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stellaharris
Community Member

Can I end a contract without hurting my stats?

I foolishly accepted a contract before having all the necessary materials to complete the job. The deadline is fast approaching and I don't have the briefs for the job - there is no way to complete the work. 

 

I won't want to hurt my stats by missing the deadline. 

 

Is there anything I can do?

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prestonhunter
Community Member

The "deadline" that you see posted on fixed-price job contracts is a dead text string used only for reference purposes by the client and freelancer.

 

The "deadline" is not actually used in any calculations by Upwork algorithms itself.

 

Is the deadline important? Maybe. Maybe not. It basically depends on whether or not the client thinks it is important.

 

If the deadline is tomorrow, but you send a message to the client explaining that the work won't be done until Thursday, and the client says that's fine and then you turn in the work and the client likes and doesn't really care about the deadline... Then you can expect to receive positive feedback from the client. If you miss a deadline, and this highly displeases the client, then the client's feelings about the matter may be reflected in the client's feedback when the client is closed.

 

Note that if you close a contract without ever getting paid anything, the contract will not appear on your profile page in any way. No feedback will appear on your public profile page. (But the client still has an opportunity to leave impactful private feedback.)

 

If you close a contract yourself, then you create the possibility for the client to never leave you any feedback at all. That won't affect JSS.

 

If the client closes the contract, then the client MUST leave feedback.

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prestonhunter
Community Member

The "deadline" that you see posted on fixed-price job contracts is a dead text string used only for reference purposes by the client and freelancer.

 

The "deadline" is not actually used in any calculations by Upwork algorithms itself.

 

Is the deadline important? Maybe. Maybe not. It basically depends on whether or not the client thinks it is important.

 

If the deadline is tomorrow, but you send a message to the client explaining that the work won't be done until Thursday, and the client says that's fine and then you turn in the work and the client likes and doesn't really care about the deadline... Then you can expect to receive positive feedback from the client. If you miss a deadline, and this highly displeases the client, then the client's feelings about the matter may be reflected in the client's feedback when the client is closed.

 

Note that if you close a contract without ever getting paid anything, the contract will not appear on your profile page in any way. No feedback will appear on your public profile page. (But the client still has an opportunity to leave impactful private feedback.)

 

If you close a contract yourself, then you create the possibility for the client to never leave you any feedback at all. That won't affect JSS.

 

If the client closes the contract, then the client MUST leave feedback.

That is really helpful, thank you. 

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063558-Job-Success-Score

 

"A freelancer’s Job Success Score reflects their reputation on Upwork based on direct client feedback and other indicators of client satisfaction. It combines metrics on their clients’ public and private feedback, long-term client relationships, client rehires, and contracts that don’t result in work delivered."

 

According to this UpWork help page, having a contract that doesn't result in work delivered can affect your score. 



prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "I foolishly accepted a contract before having all the necessary materials to complete the job. The deadline is fast approaching and I don't have the briefs for the job - there is no way to complete the work. I won't want to hurt my stats by missing the deadline. Is there anything I can do?"

 

I recommend that you do what you can to help the client.


Based on what you have told us in your original post, I don't know what would be the best way to help the client.

 

What if you (as the client) really know how to do this work? But you simply don't have a file you need from the client? Maybe the client doesn't really care about the deadline, and just wants the work done within a reasonable amount of time. If that is the caes, then you can take the time that is needed to get the file, do the work, and leave the client satisfied.

 

What if you realize that you simpy can't do this type of work? Or that you're really the wrong person to do this task? Then the way you can help the client is to let the client know as soon as possible. You can close contract and clearly communicate to the client the fact that you won't be doing this work. That way the client can find somebody else.

 

Remember: The client came to Upwork to get a certain task done. She does NOT ACTUALLY CARE if you do it, or if Janet does it, or if Ben does it. She just wants the work done.

stellaharris
Community Member

Yes, I agree. I don't mind taking the extra time to try to chase down the information I need - it's my preference to get the job done and do it well! I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't be penalized if the deadline passed. So it's helpful to know that's simply used for our reference,  and the UpWork algorithm won't notice that nothing has been submitted by that time. 

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