Client Went MIA

[e-njoku]

So, a my client hired me, funded the milestone and of course, gave me a deadline. The deadline was at least 2 weeks ago. She received the work, told me she would get back to me, and has basically ghosted me since then. It's been 2 weeks now. I have left her messages but nothing. She is just apparently gone.

On my overview, the money says in review. It also says clients have 14 days to ask for revisions after submission of milestone. It's been 7 days now. What happens after the 14th day? Does Upwork release the money, or do I still have to wait for the client to approve it?

The client and I had a good flow so I don't know why she would just ghost me like this. Still, I have done the work and I would really like to get paid for it.

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

Clients are not obligated to respond to commuications from freelancers.

As a freelancer, I get paid AUTOMATICALLY, whether or not a client is paying attention to communications from Upwork or not.

A client "went MIA" (missing in action)?

I don't think that the wording or concept is helpful.

If a patron goes to a restaurant on Monday, and orders a meal, that's great.

Then the patron went to the same restaurant on Tuesday, and ordered another meal. That's great.

If the patron does NOT go to the restaurant on Wednesday, then I do not regard the patron as "missing in action."

re: "What happens after the 14th day? Does Upwork release the money, or do I still have to wait for the client to approve it?"

After the 14th day, Upwork AUTOMATICALLY releases ALL MONEY in escrow to you.

The client doesn't need to do anything.

So don't send messages to the client. Just be patient.

[e-njoku]

No clients are not obligated to respond. Except, she took the work and said she would get back to me. So naturally, I expected a response. 

Thank you for your reply. I'll be patient.

[jeremiah-brown]

There is some missing information here.

This is a fixed price contract, correct?  The milestone implies that it is...  BUT, how many milestones are there?  Just the one?  Or is this one of several?

If this is one of several milestones, give the client time to follow up because you have more milestones to meet.  What I like to do is reiterate the scope of work to be perfomed going forward.  This gives you an agreed upon scope of work and a "checkpoint" that Upwork can review in the event of a dispute.  You can reach back and show that you and the client agreed to the scope of work going forward from each milestone.  This is especially helpful when the dynamics of the contract change as the project progresses.  Sometimes items are added, some are discarded, and sometimes the client will say things like "I only want _______".

If this is the ONLY milestone, you may consider simply closing the contract after a reasonable amount of time if the client has disappeared.  You might find that closing the contract actually nudges them enough to respond (even when they aren't responding to your messages).  Be careful if you do this, you don't want to upset the client so that they leave a bad review for otherwise great work.  

[martina_plaschka]

Clients ghost me all the time. Sometimes I never hear back, sometimes they have another task months later. I get paid automatically. I don't contact them, I don't remind them. I leave them alone. 

Those are my favorite clients.