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wlyonsatl
Community Member

Closing Contracts - Freelancers, Clients and Upwork Itself

I had a client who abruptly paused an hourly contract and claimed a refund for about 2/3 of what she had already paid me . I did not agree to any refund, she was not awarded a refund by Upwork and she never re-started the contract (which I wouldn’t have agreed to anyway, since I could have no assurance she wouldn’t do the same thing again).

 

Upwork offered her an amount of money to “settle” the dispute, which she apparently accepted. (This payment came out of Upwork’s pocket, not mine.)

 

A couple of days ago I saw that the contract was closed, but the client did not leave any feedback.

 

Can a client close a contract without leaving feedback?

 

Does Upwork close contracts under certain circumstances? If so, what are those circumstances?

6 REPLIES 6
petra_r
Community Member


Will L wrote:

A couple of days ago I saw that the contract was closed, but the client did not leave any feedback.

 

Can a client close a contract without leaving feedback?

Does Upwork close contracts under certain circumstances? If so, what are those circumstances?


Clients can not close a contract without leaving feedback, No.

 

Either the client left feedback and you will see it once you, too leave feedback for the client or after 14 days, or the client may have asked Upwork to close the contract on their behalf stating that they did not want to leave feedback. It's not done often, but if a client (or a freelancer) insists, they sometimes do it reluctantly.

 

The other instance when Upwork close contracts is not applicable here, it's when a fixed price contract has a funded milestone that was funded 90 days or longer ago, in which case the contract is closed automatically with the money returned to the client.

I see.

 

I left feedback a couple of days ago; I should be able to see any feedback the client left. There is none.

 

So a client can close a project without leaving feedback (under special circumstances). Interesting.

 

Since Upwork did try to appease the client somewhat with the partial refund offer, maybe Upwork also closed the contract without requiring the client leave feedback.

 

I'll probably never know. But not knowing won't keep me up at night.


Will L wrote:

So a client can close a project without leaving feedback (under special circumstances). Interesting.

Well, technically nobody can close a contract without leaving feedback, but Upwork "can" do it on behalf of a sufficiently insistent party.

The project page is showing "Client's Feedback to You - No Feedback Received"

 

Can the client still leave feedback for me? If so, what is the cut-off point for that - 14 days from when Upwork closed the contract?

Hi Petra,

How will it influence JSS if Upwork closes contract and no feedbacks from client and from freelancer?


Igor B wrote:

How will it influence JSS if Upwork closes contract and no feedbacks from client and from freelancer?


It happens rarely and there is no effect on the JSS for better or for worse.

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