Canceling contract after 5 min from hiring

[datazord22]

I was hired by a client and after 5 minutes from hiring he told me that he got another good offer from an interviewee and he wanted to cancel the contract.
I had to problem doing it but will this affect my JSS negatively especially the contract is canceled without payment

[petra_r]

Request a $ 1 cancellation fee, that'll negate the "nothing paid" effect.

[wlyonsatl]

Upwork should institute an automatic cancellation fee (or omit from the calculation of a freelancer's JSS) for projects quickly cancelled by a client. 

What does "quickly" mean? I don't know, but Upwork should have the statistics on how often this happens and how soon after freelancers have been hired cancellation has occurred.

And Upwork should post each client's cancellation record alongside the rating that already appears for clients.

[prestonhunter]

If a client hires a freelancer and then closes the contract immediately, but issues a small token payment using the "Give bonus" tool ($1 works fine. I recommend $5)... The freelancer is not hurt in any way.

A client can do that, leaving 5-star feedback without any commentary.

That is the correct way for a client to handle the situation.

[petra_r]

It has to be remembered that contracts that close without payment, but positive private feedback, do not affect the JSS at all either way, and are excluded from the calculation.

[lizablau]

"I was hired by a client and after 5 minutes from hiring he told me that he got another good offer from an interviewee and he wanted to cancel the contract."

Unless the client is in a rush or I've worked with them before, I always wait a few days before accepting a contract to see how they communicate or if there are any red flags.  And to make sure the client isn't a flake and will suddenly cancel. This strategy has saved me from many bad clients and abrupt cancellations. 

In fact, recently a woman sent me a job offer, and two days later she sent a message asking if she has to pay if she doesn't like the work.  She explained that on Fiverr she doesn't have to pay, blah, blah, blah.  After I set her straight, she withdrew the job offer before I'd accepted it.  Saved!  

Upwork gives a pretty generous window before job offers expire -- around 5 or 6 days.  So unless you're going to start immediately, that's a good window to have some back-and-forth with a potential client before getting locked into a contract.  I've never had a client ask "Why haven't you accepted the contract yet?"  They don't seem to notice.