Discussions with client - is this a red flag?

[barney53]

Hi everyone, 

I'm in discussion with a client about starting a working relationship on a project. The client asks to move the conversation over to Skype - I decline because I prefer to use Upwork. That's no problem. We discuss a little further. the client asks for my email address. I decline; we have not established any working relationship yet and I don't know if I want to work with them yet - I want to keep it on Upwork for the moment. Again, no problem. 

What concerns me is that the client breaks up the words - when they say skype, they type it 'sk.ype' and when they type email they type it 'ema.il'. This says to me that they are trying to avoid some kind of autodetection within the chat, and the only reason I can see for that is if they plan to draw me into the subversion of ToS or similarly dodgy behaviour.

Any thoughts? Should I just drop it at this point? 

Thanks,

Barney

[wlyonsatl]

Why not just ask them why they are doing that?

You'll learn a lot about their honesty and understanding of how Upwork works when they answer.

[barney53]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. 

I thought of doing that, yes. I've only had or two messages from them so far, so I guess I wanted to see how it developed a little bit first. 

Do you think it is a red flag? Is there a legitimate reason to do this? 

[wlyonsatl]

There are lots of quirky people in the world - a fair few of them are Upwork clients.

Maybe they just don't like Upwork's pop-ups when they include the words "email" and "Skype" in their messages to you?

If they have a good reason, they shouldn't mind telling you.

[barney53]

Cheers Will, very true. 

That's what I'll do. 

[petra_r]

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Barney H wrote:

What concerns me is that the client breaks up the words - when they say skype, they type it 'sk.ype' and when they type email they type it 'ema.il'. This says to me that they are trying to avoid some kind of autodetection within the chat, and the only reason I can see for that is if they plan to draw me into the subversion of ToS or similarly dodgy behaviour.

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They do it because they are sick of the pop ups that happen when they type it out.

There is NO reason not to talk to clients on skype or email at all. It is not forbidden and most clients (and many freelancers) much prefer it.

[barney53 · Accepted solution]

Thanks, that’s really helpful.