Can someone explain to me how this happened?

[creativedaniel]

I have this long term client who started with a lot of projects for me but then declined soon after so it turned into a ad-hoc kind of contract.

One night he sent me questions about a particular project we worked on but he must have been having a rough day as he ended the contract 5 hours after asking the questions. The questions was sent 9pm my time and the contract was ended after 5 hours at 2am.

A week later my JSS went down to 96%.

After that I got 2 awesome clients who ended contracts with me as I have finished their projects successfully.

One even gave me a positive feedback which we can see now on my profile and I may have one as well from the other one.

BUT! Today I saw that my JSS is at 95% 😞

Can someone explain why this happened? If this helps, the latest contract only span 5 days as they are small tasks.

Is it that 5 days contract that affected my score? I did earn from this contract and I am bound to receive it this coming cutoff.

[wlyonsatl · Accepted solution]

Daniel A.,

Each project's effect on your JSS reflects the amount you were paid relative to your overall earnings during whichever of the three review periods is used to calculate your JSS every two weeks. The amount of time you spend on each hourly contract is largely irrelevant, as far as I know, other than when calculating the definition of long-term clients.

And keep in mind that clients leave two kinds of feedback when closing each project - private feedback and public feedback. You can see the public feedback, but you can't see the private feedback. We have been told on this message board that the private feedback has a very significant effect on your JSS; the public feedback is not very important in this respect.

Judging from the repeated messages like yours we see on this board, it appears many cowardly clients take advantage of this by leaving excellent public feedback but very negative private feedback. It's just a fact of life for Upwork freelancers.

[creativedaniel]

Thank you for the response Will!

I see now! The three review periods makes sense to me as as I do have 2 consecutive negative feedbacks before my 2 positive ones.

Yes, in the recent years I have seen the rise of those cowardly type of clients who knows the ball is always on their field so they take advantage of it. For me it is what it is and there is nothing I can do. My JSS stayed on a 100% for 9 years then 2020 came and it all went downhill from there.

What I can do though is earn as much as I can, while I still can, so I can invest on properties or businesses here in my country before I retire from Upwork.