Client fun - here's a new one (to me)

[c0nsilience]

So, the client, being brand new to Upwork, decides for no apparent reason (none given to me anyway) to pause a contract, right as we are getting started.  Quite literally, a few weeks into Phase I of development.

I, being the diplomat that I am, reach out to them for the better part of a week, with no response.  I'm a little irritated at this point due to the paused contract dropping my JS, but I'm trying to find out what's going on and, at this point, I'd be really happy just to hear from the client.

After a week of silence, I decide to do a little investigating.  Turns out the client hired another developer, behind my back, that also happens to be undercutting me by around 50% of the original proposal.

In a nutshell, the client recieved some great work, an ERD and plenty of free consulting and decided to get extremely unprofessional with the project by pausing the contract on me, and hiring a much cheaper developer in the process.

Good times, right?

Moral of the story: Upwork shouldn't allow Clients to hire out on a contract that is already underway, much less, paused.  The Client should be forced to end the contract before this takes place so the freelancer isn't left hanging, wondering what's going on.

[vladag · Accepted solution]

Hi Benjamin,

I'm sorry to hear about the outcome of your contract and relationship with this client. Just wanted to confirm that pausing a contract doesn't directly affect your Job Success Score. Ask the client for an explanation and if they don't plan on resuming your contract, ask them to close it.

While we won't limit the clients' ability to hire multiple freelancers at the same time, you can consider charging for consultations and including any additional work and activities in your rate and contract.

[c0nsilience]

Thanks, Vladimir!

Just a slightly frustrating experience.  I wish everyone was a pro! 🙂