Client cancel the contract after submission of work on time

[fariskhan21]

Hey Hi,

I am in trouble as i worked on a project of $1500 divide into 2 milestones

1. $400

2. $1100

For 1st milestone :

We had discussion about the project and it was fine! we decided to meetup and on a day i couldnt comeup due to my mother's health problem 

Client told me to submit whatever you did i want to see progress

I submited on time and client told m that your work is fake and very unprofessional

and canceled the contract without any payment

My question is he is saying that he will pay to arbitration but not me! and my work is not even $10

I believe i have spend  atleast 6 to 7 hrs on it and for me i feel like he took my file and just cancel the contract

Client have fresh profile

What should i do in this ? i need help from you guys

Regards

[prestonhunter]

re: "What should i do in this?"

The most important thing for you to do is to learn from your mistakes, so that you don't make those same mistakes again in the future.

The fixed-price contract model is more complicated, and more risky than the hourly contract model.

If you feel like you are using the fixed-price contract model unsuccessfully, of if there are still things about it that you don't understand, such that it means you aren't getting paid as expected, then you should either:

a) use only hourly contracts for now

[or]

b) study fixed-price contract concepts more deeply, and ask questions here in the Forum, until you have a clear concept about how to use this contract type in the future.

I think it is ALWAYS USEFUL for freelancers to OWN the process. The freelancer should be in charge, with full understanding.

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

re: "For 1st milestone : We had discussion about the project and it was fine! we decided to meetup and on a day i couldnt comeup due to my mother's health problem Client told me to submit whatever you did i want to see progress I submited on time and client told m that your work is fake and very unprofessional and canceled the contract without any payment My question is he is saying that he will pay to arbitration but not me! and my work is not even $10 I believe i have spend atleast 6 to 7 hrs on it and for me i feel like he took my file and just cancel the contract What should i do in this ? i need help from you guys"

You asked what YOU should do.

I am going to IGNORE that question for now and instead tell you what I would do.

I am just walking away.

I don't have time to deal with a client like that.

I'm not going to get paid for this project, but I have many other clients who want to actually pay me to work for them, so I am going to focus on them.

All of the work that I did belongs to me, because the client did not pay for it.

If I created anything during my work on this project that I can use in my portfolio, I might post it in my portfolio.

But also:

When I am hired by a fixed-price client who I have never worked with before, I don't work for 6 or 7 hours on a project. I always try to limit my work to just an hour or two on the first fixed-price milestone or fixed-price contract. Because I believe that some clients can not be trusted at all to handle fixed-price contracts properly. But I don't believe there is any way to know for certain (ahead of time) if a client is a good fixed-price contract client or not. So I limit my work at first, to see if the client can be trusted, and that way I haven't lost so much time if a client turns out to not be "fixed-price trustworthy."