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robin_hyman
Community Member

Help! Client cancelled contract instead of ending contract

Hi,

 

This week I started a project with a new client.  It was for a fixed price and he set it up as the fixed price for 1 hour of work.  I completed the work and manually entered my time into work diary.  After client was satisfied with my work, he "cancelled" instead of "closed" the contract.  

 

At first I didn't realize there was a difference so waited one day (today) and see my time and money is not added to my week's worth of work.  He's since asked me for some changes and I obliged.  As soon as I discovered what happened I took a screenshot of the cancelled page and sent it to him asking him to rectify.  Anything else I can do on my end?  I don't want this to affect my job score.

 

Thank you!

 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION


Robin H wrote:

Thanks for your reply.  It should have been a fixed price but he put it in as an hourly job, the agreed-upon fixed price for 1 hour of work.  How do I know if he disputed?  It was done so quickly I really think it was a mistake.  I have comunication with him on Upwork that wouldn't align with any disputes being made.  


Did you track one hour of time?

Or did you add one hour of manual time on your work diary?

 

In other words, is there an hour's worth of time in your work diary?

 

It is correct that hours for the current week can not be disputed, but the fact that the client canceled rather than closed the contract indicates that the OP failed to track or manually enter any time, hence the "no hours"

 

If that is the case, the client can just make a bonus payment for the agreed amount on the closed contract.

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18 REPLIES 18
lysis10
Community Member

You don't add time in an escrow job. But I assume you say this was hourly but you were only able to enter one hour. If he cancelled the contract and disputed the manual hours, you auto-lose. Use the tracker.

Yes it was an hourly job where he put the fixed rate for 1 hour of work.  I entered into the work diary tracker. He didn't cancel because there was a dispute.   He cancelled by mistake.  


Robin H wrote:

Yes it was an hourly job where he put the fixed rate for 1 hour of work.  I entered into the work diary tracker. He didn't cancel because there was a dispute.   He cancelled by mistake.  


ok, well, I've never been in a dispute over hourly time, so I can't say if you get a refund request or what. With escrow, you get a refund request.

 

I think the best thing to do is look in your reports to see if the hour is displayed in your "Work in Progress" section. If it is, then you should be ok provided the charge goes through on Monday. When clients dispute time, it's removed from your reports so then it wouldn't be there. However, reports seem to be updating slow since the maintenance update so if you don't see it in reports, go into your work diary and see if it's there. However, I'm not sure how it works with disputes and hourly and manual hours.

I went into the report and it is listed as a job but no hours or $'s attached. 😞 . I will reach out to Upwork directly.  Argh.  Thanks.


Robin H wrote:

I went into the report and it is listed as a job but no hours or $'s attached. 😞 . I will reach out to Upwork directly.  Argh.  Thanks.


ok, I would look in your work diary. It took over 12 hours for something to show in my reports, so I wouldn't panic yet. Unfortunately, I've never been in an hourly dispute so I don't know these things from hands-on experience, and since manual time isn't protected I don't know how this works if a client cancels a contract. When escrow is cancelled, you get a refund request and then you go into mediation, but manual time is an auto-lose thing so I'm not sure if they send you anything. 

 

The hours would go into review next week, but since he cancelled I'm all sorts of not sure. Sorry. I think I would check your work diary though.

Can current week's hours be dispute? I thought during the current week you dispute last week's hours.


Elba A wrote:

Can current week's hours be dispute? I thought during the current week you dispute last week's hours.


Yeah I don't know because the contract was cancelled not closed. Not sure how that works since it's manual time. If reports weren't fubar'd at the moment, I'd say just go off of reports and if the hour is there then you're good.

emiguelina
Community Member


Robin H wrote:

Hi,

 

1) It was for a fixed price and he set it up as the fixed price for 1 hour of work.  2) I completed the work and manually entered my time into work diary. 

3) After client was satisfied with my work, he "cancelled" instead of "closed" the contract.  

 

At first I didn't realize there was a difference so waited one day (today) and see my time and money is not added to my week's worth of work.  He's since asked me for some changes and I obliged.  As soon as I discovered what happened I took a screenshot of the cancelled page and sent it to him asking him to rectify.  Anything else I can do on my end?  I don't want this to affect my job score.

 

Thank you!

 


1) There's no such thing, is either one or the other but not both.

2) It looks like it was an hourly contract, manual time is not protected, so he might have disputed, he won by default.

3) The result is the same, the contract is closed and nothing can be done.

 

If hourly, see here to see where is your money.

