🐈
» Forums » Freelancers » Client Ignoring Me
Page options
ronnierowlands
Community Member

Client Ignoring Me

I'll keep it brief:

 

- I was hired to provide voiceovers for 66 PowerPoint presentations, with a budget of $500.

 

- The client and I agreed that I would complete the work in three batches. A milestone was set up whereby I had to complete 22 of the presentations for a 3rd of the money by the 31st July. Our chatlogs indicate our agreement that after successfully submitting the work for that milestone, the 2nd milestone would be set up and completed by the 5th, and the final milestone set up and completed by the 10th.

 

- I completed the first milestone to standard and on schedule. I was paid for this, no problem. I asked the client to set up the 2nd milestone on Friday 31st July. She said she would check the files on Monday (3rd August) and get back to me. No idea what she wanted to check, since she had already approved and paid me for the first batch of work.

 

- On Monday 3rd August, I asked her again if she would put the money in Erscow so that I could commence work on the second batch, noting that we were now two days away from that agreed deadline. She responded: "just give me a day or 2." I said "sure thing."

 

- It gets to Friday 7th August. Throughout the week, I have not taken on any additional work, or submitted any proposals, because I assumed that I would be kept busy by this client, and wanted to devote my time to getting her project right, as I do with all clients. So at this stage, I have almost certainly lost money, and ended up with less money than I had budgeted for due to non-engagement from the client. So I wrote to her again, asking her firmly but politely to advise when she intends to put the money in Erscow for the second batch.

 

- I still received no response. I know that the client has been online throughout the week, as they've had the green light by their name in the chatroom on most of the occasions that I have written to them. So on Monday, 10th August, which was supposed to be the date of completion for the entire project, I wrote the following message: "*** - **Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

And as of today, still no response. As you can imagine, I am absolutely livid - before now my experience with Upwork was 100% positive, and I have completed numerous jobs for a variety of responsive, respectful, and prompt clients. Ideally, this client would write to me full of apologies, push back the deadline, and promise to work with me. But in all likelihood I'm not going to be making some money that I had been expected to earn, and have suffered a loss of earnings from setting aside my time thinking I would be working on a project. 

 

Any advice on how I can get the client to stop ignoring me? I really don't want to have to take it down the route of a complaint against the client, but I am fast running out of options.

 

2 REPLIES 2
petra_r
Community Member


Ronnie R wrote:

I really don't want to have to take it down the route of a complaint against the client, but I am fast running out of options.

 


That route does not exist. 

 

You had one funded milestone, it was paid. As far as Upwork is concerned, that's it. There is no function to dispute anything.

 

There is no point harassing the client, just move on to the next job. 

Leave the contract open, if the client appears again, you can see if you have time to do the remaining work, and when.

gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

There is potential for an inherent power imbalance in the freelancer-client relationship, stemming from the fact that the FL and the work she is doing rarely figure as the center of the client's universe, whereas the client and her requirements need to figure as part of the center of the FL's universe. The way to navigate this is by communicating clearly and specifically, e.g. We are x days behind schedule funding the second milestone, so we'll need to push the completion deadline back accordingly. Please advise when you know what date we'll be able to resume. The minute a schedule slips off the rails, you are free to get on with your life and other work. One tries, of course, to keep as much flexibility as possible in all timelines, so when one slides, it doesn't cause a domino effect. But this all goes with the territory. It's also important to keep emotion out of it. There's no reason to be livid. 

 

I decline projects all the time for clients who have absurd expectations about turnaround time or who indicate, through conversation, that they don't really understand or respect how I manage my calendar. It's a boundary issue that's best negotiated at the beginning.

 

Latest Articles
Featured Topics
Learning Paths