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namita_shakya
Community Member

Dealing with scope creep, Shall I end the contract?

Hi,

 

I need some advice from the veterans please.

I was hired on a fixed price contract to do proofreading of some specific task in the clients tool including one Excel file too. I am working on this since the past 6 days. On Sep 01, my client sent me a new Word file of 12 pages & 3540 words and just messaged to proofread this short document too. I replied that I'd be happy to do that for him as a second milestone and I'll charge $0.XX per word.

 

Yesterday he replied back that he can pay me $XX as a bonus for the Excel file as it's quite short. I replied that he don't need to pay anything extra for the Excel file as that is included in the Original milestone and I was talking about the new Word document which he sent me the day before. 

Today he is messaging - "it is a relatively short document which is already translated (google translate) so it should take you a short time to proofread. We have not paid any of the other translators working on other languages any extra to do this work. They all counted it as part of the job. However we are willing to pay you $xx for your work...." 

I replied very politely and professionally that this was never discussed before and your job posting explicitly asks to do a specified task. But I am thrilled to work on this new requirement as a second milestone for $XXX or you may hire someone else for this new job. 

Later I flagged those messages for scope creep and the team has taken some action. 

 

Now, I am unsure to keep working on the original milestone or to end this contract myself and refund back the full amount in escrow or shall I continue working on this. The client hasn't replied back and my gut says to not to work on this anymore. I have never been in a dispute before and the arbitration fees isn't an issue as I've kept some amount in fd for upw disputes :p, if it stretches to the point of arbitration. At the moment I just want peace of mind and I am not feeling anything good about this contract. 

 

Please advise. 

 

Thank you!

4 REPLIES 4
petra_r
Community Member


Namita S wrote:

"it is a relatively short document which is already translated (google translate) so it should take you a short time to proofread.


LOL, that's nuts. Fixing a google translation is not "proofreading!"

 


Namita S wrote:

Now, I am unsure to keep working on the original milestone or to end this contract myself and refund back the full amount in escrow or shall I continue working on this.


I would complete the work you were hired for and agreed to. Then you can submit for payment. Why work for free? You are top rated, so if it's all goes sideways, use your perk if you need to (if you haven't used it in the last 10 contracts and 3 months.)

 

I wouldn't even mention that extra document unless the client does. The client didn't strictly speaking ask for free work or scope creep, you just disagreed about the price of an additional request. I also think it is generally unwise to summon Upwork in the middle of an ongoing contract by reporting and having Upwork "take some action", that doesn't exactly make the client think any more highly of you... You had already resolved the situation by ttelling the client that it will be a new milestone and what you'd charge.

Thank You Petra for your advice!

If needed I'll use my perk. Just got a reply that they'll hire someone else for it. 


Namita S wrote:

Thank You Petra for your advice!

If needed I'll use my perk. Just got a reply that they'll hire someone else for it. 


I'm sure you were very professional in your communication, but telling the client to hire somebody else is maybe overstepping a bit. I think the secret is not to "talk" too much, just state your point of view, without any advice what he should or shouldn't do. 

When you submit the work, just wait until you get paid, leave the contract open for a while, and end it later. The client might have all forgotten about it then. If he ends it himself, even then, the feedback might not be all that bad, you'll see. 

Yes, point duly noted!
Thank you Martina for your advice!
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