How do I back out of an assignment that was never contracted?

[1d87f573]

I got an assignment from someone, there has been no contract set up and I want to back out of the assignment. What do I do or how do I do it?

[petra_r]

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Luis L wrote:

I got an assignment from someone, there has been no contract set up and I want to back out of the assignment. What do I do or how do I do it?

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If there is no contract, there is really nothing. Nothing to back out of and you can just stop communicating.

When you say that you "got an assignment from someone", what do you mean?

[1d87f573 · Accepted solution]

There was a posting in Upwork asking for a personal assistant. I responded since it sounded pretty general and I didn't have any other work at the time; she wanted me to post real estate ads on Facebook and Zumper. I told the "client" we needed to have a contract to which she responded that she had already told me she would be paying me every 2 weeks.

I also asked if she had an Upwork account. She didn't give a straight response. Seems to not be kosher. I'll just stop communicating, like you said. Thanks.

[wescowley]

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Luis L wrote:

There was a posting in Upwork asking for a personal assistant. I responded since it sounded pretty general and I didn't have any other work at the time; she wanted me to post real estate ads on Facebook and Zumper. I told the "client" we needed to have a contract to which she responded that she had already told me she would be paying me every 2 weeks.

I also asked if she had an Upwork account. She didn't give a straight response. Seems to not be kosher. I'll just stop communicating, like you said. Thanks.

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If there was a job posting and you're communicating via Upwork, she has an Upwork account. But yes, either she just doesn't know how Upwork works or it's a bit fishy. 

[1d87f573]

Thanks, Wes.

[colettelewis]

 Luis,

Unless the client hires you with an official Upwork contract, there is nothing to back out from. So don't do any work for this client until she complies with Upwork's rules and regs, as you are not likely to get paid. 

[prestonhunter]

I believe there are only two possibilities here:

The client is ignorant of how to use Upwork properly, and even after prompting by the freelancer has been unable to figure out basics that millions of other clients were able to figure out.

Or the client is feigning ignorance and trying to trick the freelancer into working for free.

Whether or not the client is ignorant or lying, it seems impossible to get paid. So I will stop wasting my time with her.