Client Soliciting Freelancers for Free Samples

[chuckcascio]

I do video editing on Upwork, and I’m a Top Rated user with a 5 star rating.

 A client posted a job, I responded...

url: **edited for Community Guidelines**

...then he sent me the video files and asked for a free work sample using his footage. 

**edited for Community Guidelines**

The next day, I followed up just to make sure he knew what he was asking for was not allowed on Upwork:

**edited for Community Guidelines**

When I kindly told him he was breaking Upwork's policy by asking for free work, he insulted me.

**edited for Community Guidelines**

I’ve had these situations before, and on Reddit, I’ve been told by at least 20 freelancers on Upwork that they have experienced these situations too.  Unfortunately, according to many of them, reporting the issue to Upwork never seems to do anything. Upwork seems to often side with the client (as the client is the one earning the company the most money).

I’m pissed off because, especially now with the Corona Virus taking away work from many of us, more people are likely to fall for this trap by the client (he's already contacted 27 people who applied to his job).  

I reported the user to Upwork, but I want someone working there to take action and update me on what will happen to him and others like him.  Too often, it’s been reported that Upwork lets this kind of thing slide. Can someone who works at HQ please update me on this situation?

Especially during this very difficult time, this type of client should not be allowed on this site.

[robin_hyman]

Have you flagged the job post as well?  Unfortunately it happens too often on the platform.  We need freelancers not to fall for these clients and to flag the post.  

[chuckcascio]

Hello Robin,

Yes I flagged his messages.  However, I've done this before and never heard anything from Upwork.  I'm asking them to respond to this message with an action they are going to take, because this is ridiculous.  It seems that they usually take the side of the client, which is frustrating. I just want to get an actual response from someone who is employed by Upwork.

[feed_my_eyes]

Yes, this happens a lot and it's absolutely infuriating. If the guy has already interviewed 27 people, then I guarantee you at least five of them are desperate enough to have already done the job without being hired. 

I flag jobs all the time and the only response I've ever received is the occasional email from Upwork to thank me for my report; I don't think they'll tell you more than that. And I'm afraid that you're going to get a rap on the knuckles for copying a private conversation into the forum, so you might want to remove the details from your post.

FYI, the guy sounds like a real jerk just from the tone of his job post; I would never have applied to this in the first place. But I'm biased against people who use "u" instead of typing out "you" - in my experience, they seldom turn out to be intelligent professionals. 🙂

[chuckcascio]

Thank u for your reply, Christine (hehe). 

I'm going to keep the posting as is until upwork has a chance to comment. If they don't, I'll take it down.  Is it against rules to share messages?  I don't recall reading that messages between clients is private.  I'll check the rules again; if it is indeed private, I'll take that bit down.

Thanks for looking out!

-Chuck

[calvo_juan]

"Get with the program, bro"

After he insisted on breaking the rules you spent some time trying to educate this person. It's not worth it.

[a_lipsey]

Good job avoiding the scam. That was obvious scammer to me. Many clients don't understand how things work and the second you explain how it works they fall in line and fund escrow. It's pretty obvious the difference. The ones that want to scam you won't fund escrow. And you called it right on this one for sure. I hope they take some action on his account to protect other freelancers who aren't so smart. 

[AveryO]

Hi Chuck, 

I'm sorry to learn about your experience with this client. And I'm glad that you were able to identify this as a scam. If you haven't already please make sure to flag the job post and message as inappropriate so that it goes to the team's queue for their review and action. 

Also, I'd like to note that I had to edit your post as posting identifying information and chat transcripts is not allowed as noted in the Upwork Community Guidelines. May I request that you please be mindful of the guidelines when posting in the Community.

Thank you for your understanding.