Client only want to communicate via whatsapp

[689f4cb1]

Dear all,

I have been sending proposals to Clients and, whenever they get back to me via message inbox, they ask me to contact them via whatsapp. I insist to communicate with them via Upwork platform, but they simply will not proceed.

May I contact them via whatsapp, before awarding, for discussions, interviews and clarifications regarding the projects?

Thanks and regards.

[martina_plaschka]

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Willian B wrote:

Dear all,

I have been sending proposals to Clients and, whenever they get back to me via message inbox, they ask me to contact them via whatsapp. I insist to communicate with them via Upwork platform, but they simply will not proceed.

May I contact them via whatsapp, before awarding, for discussions, interviews and clarifications regarding the projects?

Thanks and regards.

No, never. These are not real clients. 

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[roberty1y]

These are people who want to steal your money. They pick you because you're new and they hope you won't be wise to them. Any contact outside of Upwork before you start a contract is against the terms of service, and will result in you being banned or suspended from the site.

[dd63c576]

Report that client to Upwork and never share any contact with such people. 

[prestonhunter]

My recommendation:

Give them a chance to communicate with you using Upwork Messages. If they communicate with you using Upwork Messages and then hire you using a real Upwork contract, then that is great: You earn money working on a real job that you wanted to do.

Of they don’t communicate with you using Upwork Messages, then use the “Flag as inappropriate” option on the job posting page to report them. Then Upwork will take the job down and refund your connects to you.

So you either get hired. Or you get your connects back.

You can write a short message that you copy and paste and send every time to prospective clients who ask you to communicate off-platform prior to being hired. Something two to four sentences long should suffice.

[wlyonsatl]

Willian B.,

If you include something like the following text in every proposal you send...

"As you may know, during our pre-contract communication Upwork requires that we only use Upwork’s version of Zoom to talk through the specifics of what you need and to discuss any questions you and I have for one another:

On-platform Interviews – Upwork Customer Service & Support | Upwork Help

After that call I can start work on this immediately (OR as soon as Upwork approves your payment method). We can then use any method of communication you prefer."

...there's a good chance you'll get fewer responses from dubious "clients" while at the same time alerting honest potential clients ignorant of Upwork's rules to handle your initial communication within those rules.

Good luck!

[pgiambalvo]

No, you should not. That would be a violation of the ToS. Read it and follow it. Don't communicate with anyone until after a contract has been set up. They are most likely scammers and the fact that you keep getting these multiple messages back from them shows just how bad these scam posts have become lately. Far more than I've ever seen before. Flag them as inappropriate and thanks for sharing you experience here so that others will realize just how rampant scam/spam posts from scammers have become so they can be on guard for them.

[tlbp]

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Willian B wrote:

Dear all,

I have been sending proposals to Clients and, whenever they get back to me via message inbox, they ask me to contact them via whatsapp. I insist to communicate with them via Upwork platform, but they simply will not proceed.

May I contact them via whatsapp, before awarding, for discussions, interviews and clarifications regarding the projects?

Thanks and regards.

---

Someone who has not awarded you a contract is not a client. They are a stranger on the  internet who is asking you to do something that will get you banned from the platform. Do you trust the stranger who does not know or care about you and is already trying to get you in trouble? 

[jelayron]

I understand clients that looks for other channels. Upwork chat is very slow and the notifications on my phone are late but we have no choice since this is against Upwork's Terms of Service.

Just insist on using Upwork's chat and zoom and hope that they improve those communication channels in the future.

There are so many freelancers in the platform, why not just pick someone up and hire him to improve those chats. lol

[prestonhunter]

re: "Upwork chat is very slow"

Upwork chat is essentially instantaneous.

Do you mean: Upwork chat-via-email relay?