If fixed-price did you request payment thru milestone before the client closed the contract? Otherwise, you should have received a refund request, or he released the funds and it must be in pending tab.

Thanks for your reply.  It should have been a fixed price but he put it in as an hourly job, the agreed-upon fixed price for 1 hour of work.  How do I know if he disputed?  It was done so quickly I really think it was a mistake.  I have comunication with him on Upwork that wouldn't align with any disputes being made.  


Robin H wrote:

Thanks for your reply.  It should have been a fixed price but he put it in as an hourly job, the agreed-upon fixed price for 1 hour of work.  How do I know if he disputed?  It was done so quickly I really think it was a mistake.  I have comunication with him on Upwork that wouldn't align with any disputes being made.  


Did you track one hour of time?

Or did you add one hour of manual time on your work diary?

 

In other words, is there an hour's worth of time in your work diary?

 

It is correct that hours for the current week can not be disputed, but the fact that the client canceled rather than closed the contract indicates that the OP failed to track or manually enter any time, hence the "no hours"

 

If that is the case, the client can just make a bonus payment for the agreed amount on the closed contract.

Just spoke with Upwork and this was their solution too.  Looks like my hour I thought I logged in manually did not show up.  He can give me a bonus for the amount owed or start a new fixed price contract.  

 

Thank you!


Robin H wrote:

He can give me a bonus for the amount owed or start a new fixed price contract.  


NO NO NO

No "new contract!!"

That would render that "not-hourly-hourly-contract" a "nothing paid contract" and those are not good for your metrics. Avoid at any and all costs.

wlyonsatl
Community Member

Robin,

 

Aside from the facts of your current problem, you should never book manual time with any new client. They have no obligation whatsover to ever pay you for that time, even if Upwork tells you the client has "allowed" you to add manual time. 

Clients are billed and charged for manual time (if freelancers actually enter it 😉 ) in exactly the same way as tracked time.

Clients are under every obligation to pay for that manual time, just as they are under the obligation to pay for tracked time. If the client fails to pay for that manual (or tracked) time, their account gets suspended.

 

However, if a client fails to pay (= their payment method declines repeatedly,) Upwork will not pay the manual time to the freelancer out of their own pocket.

 

If clients dispute manual time (after they have paid it) they will win the dispute and get their money back.

If a client pulls a chargeback in the future, again manual time is not protected.

 

The end result, of course, is the same: Client is +/- 0 and the freelancer doesn't get paid, but it takes a dispute or an account suspension for the client to "not pay" for manual time.

 

 

Yes, Phyllis and Petra, I would book manual hours with the right clients in the right circumstances.

 

I would also give lilttle thought to running with scissors.

 

But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has never run before and never held a pair of scissors.

 

Horses for courses, as the English say.


Will L wrote:

Yes, Phyllis and Petra, I would book manual hours with the right clients in the right circumstances.

 

I would also give lilttle thought to running with scissors.

 

But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has never run before and never held a pair of scissors.


Very timely as I've just (10 minutes ago) cut myself.

 

We're on the same page with this, though.


Will L wrote:

Robin,

 

Aside from the facts of your current problem, you should never book manual time with any new client. They have no obligation whatsover to ever pay you for that time, even if Upwork tells you the client has "allowed" you to add manual time. 


True...unless you are a professional capable of sussing out professional clients and managing the projects and relationships successfully to earn several tens of thousands of dollars a year. Then you should go ahead. (I did, and do.) I've had two projects go sideways in three years on UW--one hourly and one fixed-price. In both instances, I got dinged on feedback but neither client tried to short me on the money. I know unscrupulous clients abound--on UW and off--but the beauty of UW is that each FL can use it as they see fit in accordance with their own business model and their clients' needs and preferences.


Phyllis G wrote:

Will L wrote:

Robin,

 

Aside from the facts of your current problem, you should never book manual time with any new client. They have no obligation whatsover to ever pay you for that time, even if Upwork tells you the client has "allowed" you to add manual time. 


True...unless you are a professional capable of sussing out professional clients and managing the projects and relationships successfully to earn several tens of thousands of dollars a year.


I get it that it seriously hurts when someone ends up not getting paid for manual (or any) time. But it happens (in the overall scheme of things) rarely.

 

The vast majority of manual hours are paid just fine, there just isn't the extra protection we get when using tracked time.

I also get using the tracker with a brand new client who has no track record or history. 

 

But there is no need for hysteria over manual time.  If manual time was really that dangerous, Upwork would probably have long got rid of it as they surely would not like all their nice revenue getting reversed and/or clients having to be suspended.

 

 

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