Client not responding

[9c8f0515]

I sent my client a piece of work to sign off on last Friday. They had been communicating great before that. I have not heard back from them. I've sent a follow up asking if they have had a chance to look at the file with no reply.

What is the next step that I can take?

[prestonhunter]

re: "I sent my client a piece of work to sign off on last Friday. They had been communicating great before that. I have not heard back from them."

So what?

Clients have 14 days to reply.

It has only been 6 days.

Wait 8 more days.

Then, if he client does nothing, you will get paid automatically.

Clients are not required to respond when freelancers submit work.

I get paid if the client responds. I get paid if the client doesn't respond. Either way, the amount of money is the same.

re: "I've sent a follow up asking if they have had a chance to look at the file with no reply."

I never do that.

I don't even send a first message separately.

I click the "Submit work for payment" button, and that's it.

re: "What is the next step that I can take?"

You already clicked the button. Just wait and get paid.

[9c8f0515]

Thanks for the response, I think. This is all I needed:

"Clients have 14 days to reply. If the client does nothing, you will get paid automatically"

Literally that's it.

[jr-translation]

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Chris B wrote:

Thanks for the response, I think. This is all I needed:

"Clients have 14 days to reply. If the client does nothing, you will get paid automatically"

Literally that's it.

---

In the meantime work on your profil. You need more keyword so clients can find you.

[AveryO · Accepted solution]

Hi Chris, 

I want to clarify that the 14-day scenario that Preston mentioned where you need to submit a milestone deliverable applies only to fixed-price contracts. Since it appears that this is an hourly contract, you will need to log time using the Upwork Desktop App when working on your contract.

It appears that you logged manual time for this contract. Your client will still be billed for the hours you logged. However, please know that manual time is not covered in Upwork Payment Protection.

I hope this helps!

[9c8f0515]

Ok thanks! I'll download it and do that!

[tlbp]

You are at this phase:

Start Working 

Check out the differences between hourly and fixed-price contracts and make sure you know what steps you need to complete to get paid for both types. 

Regarding communications specifically, clients in need communicate promptly to get that neeed met. Once that need is met, the urgency is gone. Sometimes, the urgency is gone even when the need is not met. I have one client who takes several weeks to review and provide feedback after I submit an article to them. They are handling multiple projects and need to communicate with other stakeholders about each work, so it takes a while for them to respond. 

IOW, the work you do is often just a tiny cog within a big machine. Sometimes your cog is a high priority, sometimes it isn't. 

In your case, any hours you log will be automatically sent to the client for billing at the end of the work week. Then, there is a review period before payout. Payment is independent of the client providing you with feedback on your actual performance (e.g., change this, edit that...). If you used manaul hours, the client may object to those hours during their part of payment review period. If that happens, you won't get paid. 

Since Upwork communications can sometimes be wonky. I think it is appropriate to ping your client once to let them know you sent a work for review. Their next ping will come when they get the bill from Upwork. If they don't respond after that, give them another week and ping again. After that, assuming you were paid automatically, wait and let them get in contact with you. Maybe check back in after another month has passed.