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brendan_rose
Community Member

Client demanded free work

I've been working for this guy for about a week. After I sent the most recent build he played it and then paused the contract. He said he would resume the contract after I had done some free work for him.

 

This is against the TOS, right?

 

How do I report this client?

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
LuiggiR
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Brendan,

 

I'm very sorry to learn this happened to you. Can you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your case, as well as any supporting screenshots of the occurrence? I'll be sure to escalate this accordingly. 

~ Luiggi
Upwork

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10 REPLIES 10
brendan_rose
Community Member

I closed the contract.

roberty1y
Community Member

You will get paid automatically unless the client asks for a refund. One of the moderators here can take up the matter of the complaint against him for asking for free work.

pgiambalvo
Community Member

You were right in closing the contract. Never work for free. If the money was already in escrow or if you used the time tracker for an hourly contract, you will get paid for what you did. But if it was an hourly contract and you entered your hours manually, maybe not as the clint would have to approve the invoice to pay you. You've reported it here so someone from Upwork should be reaching out to you shortly for more info.

Actually, closing the contract is often a big mistake. It may work out okay in this case, since the contract was hourly. But, if it were a fixed price job and the freelancer closed it without getting paid, the money in escrow would automatically be returned to the client. 

 

It's actually best, when asking for advice, not to jump the gun and take this sort of action without waiting to get some advice from Upwork or more experienced freelancers. Too often freelancers come here and ask for help only after they have harmed themselves by doing something like rushing to close a contract or give a refund. 

LuiggiR
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Brendan,

 

I'm very sorry to learn this happened to you. Can you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your case, as well as any supporting screenshots of the occurrence? I'll be sure to escalate this accordingly. 

~ Luiggi
Upwork

Thank you very much. I have sent you the information, if you have any further questions, just let me know, have a good day. Thank you.

gtoscano
Community Member

Hi Luiggi, 

I wonder if this message from a client is allowed by Upwork

**edited for Community Guidelines**

That's free work, G T, and against Upwork's Terms of Service.

 

If this is the sort of work you usually do, send this prospective client an example of a similar previous job you've worked on. Or just describe in simple terms what you think needs to be done, leaving out any details about the specific final work you would provide if awarded the job.

G T, I'm also in the 3D CAD and Engineering space. That is 100% a violation; they want free work. Flag that job as inappropriate!

prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "I've been working for this guy for about a week. After I sent the most recent build he played it and then paused the contract. He said he would resume the contract after I had done some free work for him. This is against the TOS, right?"

 

Yes. It is against Upwork ToS for a client to demand free work.

It is against Upwork ToS for a client to ask nicely for free work.

 

It is also very silly.

 

If I was an evil super villain who hated all freelancers and wanted them to suffer, then I still would not ask freelancers to work for free.

 

Because it is counter-productive to do so.

Effective, succesful clients know that one of the worst things you can do for your project is to ask strangers to work on your project for free.

 

As a client, I need freelancers who are motivated, who take my project seriously, who will actually do the work and do a good job on it. That is NOT what clients get if they are manipulating freelancers into working for free, or even allowing willing freelancers to work on the project for free.

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