JSS and ended contracts

[brian_pinaire]

I had a contract that ended about 8 weeks ago (after only being in place for less than a day) because the client suddenly wanted me to do something different from what we agreed to in our messaging during the "interview" stage. The agreement to part ways was cordial, no money was exchanged, and there was no feedback by either party. As I understand the way the JSS process works, however, it seems like this has negatively affected me. Is that right? If so, is there anything I can do? Do I have any recourse here--other than just waiting it out? It doesn't seem fair that her sudden change in intention should bring down my number. 

[felicedellagatta]

Hello Brian,

I see that you are doing great on the platform.

It is fair because we, the freelancers have the responsibility to make sure that expectations are realistic and the project scope clear. Sometimes we just stumble upon some bipolar clients but that's not the norm.

Anyway, this is not a big issue. You don't have many contracts under your belt that's why you had such a drop in your jss.

Unfortunately there's not much you can do now other than wait for the next jss update and keep delivering remarkable service.

You'll recover soon.

[brian_pinaire]

"It is fair because we, the freelancers have the responsibility to make sure that expectations are realistic and the project scope clear."

Maybe we're working with different defnitions of fair, but this process doesn't seem right to me. At least not as applied to my case. The client described the job as "rephrasing" an article manuscript (I do mostly academic work), which seemed fine, because I do that all the time. We went back and forth and she gave no reason to indicate it was anything other than that: taking something she had done and making it better. After I accepted, she suddenly revealed that, no, it wasn't rephrasing her own work; what she wanted was for me to take someone else's article and put it into different words so she could call it her own. Plagiarism, in other words. I said "no way," politely, and the contract was ended. Again, it doesn't seem fair to punish me for not doing something that she didn't say she wanted done and that I wouldn't (and shouldn't) have done even if she had said that's what she wanted. In a perverse way, I'd be better off if I had done something wholly unethical just to tally another contract and thus feed the JSS in my favor. And that seems very, very wrong to me. - Brian

[felicedellagatta]

If client asked for plagiarism, and you can prove it maybe support can help. Try opening a ticket or wait for a moderator to chime in.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Brian,

I`m sorry about the inconvenience this had caused you. Fell free to provide evidence about this to us moderators via PM, or submit it via ticket to our customer support. Our team will investigate this further and proper actions will be taken.

[cylver1z]

Hello Brian,

In addition to Felice's reply. You may also read this article to help you know the things that may affect your JSS and how to improve it. Thanks!

[cdstallcup]

Brian, I feel your pain. I was top rated until I found myself in the middle of a rather large job that was being managed by someone different, with different expectations, every week. I could tell it wasn't going well, but I couldn't locate anyone to answer questions or give direction. In the end, I suspect someone blamed the project failure on me to cover themselves. I've been slowly working to get my top rated status back for ten weeks.
I've become super picky about taking clients. Mostly, I look at their ratings, and I also look at whether they consistently leave feedback for the freelancer. I try to do shorter contracts, so if things start getting iffy, I can just not accept the next contract, rather than end up in the middle of a big job knowing it could end in a bad review.
I wish you the best in getting your score up! It can be done - I'm creeping up a little higher every week, and I hope you do, too.
Denise

[tlsanders]

Denise, if you were top rated until one contract tanked you, you should have been able to use the top-rated perk to remove that feedback from your JSS calculation and restore your score.

[cdstallcup]

Tiffany, it was the hidden feedback, I suspect - I had great feedback and comments, and just a couple of "no feedback" contracts. And could you clarify - I thought when a Top Rated had feedback removed, it still calculated into their JSS? Is that the case?

Denise

[tlsanders]

Denise, if you use the top rated perk you can remove the job from your calculation. It is when you issue a full refund that the public feedback disappears but the JSS impact remains.

[petra_r]

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@Denise S wrote:

. And could you clarify - I thought when a Top Rated had feedback removed, it still calculated into their JSS? Is that the case?

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 The whole point of the perk is to exclude the contract from the JSS calculation. Removing the physical feedback is only an optional extra.

If a contract takes you out of the top rated percentage you have 14 day to have it excluded, afterwards it is too late,

[richard_wein]

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@Petra R wrote:

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The whole point of the perk is to exclude the contract from the JSS calculation. Removing the physical feedback is only an optional extra.

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 Physical feedback? You mean like a bunch of roses (good) or a slap in the face (bad)? 

[tlbp]

Any contract will have an impact on JSS, whether funds changed hands or not. However, there are limits to how much damage a single contract can do. Obviously, the more separate contracts you have, the less the power of each one. So, landing more gigs (and having positive outcomes) can help diffuse the effect of a single bad gig.  

For open contracts, refunds and other non-normal outcomes, the key is to not have a series of them. Also, the absence of repeat clients won't negatively affect your score. However, the presence of repeat clients will have  a positive effect. So, it can be beneficial to take a gig from a past client if the opportunity arises. (Use the filters in Job Search to locate past clients' new gigs.)