Clients from Europe are bad or it's just me?

filip_knezevic · ‎06-19-2020

Hi all,

Is it just me or clients from Europe are horrible?

I had so many scammers and free-work-bullies from UK. I often see jobs from countries with very good standard and salaries (Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland...), but often they are paying horribly low fixed prices or 5$/h.

Is it just because the Upwork is not so big in Europe (for clients)?

Funnily enough I had more work from Australia than from Europe, and I live in Europe.

What are your experiences? Do you find Europe clients horrible and mostly cheap?

@Upwork, are you working on getting some good clients from Europe? 🙂

petra_r · ‎06-19-2020

Filip K wrote:
Is it just me or clients from Europe are horrible?

It's just you.

Filip K wrote:
I had so many scammers and free-work-bullies from UK

A huge percentage of the clients who claim to be in the UK aren't in the UK....

Most of my highest paying clients are from Europe and the USA, mostly Europe

filip_knezevic · ‎06-19-2020

Great for you. 🙂

Maybe it's because we are in different professions. It makes sense you will have Europe clients when you are doing translations from/to German.

I only had a few normal clients from Europe, they mostly come from USA/Canada.

The worst ones definitely always come from UK from some reason.

colettelewis · ‎06-19-2020

Filip K wrote:
Great for you. 🙂
Maybe it's because we are in different professions. It makes sense you will have Europe clients when you are doing translations from/to German.
I only had a few normal clients from Europe, they mostly come from USA/Canada.
The worst ones definitely always come from UK from some reason.

_____________________________________

I don't see what difference a profession makes.

Perhaps give UK a miss for the time being and concentrate on areas where the clients seem to be reasonable. You are top rated so you shouldn't really be having this sort of problem. You should certainly ignore the low-paying clients, wherever they come from.

It is not always possible I know, but you should also be able to judge from an interview what sort of client they are likely to be

prestonhunter · ‎06-19-2020

I think it is just you.

I have had great clients from Europe.

And from all kinds of other places.

My own personal experience is that most Upwork clients are great people. Professional. Ethical.

We read about problem clients in the Forum a lot because nobody is coming here to complain about the great clients who hired them and paid them well and treated them with respect.

I actually don't look at where clients are from during the hiring process... I might not know where a client lives until long after I have been hired.

But I totally support any freelancer who wants to include client location as part of their decision-making process. If a freelancer prefers to avoid certain areas or prefers to focus on working for clients from certain areas, then they should do so. Especially if they have had repeated problems with clients from certain areas, then it would make sense. This is true for clients from certain industries, or certain types of jobs, or anything else. Freelancers should do what works for them.

filip_knezevic · ‎06-19-2020

Ok, so it's just me than.

This was just a curiosity question, I'm not asking how to get Europian clients. 🙂

I think it makes sense what is your profession, though. Let's assume Upwork is not on the same level of popularity in EU and USA. So there will be less tehnical jobs from USA than from EU. On the contrary, person specializing in translations from/to Europian languages might have more work in Europe as there is more demand for that skillset in that region, so it might attract more clients (even if the platform is less popular).

Again, it's only me speculating. 🙂

feed_my_eyes · ‎06-19-2020

I didn't even realise that all Europeans are exactly the same. Will you give UK clients another chance after Brexit is completed?

filip_knezevic · ‎06-23-2020

Christine A. wrote:

I didn't even realise that all Europeans are exactly the same. Will you give UK clients another chance after Brexit is completed?

Yeah, sure.

I just had one from Dublin, had 3 hours of interviews with 10 different people, and he started behaving like a jerk, 60 dollars for an hour was too much, he can find cheaper (but he responded to my application where I clearly stated my price). Wants a security audit of the infastructure, but all with fixed price estimates as he needs firm estimates. Sure, like I don't know how requirements can constantly change along the way, with new issues emerging from nowhere all the time...

The reason why dealing with SMB is usually much more pleasent (SMBs from USA or Canada of cours).

And yeah, Dublin perhaps is not in UK, but it's clearly close enough. 🙂

kfarnell · ‎06-23-2020

Filip K wrote:
And yeah, Dublin perhaps is not in UK, but it's clearly close enough. 🙂

Good luck with saying that when you're next in Dublin.

feed_my_eyes · ‎06-23-2020

Filip K wrote:
And yeah, Dublin perhaps is not in UK, but it's clearly close enough. 🙂

There's no "perhaps" about it - Dublin is most definitely not in the UK.

