Low Activity While on A Call

[3bc53a90]

I had a client dispute my hours and .83 hours showed low activity and was refunded.  I'm confident that this was time that I spent on the phone with the client.  So now I have not been properly paid for my time.  How on earth do we show "activity" when we are on the phone discussing the project with the client?  This seems incredibly unfair.

[prestonhunter]

It is not fair.

But this client played by the rules.

In the future, click your mouse frequently or type notes in order to maintain sufficient activity levels.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Preston H wrote:

In the future, click your mouse frequently or type notes in order to maintain sufficient activity levels.

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Typing notes is good, but you won't qualify for payment protection if you're just clicking your mouse and the screen captures don't show any work progressing.

[28425c32]

No not really, they're screwing her out of work time. That said, she should have made all the contact through Upwork per the TOS so it can be proven. 

[prestonhunter]

re: "No not really, they're screwing her out of work time. That said, she should have made all the contact through Upwork per the TOS so it can be proven."

Yes.

They are.

Nevertheless, the client has not violated any Upwork rules. The freelancer has no way to get the money for that time. What remains is for the freelancer to understand the rules and the mechanics of the tool, and do better next time.

[28425c32]

She's following the rules also. She took a client phone call. That's allowed per the TOS (I stand corrected). There should be a way to apepal this through Upwork, though this would be easier to do if she created a time clock envtry specifically for the call.

[prestonhunter]

The freelancer IS indeed following the rules.

But her action was insufficient to get paid for that time.

She may choose to DO WHAT I DO to ensure that I get paid during calls. Or she may choose to NOT adjust her behavior and thus potentially be treated unfairly.

You said that there should be a way to appeal through Upwork.

But there is no way to appeal this through Upwork.

[3bc53a90]

I did create a timeclock entry specifically for the call.  The memo even said I was on a call.

[3bc53a90]

I followed all the "rules".  Randomly clicking on a computer is not work, it's not accomplishing anything which is the point of the "activity tracker".   The call is the work - I'm consulting.  Going forward, I will just not take any calls longer than 10 minutes and take my services to other platforms.

[28425c32]

Unless it was a call through Upwork or an Enterprise client, phone calls are against the TOS, aren't they? All communication has to be through Upwork.

[3bc53a90]

Per the TOS, after you accept the contract, you can have communication outside of Upwork including sharing email addresses and phone numbers.  But that's only after the contract has started.  This call was made after the contract started so no violation here by making the call.  It just means the client got my consultation services for free because I didn't multitask and work on my computer while consulting the client on the phone.

[28425c32]

Ah I must have mis-remembered this. Did you create a seperate time long in the Upwork hour tracker thing for the phone call? Documenting evert step of the process is so important.

[3bc53a90]

Yes.  I had separate time logged and the memo said "Call with client to discuss balance sheet discrepancies".  I don't even think they read the memo to be honest.  Just checked that all my time had memos and docked me for the screenshots that had "low activity".  Of course, the decision is final, case closed, nothing I can do to disupute it.

[28425c32]

It seems like there should be a way to appeal this with Upwork then. It's ridiculous that every action has to have typing or mouse clicks associated with it. For instance, when I color grade video ofotage, I'm usinga hardware interface and my hands 90% of the time, not a keyboard or mouse at all.

[6bfcdaf8]

I think the problem here is "client disputing the hours". Before disputing them a rational step would be to contact the freelancer. I believe they disputed the whole week and upwork just returned the low activity portion. So client does not care if you talked on the phone, they are just not happy with the amount of total hours they are charged.

In my personal opinion the effort should be spent towards making sure the clients wont feel the need to dispute the hours ever. Keeping communication channels open, letting them know what kind of cost to expect, frequently updating them about the actual costs can be some potential actions.

I can also completely relate to the OP because the mentioned time period is actually worked time and it feels unfair to return that amount.