Bonehead mistake! May not get paid...

[kaliamanda]

I am not new to the platform, so I am a little ashamed to admit I made this stupid mistake. I accepted an offer from a client, he funded about 20% of it and released it right away (his choice, not at my request). We got started and I did not check that he'd put the rest of the funds in escrow. Oy, the stupid: it burns! I did two rounds of revisions on his manuscript, and then he went silent. I followed up a week later, he promised to take care of it that evening. He did not. So I sent him a friendly reminder the next day (things happen, he may have gotten busy and forgotten, who knows, right?). It has been a week since his last communication and I am fairly sure he isn't going to pay me the rest of it. Entirely my fault: I should know better. I don't think there's much Upwork can do for me, but I just wanted to share as a cautionary tale. DON'T DO AS I DID! It's stupid. I am tempted to leave an obnoxious message on his business page on Facebook but there's no dignified or professional way to do this and it won't significantly change the outcome here. Learn from my idiocy.

[williambernal]

KB,

Thank you for sharing and please don't feel too bad regarding your mistake.

I'm a veteran UWer and just a few months ago a shady client cheated me out of 45% of my payment when I--also--failed to notice that he had not deposited the final payment into escrow.

Of course this was after I delivered his completed material, and was expecting him to pay for services rendered.

Work smart, work safe!

[kaliamanda]

Oh that sucks! But of course, after the first 45% you expect, in good faith, a good resolution of your partnership. So sorry you went through that. 

[prestonhunter]

Don't be so hard on yourself.

I have been working on Upwork for over 5 years, and I dispense a lot of advice in the Forum. And I still make mistakes. Including mistakes that mean I lose money due to bad client behavior. (Fortunately the overwhelming majority of clients I work with are wonderful, so that sort of thing is rare.)

On the bright side: You got paid 20% instead of nothing.

And it is clear that you will never make the same mistake again.

[kaliamanda]

It's certainly humbling to realize we can fall off our own little pedestal and make simple mistakes. But you are absolutely right--it could have been worse. And this grrl ain't never making that mistake again!

[williambernal]

KB,

Yes!

We live and learn, and hopefully prosper along the way.

Best to you,

wb