Client ended our contract after violating ToS

hannawish · ‎08-24-2020

Before this client started our contract, she asked me if I wanted to be paid on or outside of Upwork. I clearly said I wanted to be paid on Upwork. Then, after our contract started, she demanded that I fill out a W-9 for her, send her a copy of my ID, and accept payment outside of Upwork. When I told her I didn't want to do that, she ended our contract.

I contacted Upwork support about this with screenshots of what she said, but they have ignored me. I'm worried that she'll leave me negative feedback. What can I do?

I have never done work for her. We had a meeting every week, but she never followed through on her promises to send me the info I would need to get started.

Update: She did it. She left me one star. I am absolutely devastated.

prestonhunter · ‎08-24-2020

This client sounds like a real piece of work. I am sorry you experienced this.

However... you did say you never did any work for her...

How much money total did you earn? Are you considering issuing a complete refund and thus eliminating her one-star feedback from your job history?

hannawish · ‎08-24-2020

I earned nothing from her.

prestonhunter · ‎08-24-2020

Jobs for which no money was earned do not appear in a freelancer's job history.

hannawish · ‎08-24-2020

I did earn some from the meetings. Will issuing a refund actually remove her feedback?

joansands · ‎08-24-2020

Hanna - Issuing a refund will get her feedback off your profile - but it will have a bad effect on your JSS when you get that. I think you should find someone at Upwork to complain to about this because that client was obviously going against terms of service and should be barred because of that. Hopefully a moderator will come along & help you.

hannawish · ‎08-24-2020

Ok, I issued the refund. Thank you both for the recommendation.

Yes, I really do hope someone helps me. I just started on here. I can't afford any negativity.

prestonhunter · ‎08-24-2020

You took control of things by issuing a refund. You should have have had to do that.

But I understand why you did it and it may be the best decision, especially considering the fact that this was your one and only completed project. It was not a good way to start a job history.

If I was in charge of Upwork (which I am NOT), then I would have simply eradicated the project from your profile page but left you keep the money. Because the client's behavior was so onerous, so obviously a major violation of Upwork ToS.

But - once again - I'm just a user of the site. I have no power to do so something like that. And what I just said I would do: It is NOT at all standard procedure for Upwork to do.

JoanneP · ‎08-24-2020

Hi Hanna,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with this client. I checked your account, and it seems like you have already flagged this issue to our team. Please know that appropriate actions were taken. Thank you for taking the time to report this to us.

~ Joanne

petra_r · ‎08-24-2020

Joan S wrote:
Hanna - Issuing a refund will get her feedback off your profile - but it will have a bad effect on your JSS when you get that.

She's already had the poor feedback on the contract. The contract counts as negative, the full refund turning it into a "nothing paid" one makes no additional difference.

martina_plaschka · ‎08-24-2020

There are 3 learnings for you;

1. Don't work with clients who suggest you do something against ToS. (Unless they are new, apologize for even suggesting it, and really did not know it was not allowed. But that would be exceedingly rare.)

2. Never accept a job when you don't have the material to start with.

3. Never respond to client's feedback on your profile, it just looks petty. I understand you want to explain and justify - just don't.

Now you will have a no money paid job, likely with bad private feedback, which will not be great for your JSS when you get it. The only good news in this whole debacle is you will need to complete a number of jobs before you get a rating, so make sure those don't go south as well.

Edit: take out the contact information from your profile! That is not allowed because clients can contact you outside of upwork, and some might even get the impression that you are fluid with the rules. Also, you might get suspended for that.

hannawish · ‎08-24-2020

I don't have contact information on my profile. What are you referring to?

martina_plaschka · ‎08-24-2020

Hanna W wrote:
I don't have contact information on my profile. What are you referring to?

In your personal website there is the possibility to contact you, you need to take that out.

petra_r · ‎08-24-2020

Martina P wrote:
Hanna W wrote:
I don't have contact information on my profile. What are you referring to?
In your personal website there is the possibility to contact you, you need to take that out.

Where do you see Hanna's personal website?

martina_plaschka · ‎08-25-2020

Petra R wrote:
Martina P wrote:
Hanna W wrote:
I don't have contact information on my profile. What are you referring to?
In your personal website there is the possibility to contact you, you need to take that out.
Where do you see Hanna's personal website?

Petra R wrote:
Martina P wrote:
Hanna W wrote:
I don't have contact information on my profile. What are you referring to?
In your personal website there is the possibility to contact you, you need to take that out.
Where do you see Hanna's personal website?

In her portfolio.

petra_r · ‎08-25-2020

Martina P wrote:
Where do you see Hanna's personal website?
In her portfolio.

That's a website she did for someone called Sarah who lives half a continent away, looks nothing like her and has a different name.

martina_plaschka · ‎08-25-2020

Hanna W wrote:
I don't have contact information on my profile. What are you referring to?

I apologize, I thought that was your website. All good!

hannawish · ‎08-25-2020

Thankfully, I did receive a message from Upwork this morning. They gave me the option to choose one or both of the following options:

"1. The feedback will be removed from your Job Success Score (JSS) calculation and the change will be reflected when you fianlly receive your JSS score.

2. Would you like the public feedback removed along with the private feedback? This will remove the star rating, and replace it with this: “This feedback has been removed."

Since the feedback has already been removed due to the refund, should I say no to the second option? I'm not sure if there would be negative consequences.

petra_r · ‎08-25-2020

Hanna W wrote:

Since the feedback has already been removed due to the refund, should I say no to the second option? I'm not sure if there would be negative consequences.

There is no need to remove the public feeback, as won't be any 🙂

No consequences either way.

tta192 · ‎08-25-2020

Hanna W wrote:
Thankfully, I did receive a message from Upwork this morning. They gave me the option to choose one or both of the following options:
"1. The feedback will be removed from your Job Success Score (JSS) calculation and the change will be reflected when you fianlly receive your JSS score.

2. Would you like the public feedback removed along with the private feedback? This will remove the star rating, and replace it with this: “This feedback has been removed."

Since the feedback has already been removed due to the refund, should I say no to the second option? I'm not sure if there would be negative consequences.

You should have kept the money and now pick the second option. Issuing a refund just encourages them to keep on doing the same. You say no work was done, but the meetings you describe may have been all they actually needed from you. Instead of hiring a consultant they interviewed one and got the same result - for free!

hannawish · ‎08-26-2020

Update: I'm starting to feel nervous. This ex-client sent me a very long, aggressive message on Upwork this morning. I blocked her while she was typing another long message. Now, I'm seeing people are viewing my profile on another job site who are from her city and who work in her same field.

I made that profile private. I'm thinking I should make my Upwork profile private too. If I do that, though, are there negative side affects?

joansands · ‎08-26-2020

Hanna - My understanding is that if you set your profile to private, no one can find you in a search - but if you make a proposal to a client, that client can see your profile. The negative that I see is that someone can't find you when doing a search so you might lose out on an invitation. If people who know the client you had can view your profile, there is nothing they can do to you I don't think. Also, if the client sent you any kind of threatening message, you can report that to Upwork.

a_lipsey · ‎08-26-2020

Hanna W wrote:
Update: I'm starting to feel nervous. This ex-client sent me a very long, aggressive message on Upwork this morning. I blocked her while she was typing another long message. Now, I'm seeing people are viewing my profile on another job site who are from her city and who work in her same field.

I made that profile private. I'm thinking I should make my Upwork profile private too. If I do that, though, are there negative side affects?

Didn't you already refund all her money? Let her blow her hole and ignore her. She can't do anything to you.