Clients Adding New Milestones

[jared_k]

I have seen this issue brought up before and still nothing has been done, which is too bad because it is a problem from time to time.

I recently did a job for a client and then woke up the next day bright and early at about noon thirty to see that the client had released the funds but added a new milestone for only $10 along with a somewhat vague message of some more work he wanted. I told him that it has now gone into the realm of scope creep and bit and that I wish he wouldn't have started a new milestone without asking me first, especially for such a low price. Even though I really don't want to work on the job, I told that client that I would do the next milestone for $30 if he clairified the specs for the new milestone a bit. He said he would but I haven't heard anything. I finally left a message telling the client that there was obviously a communicaiton problem that was Upwork's fault more than anyone's and that he should just close the job and write a new one with a price that he can afford. No reply.

So now I can either do the milestone for cooly labor wages, cancel the job and take a hit, or do nothing and also take a hit. I understand that Upwork is much more client-centric compared to Elance and Odesk, but come on guys, I don't think it would hurt if you allowed freelancers to accept milestones. Allowing the clients to arbitarily assign new milestones at any price hurts this platform.

[tlsanders]

You're in exactly the same position as you would have been if the client had asked you to take on the next milestone and you'd said no.

You can end (not cancel) the contract, and the client will get his funded milestone back and he'll be miffed and probably give you negative feedback. That's almost certainly exactly what would have happened if he'd asked and you'd refused to continue with the work, so you've lost nothing except the 30 seconds it will take you to end the contract.

[jared_k]

Which is entirely my point that the system is flawed and needs to be changed.

[tlsanders]

Wait...the system is flawed and needs to be changed because the client can assign a milestone that has absolutely no effect on you?

[jared_k]

How does it not affect me when you said yourself that the client "will probably be miffed and leave a bad review" regardless of the quailty I did for the originally agreed milestone?

[tlsanders]

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@Jared K wrote:

How does it not affect me when you said yourself that the client "will probably be miffed and leave a bad review" regardless of the quailty I did for the originally agreed milestone?

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 Because if the client hadn't been able to assign the milestone without asking you, he would have asked, and you would have had exactly the same choice to make...do the milestone for "cooly wages" or decline (in which case, the client would probably have been miffed and left a bad review).

The ability to assign the milestone in no way changed your situation.

[felipeharo]

What Tiffany says is kinda true.

That's why I think that the worst case scenario you can get in Upwork is to have a client that constantly has $5-$20 little tasks because either you accept his price or you end up in a constant negotiation of little tasks that end up generating in both cases a lot of friction.

The only way to handle this situation is to communicate with the client and tell him that you will do this task for $10 dollars but after that you request to change the contract to an hourly based contract so you earn what you spend in time. If the client doesn't agree with that, then it's a really bad client and you have to take the hit... It requires high communication skills to save yourself from this kind of client.

[cylver1z]

Hello Jared,

I'm sorry to hear that. I'll share your suggestion with our team so they can take a look at it. Thank you.

[petra_r]

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@Jared K wrote:
I finally left a message telling the client that there was obviously a communicaiton problem that was Upwork's fault more than anyone's and that he should just close the job and write a new one with a price that he can afford.

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 You have got to be kidding.... You seriously wrote that?

[tlbp]

Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to just politely indicate that you are no longer available to work on the client's project? Why scold the source of your income? If you receive a bad review, it will be deserved. 

[msublette]

I see the point of the original poster, though I’m not sure anything can be done. This is really about a client who is trying to take advantage of a freelancer.

The milestone that is added without the consent of a freelancer is kind of like being required to accept a contract you did not agree to. The client is holding the freelancer hostage to do work for a non-agreed upon price.

No matter what, the freelancer will always be in the position of angering the client. As another poster said, if the client had asked and the freelancer said no, the client would still be upset and could threaten bad feedback. However, if this was all recorded in Upwork messages there may be some recourse. However this freelancer didn’t even get the chance to negotiate. The price the client is willing to pay may very well be lower than anyone would bid so the client instead just told the freelancer what he would pay.

I say these are bad clients and if it is happening over and over to you, maybe you need to only take on hourly jobs. Or maybe you need to try to determine the type of client who is likely to do this and try to avoid them.