Client is not approving milestone nor communicating

[aati707]

Hello all,

I have completed a job successfully and submitted the milestone for approval. He was very good and polite at the begining and very satisfied from the work. Before submission of work I have walk him through the whole work via screen share and he was very satisfied and ask for submission of work. Unfortunately, after submission of work, he has not approved the milestone nor he is communicating even he is online and communicating with other freelancers on his other open jobs. It has been 12 days since and I have tried to communicate him twice. But still no response. I am wating for auto approval form upwork, I want to ask that after auto approval whether I should close the contract by myself and give a true feedback about the client or keep asking him to close the contract? I fear he might give a negative feedback. Please guide me in this regard. Thank you. 

[petra_r]

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Atif R wrote:

Hello all,

I have completed a job successfully and submitted the milestone for approval.  I want to ask that after auto approval whether I should close the contract by myself and give a true feedback about the client or keep asking him to close the contract?

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Leave the client alone.

Once the funds were auto-released, just give it a while. The client has done nothing wrong.

If you don't hear from the client after a month or so, just end the contract yourself.

[aati707]

Thank you petra for you quick response as always. If I end the contract myself after a month and if the client give me a negative private feedback whether it will effect my JSS?

[a_lipsey]

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Atif R wrote:

Thank you petra for you quick response as always. If I end the contract myself after a month and if the client give me a negative private feedback whether it will effect my JSS?

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Regardless of when you end the contract, the client's feedback will affect your JSS, positive or negative. 

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Atif R wrote:

Thank you petra for you quick response as always. If I end the contract myself after a month and if the client give me a negative private feedback whether it will effect my JSS?

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Yes, it will.

[bizwriterjohn]

Yes, if you end a contract at any time and negative feedback is provided, it will impact your JSS.  I recommend the following tactic.

Wait until a holiday weekend.  If the client is in the U.S. Memorial Day is a good choice.  Wait until Friday afternoon, for the holiday weekend to start.  End the project.

This means the client will receive the project end notification during one of their holiday weekends.  They will be in a good mood most probably.  And have other things on their minds than Upwork and -- hopefully -- sending in a negative response.

Summary:  if you are worried about negative ratings, quietly keep the contract open.  Wait until a holiday and quietly close the project at the start of the holiday.

[prestonhunter]

If the client seems to be gone... then if you end the contract yourself, the client will probably never leave any feedback at all.

If you're worried about negative feedback, ending the contract makes it so the client can NOT leave any feedback... if he doesn't take the opportunity to do so within 2 weeks.

[bizwriterjohn]

Going forward...

This URL presents a "tip of the week".  In particular, this piece of thought capital provides suggestions on how to cover important topics with a client before the 'accept project' button is clicked. 

The use of these techniques has proven successful on my end.**Edited for Community Guidelines** One concept, in particular (once the deal is won, hush up) is important to consider.  **Edited for Community Guidelines**
TIp-of-the-week:  start project closes during project win phase. Perhaps this will help you avoid problems like this in the future

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Coffee-Break/Tip-of-the-Week-Start-Project-Closing-Processes-During-...

- John.