Jan 25, 2019 01:05:47 PM Edited Jan 25, 2019 01:12:38 PM by Abrar A
Jan 25, 2019 08:04:55 AM Edited Jan 26, 2019 10:53:18 PM by Abrar A
Solved! Go to Solution.
Jan 25, 2019 08:50:42 AM Edited Jan 25, 2019 08:57:21 AM by Preston H
How can support help?
In my own use of Upwork, I decide that Customer Support is not an option in resolving matters such as this.
I consider it unwise and unprofitable to consider Customer Support to be a recourse. I manage work proactively and work out conflicts directly with clients.
How?
I don't accept large fixed-price contracts with clients who I don't know. Only small contracts. An hour or two of work. If the client demonstrates they can be trusted, I will agree to increasingly larger contracts. If a client is going to be a problem, I know before getting in too deep with a time-consuming project. I can afford to walk away from a small task if a client decides to play games.
Jan 25, 2019 09:08:48 AM by Abrar A
Thank you for your response.
The project isn't huge. The nature of the work is clear and it can be easily proven to work or not to work with a URL or screenshot. The client has rejected my work and all what Upwork has to do is to ask the client for the proof.
Despsite the client's awful attitude, I have offered them to review the work and move and I expect Upwork Support to help with that.
Jan 25, 2019 09:34:45 AM by Martina P
Abrar A wrote:Hi,
My question is how to protect freelancer's work when the client does what happend to me below? Even if the work is done on freelancer's own server and client can't run away with it, when a client just cancels the project on unfounded reasons how can the Support help?
The story:
Maybe many of you are familiar to this but client abuse is new to me. I am working on Elance/Upwork for 8 years now and have been top rated for all those years with 70% repeat client rate. But that doesn't account to anything when seeking support over Upwork.
I reached out to Upwork support and chatted about how I felt disgusted by client's attitude and if they could do something. Basically, my client, who posted their first ever project, asked me to change their website's weak password and later forgot about it. When I asked to review the work done, they wrongfully rejected the most important part of the job that I had done and accused me of changing the password and immediatelly asked for a refund.
I said sorry to the client, sent over the new password, reminded them of their instructions and advised them to carefully check my work which they wrongfully rejected, I also sent screenshots. To cut it short, the client either was checking messages on a phone or just skipped the messages, kept asking for the password, accused me of cybercrime, rejected and mocked my work and my so-called professionalism. All this while the new password was still functional.
I reached out to Upwork support and thankfully they understood the problem but told me to wait until a dispute was filed. I told the client to either continue with the job and review my work properly or pay me up for the work done. The client wouldn't agree to anything so "I changed the website's password" until a resolution was reached. I did it to protect an important plugin I had built just for the project.
Eventually the client got her password, (I tried to login but couldn't), as it was easy to do so using their email address. Upon noticing that I offered the client to continue or pay up but nothing happened. I waited 3 days before filing a payment request. Upon that the client formally cancelled the project and asked for a refund. I disputed the refund and after that Upwork support didn't support me.
Although I am asking the support to ask the client the justification for cancelling the project but they are dead set on laying the blame on me for changing the password and not asking the client why they had rejected my work on unfounded reasons and accused me of cybercrime.
It sounds like a thoroughly unpleasant experience during which you allowed yourself to stoop so low as to hold the client hostage by changing the password - maybe not your finest hour.
Things can go wrong, egos are bruised, disputes are created, bad feedback is left. Was it worth the few bucks? Probably not...
Jan 25, 2019 12:36:20 PM Edited Jan 25, 2019 12:39:24 PM by Abrar A
The client already has the password. They had the password days before I filed the dispute. While I understand it would be generally not nice to withhold the password, but that's not why the dispute was filed. I filed the dispute because the client wouldn't come to a resolution.
The client was extremely rude to me, didn't even accept they asked me to change the password, didn't bother testing the work done, accused me of cybercrime and speaking to police all that while the password was available in the chat. Only after that and afer a whole day I decided to keep the password and speak to the support team to seek the solution.
I didn't get no bucks out of that. I didn't show no ego, I was merely protecting my work while offering the client to review my work properly. My last message was a request to review my work and to discuss the issues.
Unfortunately I don't have cases of bad feedbacks, in 8 years maybe 2-3 bad feedbacks so perhaps I am not used to such behavior hence I am posting about this.
Jan 25, 2019 12:50:14 PM by Tiffany S
You can't "protect your work" by stealing the client's whole website. That's a bit like saying that you were concerned your neighbor was going to steal your borrowed lawnmower that was currently in his garage, so you changed the locks on his house.
That aside, it seems that throughout you've focused on the wrong things. If you must involve support, don't talk to them about your "disgust" or the client's attitude. Literally no one in the world except you cares whether you are disgusted or what you think of the client's attitude. Stick to the facts and contractual issues when you're trying to solve a problem.
Jan 25, 2019 01:05:47 PM Edited Jan 25, 2019 01:12:38 PM by Abrar A
Umm, I am not sure you read up my first post.
The client was given the password (fact), work was done (fact with screenshots) and they "thought" I changed the password on my accord although that was the first instruction they gave me and then forgot about it (fact), then they asked for cancellation and a refund.
That is what happened. Afer that I gave the new password, asked to review the work properly. This is all facts with the history in our chat. The client still didn't read the messages, didn't see the new password or the screenshots and continued to threaten me of cyber crime.
The next day I woke up to the nonsense and changed the password.
For you, the story begins with me changing the locks. In reality, which you don't want to see for some reason is that the not-so-friendly neighbor asked me to change the locks, paint the walls and left the house. I did so and left the key in the door. The neigbor returns, accuses me of the theft, disagrees to see the walls have changed colors and then decides to cancel the project and asks for a refund. I ask them to check the walls again and remember they told me to change the locks but they hurl insults at me, threaten me further. Only then I walk up the to the door and pull the key out.
After that I ask the neighbor to discuss and talk about it but even after realizing they asked me to change the password, they don't apologize or try to fix the situation but remain adamant that I didn't do my job.
Jan 25, 2019 02:06:47 PM by Tonya P
Nothing that happened before you committed the (probably) criminal act matters. Once you decided to do your own enforcement, you lost. You should be banned because the next client isn't going to want you to lock down their website over a disagreement either. The fact that you can't recognize that what you did cost you all credibility is a real problem.
Jan 26, 2019 08:49:50 AM by Petra R
Abrar A wrote:
The next day I woke up to the nonsense and changed the password.
For you, the story begins with me changing the locks.
Because that is all that matters. You did not follow the proper dispute procedure, you just locked the client out of his site.
Game over.
As I said, it's almost a miracle you still have an Upwork account at this stage. I would tread very carefully if I were you, after a stunt like that you are never more than one wrong word away from your Upwork account being closed permanently.
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