Freelancer wanting to end a contract & avoid drop in JSS

[kaylietruong]

Hi Upwork community,

I recently started working on a contract & found out the scope of work is too much & the deadline is too tight for me to handle. Even if I tried to work full-time on this, I wouldn't be able to meet the deadline (job accepted night 6/21; deadline 6/30; deliverables are 14 audio transcripts with translations; each of these translations/ transcripts takes me ~6 hours to make). I've completed & get paid for 1 milestone & halfway through the second one. But at this point, I just want to drop the contract. I don't mind giving away the files I've sent for the second milestone. I'm just worried ending the contract this way would affect my JSS.

I read that Top Rated freelancers get to request feedback removal. Is this a sure-fire way to keep my current JSS & not have it affected by the looming negative review for this contract? 

Thanks a lot for reading this.

Ngoc

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Ngoc T wrote:

I read that Top Rated freelancers get to request feedback removal. Is this a sure-fire way to keep my current JSS & not have it affected by the looming negative review for this contract? 

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It is. But don't use the perk until you know what, if any, impact the contract will have on your JSS. You can only use the perk rarely, don't waste it. 

If you apologize to the client, send him the files you have done so far, and then close the contract yourself, the client may not leave any feedback at all.

In future, don't let that happen to you again. Check out the source files carefully before you accept a contract and do a sample (for your own scoping purposes) if you're unsure.

[kaylietruong]

Thanks so much for the informative response Petra. For now I'll wait to see what feedback the client would leave on this contract before continuing.

Actually the client didn't give any previews of the source files/ specify the work's length. The files were only revealed after the contract offer was accepted. I'll pay attention to this in future jobs.

[jr-translation]

In addition to what Petra said, you should consider what went wrong.
You agreed to deliver 14 transcripts with translations within 9 days. This means 1.5 files per day
After 8 days you deilvered 1 file and are halfway through the second. In other words it took you 8 days to complete one day worth of work.

When did you realise that you were behind schedule? Did you have a schedule to start with?

The client's feedback might be based on the damage caused due to the delay.

[kaylietruong]

Thanks Jennifer for the response. Yes this delay was due to my full-time job. I will take this into account with later contracts. Thanks again for the help!