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penmight
Community Member

Losing Rising Talent Status Over Reporting An Unresponsive Client

Hello. My name's Matthew. I joined Upwork about a month ago and I'm still trying to get my bearings. Anyway, a couple of days ago, I met a client who told me she was interested in her work. First, she had me do a short article as a sample of my work. I did. She said she was interested and then sent me a contract to write two more articles, promising it would be a daily affair. I delivered the articles but days went by and she wouldn't confirm the payment. I message her, simply thinking she probably just forgot but she wouldn't reply. In retrospect, I realise I should not have done this after I came to this forum and saw how freelancers handled matters like that. I also saw found out here that even though I'd get paid after 14 days, there were demerits to leaving a contract open. So after about 9 days, I messaged Upwork about an unresponsive client. She replied my messages barely an hour after that, saying she had completety forgotten about the contract, approved payment, told me my services would no longer be required and eventually ended the contract. She gave me a 4 star with no feedback. I thought that was that until I checked my profile today to find that I'd lost Rising Talent status. I've read up on that here as well and I'm well aware it's not the end of the world. However, I think it truly unfair that this had to happen. How does one respond ideally to the scenario above? Situations like this will inevitably occur but no one party, freelancer or client should be dealt with this way and. Again, for future reference, what should I do if I find myself in a similar position?
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Matthew O wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my earlier query. I understand that reporting the client as unresponsive might have been a bit much, especially after only a little time had passed. I also know that 9 days isn't enough to ruin a good rating. However, be it in nine days or nine months, this particular outcome would still have been unavoidable. She had forgotten she had a contract with me after only a few days. She's not likely to suddenly remember the contract after months have passed. I was trying to avoid that eventuality of letting the contract just lie there. That was what prompted my action. So in the future, even though there's that high probability I won't ever hear from a particular client again, am I supposed to just leave the contract be?

You would have been soo much better served not getting upwork to poke this client. An open contract does not hurt you, and even if you close it after a few months and get no feedback, it does not hurt you. 

Not being able to wait for 14 days and poking a client does hurt you. Annoying a client and getting 4 stars does hurt you. You need to start thinking a bit more strategically to grow your upwork career.

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13 REPLIES 13
versailles
Community Member

Losing Rising Talent Status Over Reporting An Unresponsive Client

 

I think someone should add that one here:

 

https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

 

 

 

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless
colettelewis
Community Member

Matthew, 

 

The 4/5 may have lost you the rising talent badge, but it may also be that as you have had a number of contracts, you are likely to get a JSS soon, which means that you would automatically lose the RT badge.  

 

As for your client, I know that sort of cavalier attitude can burn, but she will soon be history as you get more work. 

 

 

Thank you for your candor.

Matthew, you are misinformed - an idle contract with no money paid will NOT affect your JSS if only 9 days have gone by; it takes months for that to happen. There was no need to report your client. Next time, just wait the 14 days and the payment will be released.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my earlier query. I understand that reporting the client as unresponsive might have been a bit much, especially after only a little time had passed. I also know that 9 days isn't enough to ruin a good rating. However, be it in nine days or nine months, this particular outcome would still have been unavoidable. She had forgotten she had a contract with me after only a few days. She's not likely to suddenly remember the contract after months have passed. I was trying to avoid that eventuality of letting the contract just lie there. That was what prompted my action. So in the future, even though there's that high probability I won't ever hear from a particular client again, am I supposed to just leave the contract be?
petra_r
Community Member


Matthew O wrote:
 However, be it in nine days or nine months, this particular outcome would still have been unavoidable. 

The outcome (poor feedback, lost RT status, dinged JSS) was not unavoidable.

 

The client had not forgotten that she had a contract with you. It's much more likely that she didn't particularly like your work and was avoiding a confrontation or unpleasant situation. She marked you a 3 for both quality and skills. That means that she did not like what you produced. She hired someone else to replace you. She still needed the work done, but did not want you to be the one doing it.

 

You submitted the work, you'd have been paid after 14 days, and the contract would have been rendered forever harmless.


After a few weeks or even months you could have just closed it yourself. It would not have harmed your profile or your future JSS.


If a client avoids you, there is usually a reason. In such a case, just leaving the contract and then, eventually, closing it yourself would have been a far better technique and far less harmful.

