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vitcher
Community Member

Closing a contract and rating

Hello. I just started working on upwork. I did the work and the client paid it in full (fixed price project). He liked my work, but he forgot about the feedback and closing the contract and left. Then I myself closed the contract with the wording Job Completed Successfully. Tell me if this will badly affect my rating. Thank you.

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AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Vitaliy, 


I would just like to note this section of this help article for your reference:
Contracts with a history of earnings but no feedback, whether closed or not, are mostly excluded from your JSS. However, if you have many contracts where no feedback has been given, it can impact your score (a little) negatively because it indicates some of your clients were dissatisfied.

 

You may read more about which factors will affect your JOb Success Score in this help article.


~ Avery
Upwork

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12 REPLIES 12
joansands
Community Member

Vitaliy - My understanding is that your rating will not be affected when you yourself close a job and there is no feedback if money has been paid although apparently one should not have too many jobs like that. Personally, I think it is better to leave a job open for a while and hope the client will come back and close it with feedback. I think new clients often don't understand that they need to close a contract.

2a05aa63
Community Member

You can enable him to edit it, if you are sure he'll leave a good one.  5 starts is better than no feedback. It may not effect your JSS though

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Vitaliy, 


I would just like to note this section of this help article for your reference:
Contracts with a history of earnings but no feedback, whether closed or not, are mostly excluded from your JSS. However, if you have many contracts where no feedback has been given, it can impact your score (a little) negatively because it indicates some of your clients were dissatisfied.

 

You may read more about which factors will affect your JOb Success Score in this help article.


~ Avery
Upwork

Thank you for your reply Avery, on the other hand I regret to tell you this is not always true.

 

While this is true by all means when freelancer submits a job and client is dissatisfied, it is the opposite when client disappears right after started a contract and just sent a couple of messages, no work done yet ! No reason to complain, no one to blame. But then in the end freelancer JSS will be affected.

 

Does this sound right to you ?

 

For instance I have currently 87% JSS, what should I do in order to increase it if new clients I'm getting are doing the same thing described above, ie open the contract and then leave without show them nothing ?

I am noticing being lower than 90% JSS it is impacting severely perception clients get about me, I'm doing the same things I did in the past when I was a top rated 100% freelancer and raising talent, but then I got many jobs now peanuts, yet I'm applying in the same professional way as I did before. So I really need to know how to reach 90% again at least becasue looks like for clients is everything, they don't care to anything else like quality of work for instance.

 


Michele L wrote:

 

it is the opposite when client disappears right after started a contract and just sent a couple of messages, no work done yet !


Never accept a contract until you have what you need to complete the first milestone or log 10 minutes of time. Then you'll never have a "nothing paid" contract.

 


Michele L wrote:

For instance I have currently 87% JSS,


Your JSS is not at 87% because of unresponsive clients.

Take a look at your private feedback percentage ("Clients who would recommend me" on your My Stats page) which is how those clients who did give you feedback rated you.

 


Michele L wrote:

So I really need to know how to reach 90% again


The only way to improve your JSS is to get great feedback (private mainly) from current and future clients.

Thank you Petra. Problem is when it comes to hourly contract you have to accept them in order to reach 10 min log in at least. Kind of "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"

 

Second, I know no one could care about and I could write everything I want, I just want to say I know 87% is not mainly for that reason but for recently client feedback, if you pay attention, because recently stuff happened in my life that I am the first one to say I didn't provide a 5 star job but just a 4 stars and this lowered so much my JSS, the lowside of doing something creative, since for what happened I really didn't feel creative at all, from september but I have to work anyway so I was caught between a rock and a hard place and this is what happened, plus I told nothing to clients about because I want to beg for no one indeed the only reason I'm writing this here is to explain you why I didn't mention, why your reply could look like on point apparently and while you always provide great and useful replies, this time is quite off topic because I didn't ask to know why I have a 87%, I know it very well and now you too, my question was about why JSS should be lowered to freelance even without doing nothing, and for nothing I mean even working 10 min until 1 hour or something. I didn't write my JSS was lowered because of this. hope is clear now, I don't want to sound harsh, I am sorry for that in the case, JSS score is important but I don't have to tell you stuff happens in life much important than it, stuff happens that have such an impact in every aspect of the existence. I went through a dark time so please put your feet in my shoes on my second how could I feel when I feel deeply low, my creativity is even lower, I don't provide a great work, my JSS start lowering, many potential clients suddenly start to ignore me because of this and someone on the forum is pointing her finger against me saying my JSS is low not because what I said but because client private feedback. I guess this is the case people say " Thank you.. " but that's not case, I just wanted to explain you my point. And let me show you how I care about explaining this despite is not what I wrote, is not if you believe me or not that my JSS will increase.


Michele L wrote:

Thank you Petra. Problem is when it comes to hourly contract you have to accept them in order to reach 10 min log in at least. Kind of "What came first, the chicken or the egg?"


Once you have everything you need to get started, you accept the contract. I am not sure how that is a chicken and egg thing. 🙂

 

 

Exactly what do you mean for "" Once you have everything you need to get started " ?

 


Michele L wrote:

Exactly what do you mean for "" Once you have everything you need to get started " ?


It was in response to

 


Michele L wrote: it is the opposite when client disappears right after started a contract and just sent a couple of messages, no work done yet !

Contracts where nothing was ever paid hurt your JSS, either when they are closed or when they stay open for 2+ months with nothing (EVER) paid.


This means that if you want to protect your JSS you need to avoid "nothing ever paid" contracts. To do so, you should make sure that you do not accept a contract until you have all you need to either start tracking time, or to complete the first milestone, depending on whether it is an hourly or a fixed rare contract.

 

I fully agree, problem is when there are all the conditions to start the (hourly) contract in my case but then I receive a contract is on hold from upwork due to client issues, only after the client started it. How could I know that if all was going good till then ? How could I knew it/ prevent it ?

 

Moreover what's the best way to ask old clients to leave a feedback that never closed an old job, I don't keep in touch with them from a while, many many months but I did a great job for them and it is a sure 5 star rating if they leave a feedback ?


Michele L wrote:

I fully agree, problem is when there are all the conditions to start the (hourly) contract in my case but then I receive a contract is on hold from upwork due to client issues,


Contracts with suspended clients are excluded from you JSS calculation. So you don't have to worry about such a contract.

 


Michele L wrote:

Moreover what's the best way to ask old clients to leave a feedback that never closed an old job, I don't keep in touch with them from a while, many many months but I did a great job for them and it is a sure 5 star rating if they leave a feedback ?


Ask them to close the contract, but if you have been paid, those contracts do not hurt your JSS, regardless of whether they are open and inactive, or closed without feedback.

I agree about the last point. I knew that was si the main way to overcome this, simply it is getting difficult go there being lower than 90% for the moment. And I just hope due to these contracts with no action my JSS will lower even more if in the worst case scenario I won't get new and satisfied clients as time goes by.

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