Changing scope of work?

[kristyn-meyer]

Hello,

I'm new-ish to Upwork but have several jobs under my belt at this point. I currently have a job where I didn't apply to them, they reached out to me. The offer was to write articles for a pet blog. I accepted. The first article was written, submitted with no issue and paid. No changes were requested. The client then asked for a second article - specifically stated article. I wrote it to his specifications, including everything he asked for. He then requested changes and asked for it to be a buying guide instead of an article. He linked to a page as a reference. I made the changes and resubmitted. He then wanted more changes for it to further look like the website he linked to. I told him that I made the changes but didn't want it to look like plagiarism (my words are completely different but layout is very similar at this point). I reminded him that the offer was to write articles, not buying guides, and that I have no experience writing buying guides. I told him that I made the changes to the best of my ability but that I would desire to have future milestones reflect only articles. He sent me an email that a writer should desire to learn and research to write different things. 

I responded back that research had been done in the first place to write the article, as I had very little knowledge of the topic as it was. I stated that the scope of the milestone had been changed once he asked for corrections. He then sent me a very brief message just stating: "buying guide should be the second section, not separate section". I have no clue what that means, so I reached out one more time asking for him to be more specific and also stating that I will complete corrections one additional time, but that outside of that I would request him to put in a separate milestone to get the needed changes.

Am I off base? He can't just request me to write a completely different piece after stating article, can he? And obviously he can't expect me to duplicate another pages work - I made that very clear to him.

[bevcam]

---

Kristyn P wrote:

Am I off base? He can't just request me to write a completely different piece after stating article, can he? And obviously he can't expect me to duplicate another pages work - I made that very clear to him.

No you're not off base. Stand your ground and tell him that you will stay by the original spec. He's in the wrong and if you deliver something he thinks is poor quality (because you're unfamiliar with it) he'll probably give you a poor rating.

You're new so it's a nice lesson early on. Some clients do that to squeeze more out of you. I had things like that in the beginning and I've learned to say no. I also tell people upfront I allow three rounds of edits only and if we have to do more than that then obviously my writing style doesn't suit them.

---

[kristyn-meyer]

Thank you! That makes me feel better. He didn't respond after my last message so hopefully the ordeal is over with.

[kat303]

What a breath of fresh air your post was. Finally, a freelancer who is new and stands up for her business. A freelancer who refuses to be held hostage to doing more work then contracted for and is not afraid to say so to the client.

Keep that positive attitude Kristyn.

[kristyn-meyer]

Thank you! I can't say that I'm not sweating it though - the thought of a bad score rattles me a bit! But I recently left a job with bad management and bullying and am not about to go through it again!

[rrrussell]

My quess he is a third party, which complicates things.