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deborah-ponzio
Community Member

Client sets a 2nd milestone asking me to purchase his product on Amazon etc.... is this acceptable?

Hello, I would greatly benefit from your advice here. I am in a fixed price contract with a client who asked to translate his Amazon product description for a fixed price amount and then test his product for free. 

I completed the 1st milestone for translation and he said he was satisfied. 

Today he created a 2nd milestone and, surprise surprise, he sent me a set of instructions which requires that I purchase his product on Amazon and that he would "arrange reimbursement" only 2-3 days after I receive the product, test it and publish a review on Amazon. 

This does not sound 100% right to me and, being relatively new to Upwork, I wonder if:

- Can I share the instructions set by client with the support service to verify that they comply with TOS?

- Can I cancel his 2nd milestone, and possibly the contract, without consequences on my JSS? It all came as a surprise to me and I had never accepted such conditions from the start. The job post said something different. 

- Shall I flag tis client? This client too is new to Upwork.

I suggested him that what he is asking MAY be against the TOS and that he can put the money for the purchase in escrow. He has not yet replied to this. 

What can I do being in line with TOS and without negative impact on my JSS? I am not at fault here.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hi Deborah,

 

I was able to locate the contract and the file/s your client shared with you. If you would like to share any additional information with me, feel free to reach out via PM (click on my name). Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

View solution in original post

8 REPLIES 8
deborah-ponzio
Community Member

I have just verified that I can propose changes to the amount of the milestone. Does this have a time limit? I was considering to add the money related with the product purchase to the milestone but I am not 100% that this would be in line with TOS and if it may result in a scam anyway if client does not approve the milestone when I complete the purchase on Amazon and publish the review......

I am awaiting for suggestions before taking any further action here

 

I have also verified that this client has hired 3 people for this job and 9 people in total via all his job posts

Thank you for reporting this, Deborah.

 

I would like to confirm that this type of work is not allowed and is in violation of our TOS. Our team will investigate your client further and will take proper actions. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

Dear Goran, thank you. Do you need me to share anyhting with you?

Hi Deborah,

 

I was able to locate the contract and the file/s your client shared with you. If you would like to share any additional information with me, feel free to reach out via PM (click on my name). Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

Thank you, I will go through that and see if I have anything else to share via pm

Hello Goran, something weird happened and I wrote you a pm about it. Thanks for your support, Deborah

petra_r
Community Member

That is a violation of Upwork's terms of service because it is forbidden by Amazon. NEVER do any paid Amazon reviews. Amazon have already sued over 1000 freelancers for this nonsense.

 

As far as the JSS is concerned, ending the contract (which is the only way to decline the milestone) wouldn't affect your JSS, only poor feedback from the client would.

Thank you, Petra. 

I entered in this contract based on a translation + product testing. The job post per se seemed allright. Things evolved suspiciously along the way. 

I am a cautious person by nature and I will become more restrictive in my evaluation of clients and job posts. 

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