Client Threatening 1 Star review for not doing additional work

[abhishekranjan98]

Hi, I recently picked up a fixed time contract, where I had to develop a "Smart Contract", which is a shiny term for a software on blockchain. The client just said he wanted a Smart contract and I took the job.

I delivered the code to him, along with proof of concept. I also made sure he could run it from his end.I also wrote some additional code to use code with csv files and interact with blockchain which was not specified in his proposal.

I also assisted him for 2 hours yesterday in setting up everything. Now he keeps telling me to work more and more.

I even offered to refund his money

I told him that all this was not mentioned in the proposal and I won't be able to help him further without charging him. He has now started threatening me to give me a bad review and said since I'm new here, no one would hire me.

What should I do ?

[c63ea194]

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Abhishek R wrote:

I even offered to refund his money

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Report him to upwork support for Violation of Upwork T&C (blackmail by threatening for bad review).

Why did you offer to refund the money if the job you delivered was fine?

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[abhishekranjan98]

Because I made the mistake of talking with him over telegram rather than upwork. And I'm new, I don't want 1 star reviews so that I do not get new jobs.

[colettelewis]

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Abhishek R wrote:

Because I made the mistake of talking with him over telegram rather than upwork. And I'm new, I don't want 1 star reviews so that I do not get new jobs.

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Abhishek, 

When you say you have a fixed-price contract, was the contract a formal Upwork contract? If it is, you may be forgiven by Upwork for violating the ToS. 

You should still report the client for threatening behaviour. 

[abhishekranjan98]

Thank you for the reply.

I ended up ending the contract because I don't want to deal with this kind of situation. I'm going to be more rigorous from now on asking about the requirements and keeping the chat on Upwork.

A Good thing happened, right after I ended, I got a notification that I achieved Rising Talent <3....wish me luck !

[wlyonsatl]

Abhishek R.,

It is my understanding that once an Upwork contract is in place the client will always be able to leave feedback for you.

Canceling the contract, refunding some or all of the money put in escrow or paid to you, etc., etc. - none of that matters. The client will be able to leave feedback for you.

Upwork says in regards to client feedback's role in calculating a freelancer's JSS, "We exclude clients whose freelancers report a history of unreasonable feedback so their scores won't count against you, but that may mean it takes longer to receive your initial score.”

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211068358-Job-Success-Score

But there is no way of knowing who these difficult clients are.

[NikolaS]

Hi Abhishek,

Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information along with the screenshots of the threats you received from your client? I will be sure to look into your report and escalate it accordingly.

Please know that sharing contact information before a contract has started is against Upwork’s Upwork's Terms of Service and that all communications prior to the contract starting must take place on Upwork. We also encourage you to let us know if a Terms of Service violation has happened by using the Flag as Inappropriate option throughout the platform. You can learn more about user reporting here.

Also, check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs. Let us know if you have further questions. 

Additionally, I would like to clarify that circumvention is when a client and freelancer meet on Upwork, but choose to conduct their relationship outside of Upwork, typically by sending payment through another means outside the platform. Circumvention is a serious violation of the Terms of Service.