Client Cancelled Contract After 2 Weeks, But Paid Me Nothing

[#1]

Hi everyone,

I could definitely use your advice and wisdom here. I recently worked with a company in the esports industry for two weeks. During this time, I created a presentation slide rough draft for my new boss, which the client we worked with loved. Yet, my boss hate it for various reasons.

Soon after, my boss became very distant. While I tried to work on this presentation rough draft and talk to my boss for feeback, I guess my boss thought rough draft = perfect draft. A few days later, he explodes on me quite unprofessionally (I honestly don't know why) and abruptly cancels my contract two weeks in.

The kicker is I never got paid during these two weeks, amounting to around $250 USD. But since my boss already closed the job, I can't dispute it. He continues to stay silent since my last email when I asked for my final payment.

I have all the receipts and evidence and will release them if asked, no problem. Judging by my former boss' actions, I don't think he's willing to pay for my past work. Essentially, I worked for free for two weeks and feel both cheated and lied to for honest work.

The question is "how can I get my payment from this client that already closed the job?" Is there a way to contact an Upwork PR person directly?

Thanks!

[#2]

Hi Jason,

I`m sorry to hear about the bad experience you had.
Just to confirm, was this an hourly contract? If yes, when you`re hired on hourly contracts you will need to track your time with our Desktop app. This way, your clients are billed every Monday for the time tracked in the previous week. 
Since the contract was closed the client will be still able to send you a bonus payment. Thank you.

[#3]

No worries and thanks for your concern. The job was hourly, but I didn’t track it unfortunately using Upwork’s hourly tracker. I simply told my boss via email and video chat that I worked 10 hours. That’s my fault that I didn’t track it via Upwork.

When my boss cancelled my contract, it was immediate, so I had no chance to add my hours worked this week on Upwork.

In any case, it’s a learning experience for sure. Thanks again for your comment.

[#4]

---

Jason Y wrote:

In any case, it’s a learning experience for sure. Thanks again for your comment.

---

Well, the bad news is that you won't get paid and, worse still, the "nothing paid contract" (and whatever private feedback was left on it) will hit your metrics hard (chance of a Rising Talent badge gone, and your future JSS taking a hard hit)

[#5]

Indeed. I know the Upwork rating system is there to protect clients from
potentially bad freelancers, but I felt I wasn't a bad one by any stretch.
My former boss and I simply weren't a good fit.

In any case, I'm not sure if I can rebound from a bad rating and scathing
comments, so perhaps I may go to other freelance / remote job boards.
Upwork is an interesting experience and the community, thus far, has been
helpful.

So spending time here wasn't a total waste. Thanks again for the feedback.

[#6]

---

Jason Y wrote:

The kicker is I never got paid during these two weeks, amounting to around $250 USD. But since my boss already closed the job, I can't dispute it. He continues to stay silent since my last email when I asked for my final payment.

---

Huh? How? Was it hourly or fixed rate? If hourly, you get paid automatically for all hours tracked. If fixed rate, there must have been a funded milestone? Were the $ 250 in a funded milestone? It looks like you were paid $ 200 already (if that's the same contract) - was there $ 250 funded as a new milestone?

---

Jason Y wrote:

The question is "how can I get my payment from this client that already closed the job?" Is there a way to contact an Upwork PR person directly?

---

No. Unless there are funds in escrow (assuming a fixed rate contract) there is nothing anyone can do.

[#7]

The work was hourly, 10 hours a week. I told my former boss via email and Upwork message that I worked 10 hours last week.

I do think it’s my fault I didn’t manually track my hours via the Upwork hours option. Since my former boss already cancelled my contract earlier with no warning, there’s no way I can put the number of hours I worked this week.

As for not getting my pay from this, it’s okay. I just personally felt that this particular client tried to avoid paying me and had no intention of paying me after a meeting last week. It happens.

I’ll learn from this experience. Thanks for the response.

[#8]

---

Jason Y wrote:

While I tried to work on this presentation rough draft and talk to my boss for feeback, I guess my boss thought rough draft = perfect draft. A few days later, he explodes on me quite unprofessionally (I honestly don't know why) and abruptly cancels my contract two weeks in.

---

You don't send "rough drafts" of presentations. Submit a few slides with different design concepts - using your best possible ideas - and ask the client if he approves the direction, then carry on with the rest of the slides. Don't submit substandard work, or work that has obvious mistakes, and then tell the client that you'll fix it afterwards; that's not a good way to impress clients or inspire confidence to continue working with you.

[#9]

Sure, I understand not to send substandard work. The implied message between myself and my former boss is we’d bounce ideas back-and-forth working on this draft.

Could my presentation have been better on the first try? Of course, and I told my boss this too. But the presentation wasn’t some horrible abomination or not professional (judging from the standards of other slides from friends working in the industry).

Plus, the client my boss and I were working with actually liked my slides a lot.

In any case, thanks for the feedback. I’ll learn from this.

[#10]

How do you have a client and a boss when this is not employment of any kind? Confusing. 

[#11]

Ahhh yeah, sorry about the confusion. So what we did at my former boss’ company is help esports teams, who were our clients, to pitch investors for seed money.

We were the third party to help these esports clients try and secure possible investment.

[#12]

Your "boss" was not your boss but your client, since you're a contractor and not an employee. Their clients are their clients. You are your own boss, and thus are responsible for appropriately managing your contracts, which I think you learned on this one. At least it was only 10 hours worth of work. It would be good for you to read up on how to use the time tracker to stay safe.

[#13]

Noted. I think I got used to my first client, which went a lot more smoothly and went very well. It happens though and unfortunate I didn't get paid, but it's a learning experience.

[#14]

After reading all the responses, I learned a ton! I'm glad everyone "kept it real" with me and didn't sugarcoat it, but wasn't rude at the same time.

I'm going to continue to do freelance and try to get so many positive reviews that it'll hopefully drown out the bad ones.

I learned to track hours on Upwork and write contracts before accepting new gigs. I'll also do better in my work for future projects and not let a bad client or two get me down (I thought my previous work wasn't that bad, but there's always room for improvement.)

Thanks again everyone!