Dispute with Client? Need opinion please!

[ctabo]

Hello Upwork Community!

I have a scenario and wanted to get some opinions as to who's in the wrong here. I will also do some screenshots of my conversation with the client.

So, I did a test piece for the client, she came back with the below email asking for a refund. As far as I know, all trials are to be paid for, even if they are not acceptable to the client's standards, correct? What are your opinions on this? Should I dispute? Honestly, I could care less for $30, but it's the principles I am after. Any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated!

***EDIT with email with client***

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[a_lipsey]

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Cherlaine T wrote:

Hello Upwork Community!

I have a scenario and wanted to get some opinions as to who's in the wrong here. I will also do some screenshots of my conversation with the client.

So, I did a test piece for the client, she came back with the below email asking for a refund. As far as I know, all trials are to be paid for, even if they are not acceptable to the client's standards, correct? What are your opinions on this? Should I dispute? Honestly, I could care less for $30, but it's the principles I am after. Any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Cherlaine

**Edited for community guidelines**

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Cherlaine, the screenshots were deleted bc they were against the community guidelines. Can you paraphrase what the client said? Was the job labeled as a trial or test? 

[ctabo]

Yes! I just noticed the screen shots didn't show up, I will paraphrase as an edit in my original post. Thanks for noticing! And, no it was not originally labeled as a test/trial. It was just assumed so as a first milestone the client created.

[JoanneP]

Hi Cherlaine,

I can see that our team already assisted you with your concern. If you need further assistance, please feel free to update the ticket, and our team will be happy to assist you further. 

[ctabo]

Hi Joanne, the team assisted me in letting me know of my options to dispute or not. I just wanted to know if I am wrong in my understanding of what's considered best practice in this situation, in which the team member could not answer for me. I wanted to see if I could get an opinion as to what I should do. Thank you.

Cherlaine

[petra_r]

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Cherlaine T wrote:

. I wanted to see if I could get an opinion as to what I should do. T

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You need to choose what you want to choose. I wouldn't dispute if the client is right and guidelines were not followed exactly. In other words: If the guidelines said "write in present tense" and you wrote in past tense (or vice versa), that means the submitted work was not what was requested. 

I think the client is on the mean side to not want to pay you for the trial contract, but on the other hand, knowing that it was a trial, wouldn't it have been a good idea to follow any guidelines literally to the letter? 

Cherlaine T wrote:

I am wondering though if I were to dispute, could she potentially leave me a bad review?

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As she only left private feedback so far, yes, if you ended up getting paid she could leave public feedback as well.

[prestonhunter]

Cherlaine:

The client is very wrong.

Whether you should dispute is another question.

You should do what is best for YOU,

You are not under any obligation to do something to defend a principle. Or to teach this client a lesson.

You have completed 72 jobs and have 100% JSS.

You certainly do not need this client's approval.

If you want to keep the money, then do so.

If you want to simply refund the money and be done with her, then do so.

If you want to meet the client part way, then you could do that. Tell her:

"Geraldine, I saw a request for a refund. It is not normally my policy to grant refunds. But for the sake of expediency, if you would like a $10 refund, I can do that immediately. Otherwise, I would need to decline any refund requests."

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Preston H wrote:

Cherlaine:

But for the sake of expediency, if you would like a $10 refund, I can do that immediately. Otherwise, I would need to decline any refund requests."

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The money is in escrow. The only choices she has is to accept the request to return the escrow funds or to dispute.

Personally, I don't think $30 is worth the hassle of a fully blown dispute. I (again, personally) probably wouldn't bother. Or I might click on the dispute button in the hope that the client won't bother to go through with it.

[ctabo]

Petra, you are right. It's totally not worth it. But, I feel like it would help future writers that send a proposal to them? It's not my place to "teach" the client what's considered best practice, but also I feel like I should.

[ctabo]

Preston, thank you for affirming that I had the right idea when it comes to this situation. I am wondering though if I were to dispute, could she potentially leave me a bad review?

[prestonhunter]

She could potentially leave a bad review no matter what you do.

She could potentially leave a good review no matter what you do.

[prestonhunter]

Setting all this discussion of refunds aside, one thing should be very clear:

If I hire a freelancer to do a task for $30...

And then the freelancer does the task I asked her to do...

And then I ask the freelancer to refund that money back to me...

That is bad. That makes me a bad person.

Not to mention an incredibly cheap person.

[ctabo]

Thank you always! I have decided to just refund them the $30... not before I gave them a piece of my mind. In a very nice and professional way of course!

Case closed!

[petra_r]

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Preston H wrote:

She could potentially leave a bad review no matter what you do.

She could potentially leave a good review no matter what you do.

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That's nonsense. The contract is closed. Private feedback has already been left. The client can only leave public feedback if they are forced to pay, so that public feedback would obviously not be great, so the chance of "a good review" is slim to nil.

Unless the OP gets paid something under the contract, the client can't leave diddly squat (absolutely nothing at all) that she hasn't already left.

In other words, without a dispute the client can't now leave anything else, good or bad, at all.

Cherlaine T wrote:

It's not my place to "teach" the client what's considered best practice, but also I feel like I should.

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In all fairness, whilst it is "considered best practice" to pay freelancers even if the trial work was bad, some clients get fed up with paying for work that isn't what was asked for.  

No, it is not your place to teach clients what is best practice, but maybe take some lessons away from it for yourself, such as following guidelines and not submitting work that isn't what was asked for. 

[ctabo]

"No, it is not your place to teach clients what is best practice, but maybe take some lessons away from it for yourself, such as following guidelines and not submitting work that isn't what was asked for. "

They never had a guideline that specified what tense they wanted. They gave me an outline, and gave me a previous piece that another writer did. I followed it to the T (it was in present tense). 

[petra_r]

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Cherlaine T wrote:

They gave me an outline, and gave me a previous piece that another writer did. I followed it to the T (it was in present tense). 

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Ah. That's different then... Anyway, just not worth it for $30

[ctabo]

I agree!