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romytokic
Community Member

Customer wants to talk through whatsapp not through upwork chat

The customer I'm working on is very insistent with using WhatsApp instead upwork chat. I told him that I want to keep conversations in the Upwork chat, but he wants WhatsApp or slack and is not going to give me any feedback if I don't text him through that via. What should I do?

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prestonhunter
Community Member

If you have NOT been officially hired with an Upwork contract:

 

Then that's a scammer who is trying to steal money from you.

 

Use the "Flag as inappropriate" link button on the job posting page to report this person.

 

And then block them so they can't communicate with you.

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If you HAVE been officially hired with an Upwork hourly contract, then use whatever communication tool the client wants to use.

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13 REPLIES 13
prestonhunter
Community Member

If you have NOT been officially hired with an Upwork contract:

 

Then that's a scammer who is trying to steal money from you.

 

Use the "Flag as inappropriate" link button on the job posting page to report this person.

 

And then block them so they can't communicate with you.

=====

If you HAVE been officially hired with an Upwork hourly contract, then use whatever communication tool the client wants to use.

Yes, he made a contract, I will take your advice, thanks a lot.

kdkaushik
Community Member

I am sure it is a scam, and you should not contact him except upwork.

You should never bid for such luring jobs.

Forget that job and look for other ...

I thought the same as you but he made a contract. Thanks for the response.

paywell
Community Member

Yes, it is frowned upon if you communicate with the client through any other means apart from Upwork Chat / Call, before the contract is signed.

 

Afterwards, you may communicate outside of Upwork, but I would strongly recommend, that you duplicate any arrangements regarding the contract through Upwork chat, with a screenshot of the arrangement being made on another platform (in your case - Whatsapp).

I would also request the client to confirm with a short "Agreed" or "Yes" in the chat, so that you have evidence about your arrangements, in case a conflict arrises and you have to reach out to Upwork for mediation services.

 

Remember, that a service already rendered is (in many cases) worthless if there is no written agreement on Upwork about the criteria of completion AND the money you are promised isn't in Upwork's escrow. 

Ok ok, I will do that, thanks for the advice Pavlo.

kkears
Community Member

Hi Romy - I don't see any in-progress jobs on your profile, so I'm assuming this isn't an official contract yet. If no job contract has started, do not chat with him anywhere other than Upwork. 

Jobs only show up after the first payment. 

Oh, I didn't realize that. I just assumed since it looks like Romy just signed up for Upwork today. 

You might be looking at the date when the freelancer joined the forum.

Good to know, thanks for the response, Martina.

sofia2008
Community Member

Note that jobs in progress only appear on the public profile once their is a payment made. So not seeing one at this early stage doesn't mean there is no contract. Freelancer can confirm by looking at their My Jobs tab.

Ok ok, I will check, thanks for the response Sophie.

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