If you're having problems with all 700 million inhabitants of an entire continent, then maybe it's you, not them?

petra_r · ‎06-23-2020

Christine A wrote:
I didn't even realise that all Europeans are exactly the same. Will you give UK clients another chance after Brexit is completed?

Brexit does not remove the UK from Europe....

feed_my_eyes · ‎06-23-2020

Petra R wrote:
Christine A wrote:
I didn't even realise that all Europeans are exactly the same. Will you give UK clients another chance after Brexit is completed?

Brexit does not remove the UK from Europe....

Don't tell that to certain people. 😉 A lot of Brits don't call themselves Europeans, I find - Brexit or no.

prestonhunter · ‎06-23-2020

I'm a big fan of the U.K.

If they want to join the U.S., I would be happy to welcome them as our 51st state.

feed_my_eyes · ‎06-23-2020

Preston H wrote:
I'm a big fan of the U.K.
If they want to join the U.S., I would be happy to welcome them as our 51st state.

Thanks, but no thanks.

But you're welcome to become the new Scotland when they inevitably leave. Start practicing the accent now; it's not easy.

colettelewis · ‎06-23-2020

Preston H wrote:
I'm a big fan of the U.K.
If they want to join the U.S., I would be happy to welcome them as our 51st state.

Hmm - that could result in a serious uprising in Puerto Rico, which is the presumed 51st State.

England was not happy about losing the War of Independence - so any kind of alignment would be strictly financial (depending on the ruling party in UK of course).

petra_r · ‎06-23-2020

Christine A wrote:
Petra R wrote:
Christine A wrote:
I didn't even realise that all Europeans are exactly the same. Will you give UK clients another chance after Brexit is completed?

Brexit does not remove the UK from Europe....
Don't tell that to certain people. 😉 A lot of Brits don't call themselves Europeans, I find - Brexit or no.

Yeah, I just get blood pressure issues every time I hear or read "When we leave Europe" - as if leaving the EU would make Britain sit in it's own continent or join Asia or something.

I used to have that conversation a lot when I lived in England and even more so in Scotland. People say "In Europe...." and I'd say "We are in Europe" and they'd say "No, we're not, we're just in the EU." and I'd ask "Which continent do you think these here fine isles belong to......?" and many GENUINELY did not know. They. really. did. not. know.

feed_my_eyes · ‎06-23-2020

Petra R wrote:
Yeah, I just get blood pressure issues every time I hear or read "When we leave Europe" - as if leaving the EU would make Britain sit in it's own continent or join Asia or something.

I used to have that conversation a lot when I lived in England and even more so in Scotland. People say "In Europe...." and I'd say "We are in Europe" and they'd say "No, we're not, we're just in the EU." and I'd ask "Which continent do you think these here fine isles belong to......?" and many GENUINELY did not know. They. really. did. not. know.

Oh, they know - they're just in denial. I have the same conversations all the time.

British Friend: "I think we'll be going to Europe for most of the summer."

Me: "You're ALREADY in Europe."

Friend: "Oh. Right. But not REALLY."

kfarnell · ‎06-23-2020

Shifting English... A while ago those people would have said they were going to 'the continent' for a holiday (obvs meaning continental Europe), but when pedants started going on about 'which continent?' they grabbed the Europe bit instead.

lysis10 · ‎06-19-2020

Lots of clients claim to be in the US and they aren't. Most of my disputes are from these people. I imagine the UK has the same problem. It's easier to trick freelancers that way.

allergywriter · ‎06-19-2020

So I have a great client from the Ukraine. She is very professional and we work great together.

I've had good working relationships with clients from the Netherlands.

One of my all time faves was from Bulgaria even though he was living in Singapore.

My only "complaint" about people from the UK is the difference in our use of English. I am always upfront that my native language is American English and I must depend on Word to change things to UK or Australian English. If they have a problem with that, then we just don't work together.

Maybe change your expectations and never bid on jobs that charge $5 an hour or respond to invites for them other than " budget too low"