Solved: Dispute with a client

akansha89 · ‎04-25-2021

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tlbp · ‎04-25-2021

Akansha A wrote:
I understand that he might be feeling disappointed, but I at least deserved a chance to make corrections, if at all I was wrong?

A lot of freelancers make this assumption but it not true. When you enter into a contract, the client has a right to assume that the work will meet a certain level of quality. If it does not, they are not obligated to give you a chance to fix it. They have every right to simply say, "This did not meet my standards and I reject it."

If someone prepares a terrible meal for you at a restaurant, you might choose to send it back and ask for something else or you might decide you no longer trust the chef and leave. You aren't obligated to keep sampling bad cooking.

If you had an hourly contract and correctly tracked your time, you would be paid for your efforts. For a fixed price contract, you can dispute their assessment and try to prove that you met each of their stated criteria. However, when the determination of quality is subjective, you may be unsuccessful.

View solution in original post

petra_r · ‎04-25-2021

Akansha A wrote:
I sent a proposal telling that I will fulfil the same and will achieve the Grammarly score of a minimum of 98-99. I worked on the content, made all the necessary changes and made the score reach 99.

Grammarly is a nightmare and puts more mistakes into a text than it takes out.

A text with a Grammarly score of 99% can be complete word-salad.

It's a bit like a translator sending in a google-translation.

Akansha A wrote:
I understand that he might be feeling disappointed, but I at least deserved a chance to make corrections, if at all I was wrong?

If the client was under the impression that the work wasn't salvageable no matter what you tried, they likely wanted to cut their losses, pay you something and find someone else.

Many clients would have just paid you and then not used the work, but some will dispute sub-par work.

Akansha A wrote:
I have raised a dispute but want to understand- how can I prove the quality of my work in this case or any other case?

How much money are we talking about? It's $ 30, right? Nobody will "decide" the quality of your work because neither you nor your client will be wanting to pay $291 to go to arbitration.

akansha89 · ‎04-25-2021

Hi Petra,

I am not dependable on Grammarly but was using it to convince the client about the quality of my work. I was responsible for proofreading and editing content, so the client questioning my language skills makes no sense.

Anyway, I guess that's how things work. Thank you for responding :).

Thanks,

Akansha **Edited for Community Guidelines**

petra_r · ‎04-25-2021

Akansha A wrote:
I am not dependable on Grammarly but was using it to convince the client about the quality of my work.

Grammarly does not show quailty, let alone convince anyone of it.

It is entirely possible to have a very high Grammarly score and the material to be in terrible English.

Akansha A wrote:
I was responsible for proofreading and editing content, so the client questioning my language skills makes no sense.

Why doesn't it make any sense? Because Grammarly says so?

akansha89 · ‎04-25-2021

Exactly Petra, That was my initial question- How can I prove that the quality of my content is good?

I have worked for many clients (outside Upwork too) and had no issues with any of them. I might not be the best but I am definitely not the worst.

I am trying to find a solution for the future and not peeping into what went wrong in this project.

petra_r · ‎04-25-2021

Akansha A wrote:
Exactly Petra, That was my initial question- How can I prove that the quality of my content is good?

As I explained, there won't be anyone judging if your content is good in mediation. That would only become a factor if it came to arbitration, which won't happen in this case.

But the English language has certain rules, so it really isn't true to say that deciding whether some content is good or bad is objective. Mistakes and poor writing are mistakes and poor writing. That is not really objective as such.

The problem is that non-native speakers of a language aren't generally in the best position to assess their own level of work.

You may want to add a few more portfolio items which demonstrate the quality of your writing, which is unfortunately something your current and only portfolio item doesn't.

feed_my_eyes · ‎04-25-2021

Akansha, there are several errors in your profile and in your posts, so it doesn't look like you can depend on Grammarly for proof of the quality of your work. A solution for the future might be to work with a native English-speaker who can proofread your work before you send it to clients.

Also, I find it very odd that your profile overview says your content is informative "for humans" - who else would be reading your work? Animals? Vampires? Martians? You might want to take that out.

akansha89 · ‎04-25-2021

Hi Christina,

For humans was just written for fun. It meant that the content is not just for machines (SEO purpose). I will revisit the profile and make changes to it. Anyway, it was not passed through Grammarly.

akansha89 · ‎04-25-2021

To anyone visiting this post and wants to find further mistakes in my work:

I do not charge $100-$150 for re-doing a 1000 words article on a Sunday. My profile and post reflect exactly what I can deliver.

It is a fact that people with a high budget do not hire non-native people like me. With low-budget, this is what a client should expect.

I was hoping to find some solution here but clearly, I have made a mistake. I am really sorry for putting up the post in the hope to find a solution. I am trying to work here in order to make some money. That was the reason I worked for 3 hours on a Sunday just to make $40 (that was CLIENT'S BUDGET). Please do not respond and make things worse for me if you can't help me with the original question. Just because I am not the best doesn't mean I do not have the right to work, ask questions or speak up when I feel the client did wrong.

feed_my_eyes · ‎04-25-2021

Akansha A wrote:
Just because I am not the best doesn't mean I do not have the right to work, ask questions or speak up when I feel the client did wrong.

No one is saying that, and I did try to offer you a solution - find someone to collaborate with who can proofread your work.

And I absolutely agree that clients with low budgets shouldn't demand perfect work. Unfortunately, it's often the clients with the very lowest budgets who have unreasonable expectations and are the most difficult to please.

petra_r · ‎04-25-2021

Akansha A wrote:
It is a fact that people with a high budget do not hire non-native people like me..

The problem is that this is not what you promise. You promise clients native level work on your profile.

The trick is to underpromise and overdeliver, not the other way around. There is no point promising one thing and then blaming the client for being disappointed when they didn't get what they were promised.

tlbp · ‎04-25-2021

Akansha A wrote:
I understand that he might be feeling disappointed, but I at least deserved a chance to make corrections, if at all I was wrong?

A lot of freelancers make this assumption but it not true. When you enter into a contract, the client has a right to assume that the work will meet a certain level of quality. If it does not, they are not obligated to give you a chance to fix it. They have every right to simply say, "This did not meet my standards and I reject it."

If someone prepares a terrible meal for you at a restaurant, you might choose to send it back and ask for something else or you might decide you no longer trust the chef and leave. You aren't obligated to keep sampling bad cooking.

If you had an hourly contract and correctly tracked your time, you would be paid for your efforts. For a fixed price contract, you can dispute their assessment and try to prove that you met each of their stated criteria. However, when the determination of quality is subjective, you may be unsuccessful.