 

Harassing the client and then reporting her and forcing her to end the contract resulted in the situation you now find yourself in.

penmight
Community Member

I considered what you just wrote as a possible reason for the less than perfect review. One reason I think it's wrong however is due to the fact that she sent a contract to pay for the work I did after she has seen it, not before. Besides, she saw the extent of my skill before giving me the details on her job. A client has a duty to be as precise as possible with instructions to freelancer just a freelancer needs to always be able to meet the bar set by the client. All individuals, freelancer or client are entitled to their opinion. I have no qualms with that. I've learned my lesson though. Wait out the 14-day period and move on. Funnily enough, I got RT back and I'm not at all certain what I did to lose it in the first place now. This whole situation just seems less than ideal.

I considered what you just wrote as a possible reason for the less than perfect review. One reason I think it's wrong though is due to the fact that she sent a contract to pay for the work I had done after she had seen it, not before. If she wanted to quietly fade into the night, leaving before even sending a contract would have been the perfect way to do so. Besides, she saw the extent of my skill before giving me the details on her job. A client has a duty to be as precise as possible with instructions to a hired freelancer just as freelancers need to always be able to meet the bar set by the client. All individuals, freelancer or client are entitled to their opinion. I have no qualms with that. I've learned my lesson though. Wait out the 14-day period and move on. However, I'd rather know I didn't do well so I can work on myself then go on blissfully ignorant when someone could've actually given a useful opinion on something costing you money. I got RT back and I'm not at all certain what I did to lose it in the first place now. This whole situation just seems less than ideal.
petra_r
Community Member


Matthew O wrote:
I considered what you just wrote as a possible reason for the less than perfect review. One reason I think it's wrong though is due to the fact that she sent a contract to pay for the work I had done after she had seen it, 

Really? The client gave you 3 stars for quality and skills, and replaced you with another freelancer.

What more do you need to be convinced that the client didn't like your work?

Who "forgets" that they hired a freelancer? (Hint: Not someone who only hired once previously, and not shortly after hiring. What are you saying here, that the client has very advanced dementia?)

tlbp
Community Member


Matthew O wrote:
I considered what you just wrote as a possible reason for the less than perfect review. One reason I think it's wrong however is due to the fact that she sent a contract to pay for the work I did after she has seen it, not before. Besides, she saw the extent of my skill before giving me the details on her job. A client has a duty to be as precise as possible with instructions to freelancer just a freelancer needs to always be able to meet the bar set by the client. All individuals, freelancer or client are entitled to their opinion. I have no qualms with that. I've learned my lesson though. Wait out the 14-day period and move on. Funnily enough, I got RT back and I'm not at all certain what I did to lose it in the first place now. This whole situation just seems less than ideal.

Dude, you can either learn how the system works and work with it or continue arguing about how you imagine the system should work. Upwork is what it is and you aren't going to change that by making up your own rules as you go along. The feedback service platforms publish is not intended to help you improve, it is intended to inform potential customers about your current abilities. It is up to you to find ways to develop as a professional and then present your skills to the world. 


Matthew O wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my earlier query. I understand that reporting the client as unresponsive might have been a bit much, especially after only a little time had passed. I also know that 9 days isn't enough to ruin a good rating. However, be it in nine days or nine months, this particular outcome would still have been unavoidable. She had forgotten she had a contract with me after only a few days. She's not likely to suddenly remember the contract after months have passed. I was trying to avoid that eventuality of letting the contract just lie there. That was what prompted my action. So in the future, even though there's that high probability I won't ever hear from a particular client again, am I supposed to just leave the contract be?

You would have been soo much better served not getting upwork to poke this client. An open contract does not hurt you, and even if you close it after a few months and get no feedback, it does not hurt you. 

Not being able to wait for 14 days and poking a client does hurt you. Annoying a client and getting 4 stars does hurt you. You need to start thinking a bit more strategically to grow your upwork career.

Thank you for this. I'll keep it in mind.

Yes, precisely, if you reported your client when the 14 days-period, is which can affect you. I understand you, that one don't precisely start freelancing with a year of money under the roof, but this is the way the system in. Also get your patience for when you withdraw money and it delays to come in,

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