Closed contract questions

[psheybani]

I just wanted to understand this

[wlyonsatl]

Others here might know more about this than I do, but what every freelancer needs to know is that once a contract is agreed to by both a freelancer and a client, that client has the permanent and unavoidable ability to leave private feedback for the freelancer. And we have been told that private feedback is a very important factor in calculating the freelancer's JSS.

So, whether you finish the project or not, whether you are paid anything by the client or offer a refund to the client, whether you close the project or the client does, they have the ability - and Upwork may even try to force them - to leave private feedback.

This private feedback hole card (for you poker players) is why freelancers must be very careful about choosing the clients they agree to work with.

Luckily, Upwork has said the feedback from some number of consistently negative or hard-to-work-with clients is not included in the JSS calculations for those clients' freelancers. Unfortunately, no freelancer has any way of knowing for certain whether this exclusion applies to any of their own clients.

[gaspardjack]

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Parisa S wrote:

Thanks. I read that closing and refunding is a better jss solution for the freelancer vs closing an open, no money earned account.

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It makes no difference, it's a no-earnings contract in both case. But if you close the contract and the client doesn't provide any private feedback or a positive one, the contract will be excluded from your jss and won't have any impact.

[petra_r]

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Parisa S wrote:

I just wanted to understand this

- if you as a freelancer close a contract with no earnings that is quite recent does that affect your jss score? It appears no one can even leave feedback on these..or can they.

- if you close the contract after you get paid and refund the client does that affect your jss score?

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Neither affects the JSS provided you don't get poor private feedback.