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bernardodebiase
Community Member

My Very First Client Is Ghosting Me

Hello, Upwork community!

To get clients as a freelance writer in American English language while being a foreigner can be hard. Some clients will just shut the door for the mere fact someone doesn't have English as a mother tongue.

 

But I made it! Right before Christmas, I got my very first client, and I had a blast working for them. I finished the job right after the contract offer and sent it for approval. It got approved days after I posted, and I am trying to get feedback.

 

The issue here is: it's been days since the approval, but I still didn't get any feedback, positive or negative, and I am starting to get anxious. Did the client like it? Did he hate it? I have no clue!

 

So here are the questions:

1) in terms of Upwork etiquette, should I insist on getting anything out of this client, or should I accept the ghosting?

2) in hypothetical terms, if a client's thought on the result of your work mattered to you, would you go as far as offering a refund to know what he thinks about your job?

 

I am just a person in good faith that doesn't accept the fact that I don't know if my client is satisfied or not.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
tlsanders
Community Member

That is not "ghosting". The client has fulfilled his obligation by paying you. Sure, it would be nice if he said something to you, or better yet opted to close the contract and give you a rating, but he doesn't have to and you should not read anything into the fact that he didn't. The part he benefits from is over, and many clients simply take the work, pay for it, and move on. If the client is not satisfied, it is up to him to let you know.

 

Offering a refund when the client has made no complaint would be absurd and unprofessional, and if the client accepted and you made a full refund you would destroy your JSS before you ever get one. Just calm down, take the money, and look for your next job.

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4 REPLIES 4
tlsanders
Community Member

That is not "ghosting". The client has fulfilled his obligation by paying you. Sure, it would be nice if he said something to you, or better yet opted to close the contract and give you a rating, but he doesn't have to and you should not read anything into the fact that he didn't. The part he benefits from is over, and many clients simply take the work, pay for it, and move on. If the client is not satisfied, it is up to him to let you know.

 

Offering a refund when the client has made no complaint would be absurd and unprofessional, and if the client accepted and you made a full refund you would destroy your JSS before you ever get one. Just calm down, take the money, and look for your next job.

I am really grateful for the advice, I didn't take JSS into consideration and you are right about refunding being unprofessional. 

Thanks!

joansands
Community Member

Bernardo - First of all, why on earth would you offer a refund in the hopes of getting feedback? Did you work on an hourly basis or on a fixed fee? Were you paid or is it pending? Has the contract been closed by the client? If so, the client would have to leave feedback. If that happened, it doesn't show up immediately. It sounds to me as though you just need to be patient and leave the client alone.

The client is working on a more significant project that I want to take part in, and the job was a test task.

 

I thought about offering a refund to bait the client into giving feedback. I would be okay if I knew he is satisfied with the work but doesn't want to keep me around. Still, if he's somehow dissatisfied but decided not to complain, that's a problem that I would like to solve by correcting the work or giving a refund.

 

It was a fixed-fee job. It was approved and paid. The contract is still open, but I suspect the client is a rookie just like me, and this could be a mistake by him.

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