My client went missing, and the work can't be completed.

[cassidylea]

Hello,

My client has set a milestone and funded it, and the deadline is last Saturday. But on last Friday, I found that the document she sent me was broken, I tried to contact her to tell her about it but she has never replied until now.  However, I've nearly completed the work except for the broken part, so I sent my work to her on last Saturday, but I didn't submit it to the milestone.

What am I supposed to do now? I'm a newbie on Upwork that just got JSS this week. I don't care the fund, but I really don't want my JSS to drop down.

Thank you anyway.

[reinierb · Accepted solution]

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@Yaxin L wrote:

Hello,

My client has set a milestone and funded it, and the deadline is last Saturday. But on last Friday, I found that the document she sent me was broken, I tried to contact her to tell her about it but she has never replied until now.  However, I've nearly completed the work except for the broken part, so I sent my work to her on last Saturday, but I didn't submit it to the milestone.

What am I supposed to do now? I'm a newbie on Upwork that just got JSS this week. I don't care the fund, but I really don't want my JSS to drop down.

Thank you anyway.

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 Was the deadline a material condition of the contract, i.e., was your payment dependent on the job being done and delivered by the deadline? 

If not, don't worry about it too much, since deadlines are not cast in stone, unless it is made a material condition of the contract. Clients can go silent for any number of legitimate reasons, so just wait a couple days before you try to contact her again, but do not refund her at this point. 

Think about it this way- if the job were really time sensitive, she would have contacted you already wanting to know why you are late in delivering. 

[cassidylea]

Thanks for your replying, Reinier.

But if she didn't reply after couple days, should I refund or submit in Milestone? Which is better for my JSS? Because the work can't be completed entirely, I'm worried she would give a bad review for that, though it was not my fault. Is there anything Upwork provides to protect freelancers from such a situation?

[vladag]

Hi Yaxin,

If you completed and submitted the work as agreed, depending on the nature of the tasks you weren't able to complete and their position in the project scope, you can use the Milestone submission button on the contract details page and request the release of the full or partial amount of Escrow funds if your client isn't responding to your message. You can also try reaching out to your client again and give them a few days to respond before taking any action.

[cassidylea]

Thank you, Vladimir.

If I used the Milestone submission button to deliver my work, I'm worried that my client will give me a bad review, because the work can't be completed entirely. Then, if she did so, is there anything I can do to save my JSS? 

[iamchunchunchun]

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@Yaxin L wrote:

Thank you, Vladimir.

If I used the Milestone submission button to deliver my work, I'm worried that my client will give me a bad review, because the work can't be completed entirely. Then, if she did so, is there anything I can do to save my JSS? 

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No, if the client is going to give you a bad review, then your JSS will certainly be affected.

However, I think it's much more likely that your client will send you the missing materials back than giving a bad feedback.

[cassidylea]

Thank you for your advice.

Maybe I worry too much.