund five dollars and get rid of this 1-star review from my profile page, or do I keep the five dollars and keep the review?

[#5]

The client does not dispute the $5. The bad review arose when I requested payment that the client did not believe I was owed. At that point he cancelled the contract and wrote the review. As far as I know, there is no issue over the $5 which was used to mail some letters.

[#6]

---

John R wrote:
 The bad review arose when I requested payment that the client did not believe I was owed. At that point he cancelled the contract and wrote the review. As far as I know, there is no issue over the $5 which was used to mail some letters.

---

You were not owed the money according to the agreement. 

Being recommended to refund the $5 is not a suggestion the client does have an issue with that payment - but a means to get the review off your profile. (But the JSS will remain as it is). 

[#7]

Just been through a similar situation, see Preston's great wisdom on my post (Horrendous client)

[#8]

Angela is referring to this thread, if you want to read about her recent similar experience:

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Horrendous-experience-with-client/td-p/913073

[#9]

---

John R wrote:

 our agreement was I'd be paid when he found a lawyer, I asked to be paid and to be let out of the contract due to the amount of work done. 

---

If the agreement was for you to be paid when he found a lawyer, the client should not be expected to pay before a lawyer was found. 

---

It sounds like a terrible deal to me but if you agreed to it then you agreed to it. 

---

John R wrote:

How do I get this review off of my page? 

---

By refunding the money - but your JSS will still be affected. Other than that, there is nothing you can do except hope the client returns and changes the feedback for you. 

[#10]

i agree with you that this was a terrible deal from the beginning. as i said, i know a lot of attorneys and thought getting someone to take the case would be a quick and easy job. i now regret ever dealing with this person. i did agree to be paid upon finding a lawyer which was a bad agreement. i did a lot of work (proof that it was a bad agreement) trying to find this person representation and requested to be paid because of all the leg work that i had done already. this is why i had to get out of the job. i was doing too much work on it and the client was expecting too much when it was clear that results were not forthcoming under his terms. as far as the $5 goes, he wanted to contact the court so i agreed to mail letters since he lives out of the country. i said i needed money for postage and he willingly sent me the $5 for postage. these letters were sent and the letter was filed as is shown on the court docket, a copy of which i sent to him. 

[#11]

The reason the $5 was paid is not relevant now. 

What is relevant is that it was paid, and now you have a bad review associated with that payment. If you want the review removed then you will need to refund the money. (Unless the client returns and changes it for you). There is no other option. 

And, just to be clear, refunding the payment will not improve your JSS. 

[#12]

Just to be clear, does the refunding of the $5 automatically reverse the bad review? I am not sure of the upwork rules on this. 

[#13]

---

John R wrote:

Just to be clear, does the refunding of the $5 automatically reverse the bad review? I am not sure of the upwork rules on this. 

---

It removes the review that people can see on your profile. (The 1 star and written review)

It does not alter your JSS. That will remain at 35%. 

[#14]

If you refund all money associated with a contract:

Public feedback is completely removed from your profile page.

But private feedback remains, and is used in calculating JSS.

[#15]

---

Preston H wrote:

If you refund all money associated with a contract:

Public feedback is completely removed from your profile page.

But private feedback remains, and is used in calculating JSS.

---

The corollary to this is that even if the client could be persuaded to change the public feedback, the private feedback cannot be altered, and so there will be no discernible effect on the JSS.

[#16]

Thank you all for your responses.