I can’t wrap my head around this one, can you?

[feliciaoates158]

To cut it short (and straight to the heart)

Proposal, discuss details, offer accepted (hourly contract), document to translate received. Less than 2 hours later the "client" says: "Hold on the translation". Less than an hour later he pauses the contract, this time saying, "Waiting for funds to clear".  So I pause too and don’t start and I let him know.

The next day early morning, after asking the “client” for news (tight deadline)… nothing… but crickets and a notification that the contract was closed (canceled by the client).

Now I am asked to leave feedback and after reaching out to Upwork Customer Support (I gag every time I need to contact these guys, sorry!) I learn that (and I quote) a contract with no earnings will not show in my work history BUT every job that I start counts towards my Job Success Score – now this is a catch 22. How come that a “client” can create an offer, cancel it and walk away like this… and the professionals busting their (you know what) see an impact on their own success metrics? This is ridiculous and unfair, to say the least.  

Is this a system limitation?

Did this slip through the cracks?

Is this intentional?

(sorry for the venting!)

[m_sharman]

Unfortunately, this is how the system works.

Much of the advice you will receive is to not accept any job until you have some materials to begin. It varies by client, but typically my clients provide me with an initial draft or scope of work before I accept an offer. 

I'm sorry about this. The way the system works here, I believe it's designed to prevent abuse by freelancers, but it has the unintended consquence of hurting professional freelancers who accept a job with every intent to begin work.

One question - did they have a verified payment method prior to your accepting the offer? If they did, and Upwork had to suspend their payment method immediately following, you might be able to push back on this job impacting your JSS. 

Edited to add: If the client is willing to pay a small bonus, say $5, that is enough to remove the negative impact of the JSS. 

[prestonhunter]

Felicia:

Whether it is fair or not, now you know.

So from now on, you can do what I do:

Do not accept an hourly contract until you have enough information about the project to work for at least ten minutes.

Then, as soon as you accept the contract, work at least ten minutes.

Then you will never face having a zero-pay contract.

[feliciaoates158]

I really appreciate your help and suggestions, Miriam, but I do work on a daily basis with Elance/oDesk/Upwork for over a decade 🙂 your suggestions make perfect sense to someone who just started freelancing or working for that matter, which is definitely not the case here.

Answering your questions:

- The "client" created his profile early this February, has projects awarded and a few reviews for poor communication, nothing impressive nor scary.

- The "client" went rogue and mute. I'm sure he got all the people he needed and realized that he no longer needed an additional translator, hence the contract quick "pause and cancel" stunt.

- I received the materials to translate and had discussed all project details prior to accepting the offer.

- The "client" paused shortly after the contract, not Upwork.

My question remains: Why does my JSS (or any Upworkers JSS) should be impacted when I use correctly the platform and the client is the one who clearly misuses/abuses the system?

I'm Top Rated since day 1 of the program, a 5-star freelancer for all the years prior to the program, and I bring consistently money to the platform. I shouldn't have to use a Perk to remove JSS impact of a Ghost Offer. In this case, if anyone has to be "punished" is the client, never the Upworker. Right?

[petra_r]

---

Felicia O wrote:

I shouldn't have to use a Perk to remove JSS impact of a Ghost Offer. In this case, if anyone has to be "punished" is the client, never the Upworker. Right?

---

But that is exactly what the perk is designed to protect you from (bad clients.) It's not there so we can mess up a contract every 3 months with impunity 😉

You had so many contracts, the impact of this contract on your JSS (if any) will be minimal. Wait and see what happens before deciding whether using the perk is worthwhile.

[feliciaoates158]

---

Petra R wrote:

---

Felicia O wrote:

I shouldn't have to use a Perk to remove JSS impact of a Ghost Offer. In this case, if anyone has to be "punished" is the client, never the Upworker. Right?

---

But that is exactly what the perk is designed to protect you from (bad clients.) It's not there so we can mess up a contract every 3 months with impunity 😉

You had so many contracts, the impact of this contract on your JSS (if any) will be minimal. Wait and see what happens before deciding whether using the perk is worthwhile.

---

My thoughts, Petra. But more than the impact on my JSS, is the principle of the whole thing and the fact that pretty much every single feature is buggy. So why trust the "infamous" algorithm?

Deep down I'm just upset for not seing this coming and at the same learning that Upwork doesnt have our back.

[lysis10]

OP, this has happened to me where the client and I went back and forth on hourly rate. She accepted my rate, sent me an offer and then immediately paused it saying she needs to get it approved. -_-

So even if you start a contract knowing you can bill on it, the client can still do these things before you are able to work on it. Not everyone can drop what they are doing to charge 10 minutes on a contract. Some of us are making money on other contracts.

If you are top rated, I would probably hold out on the perk to see the damage. If I stayed above 94%, I'd probably just leave it. I like to save the perk for disasters like screamers.

[feliciaoates158]

It sucks right? I'll do just that but I hope Upwork looks into this. It's potentially harmful and flawed.

[prestonhunter]

re: "She accepted my rate, sent me an offer and then immediately paused it saying she needs to get it approved"

Wow. That is a real dirtbag move.

Fortunately I think something like that is extremely rare.