Negative Review

[#1]

Hi guys,

I am new to upwork and one client gave me negative review. Client knows that it js his fault but he still gave me a negative review. I even won the dispute and got the payment. But that negative review is impacting me a lot. How can I remove it, should I refund the client. If yes, how to do that and how much time it will take to get that review removed. Please suggest.

[#2]

Do not refund the money you've earned.

Refunding does not erase the private feedback the client left for you, which we have been told many times on this board is the part of client feedback that has the most significant effect on your JSS.

The feedback from clients who lose disputes or arbitration should not be factored into their freelancers' Job Success Scores, but that is apparently not true. The JSS is sacrosanct, regardless of its most obvious flaws.

Good luck!

[#3]

Hi Will,

Thank you for your prompt response.

Is there no way of removing that feedback from my profile, since I am not getting jobs because of it. I have one 5 star feedback and other is one star. I understand it will impact my JSS. However, is there no way to change the rating or remove that rating from profile.

[#4]

Rashmil,

As far as I know, the only freelancers who can (only occasionally) remove private feedback from their clients are freelancers who are Top Rated:

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211068468-Top-Rated

[#5]

Hi, Rashmil.

Did I read the job description right? It asks you to fill out forms on 8,500 different websites for $50. So what is that, $0.01c per site? And how long would it take to fill out a single form?

Talk about unrealistic expectations, and you're saying the client is disgruntled and feels they haven't got value for money?

I'm sure Upwork would be happy to remove that negative feedback if only to remove that job posting from public view.

Good luck,

Andy H

[#6]

re: "I'm sure Upwork would be happy to remove that negative feedback if only to remove that job posting from public view."

That is not how this works.

[#7]

Hi Andy,

Thank you for your reply,

Yes this is the job and I took around 2 minutes to fill one form with screen shot. Job is underpriced, please let me know how can I get it removed. I am really frustrated, I spent so many hours and got very less money. On top of that client gave me a negative feedback.

[#8 · Accepted solution]

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Rashmil S wrote:
But that negative review is impacting me a lot. How can I remove it, should I refund the client. If yes, how to do that and how much time it will take to get that review removed. Please suggest.

---

If you refund the $15, the contract, along with the feedback, will vanish from your profile. I generally don't think it's a good idea to refund clients  in such circumstances, but you've only done two contracts and it seems to be causing your trouble getting hired.

If you want to refund it, go to the contract (Under My Jobs > All Contracts) and click on the contract, then on the 3 dots at the top right, then choose "Give Refund"

It then takes a day or two for the contract to vanish. If the client's account is still suspended, it shouldn't even affect your JSS. They've not hired since that happened, so they may well still be suspended.

Andy H wrote:

I'm sure Upwork would be happy to remove that negative feedback if only to remove that job posting from public view.

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No, they would not. But you're right, the job post is jaw dropping! Did you read all the "extra questions" with "Do you understand this?" on every one of them?

Rashmil, don't take on jobs like that again. Apart from the virtually 0 pay, the job post makes it clear that the client will be a monumental pain to deal with.  If it takes 2 minutes per website, that works out at less than 18 Cent per hour... 

[#9]

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Petra R wrote:

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Rashmil S wrote:
But that negative review is impacting me a lot. How can I remove it, should I refund the client. If yes, how to do that and how much time it will take to get that review removed. Please suggest.

---

If you refund the $15, the contract, along with the feedback, will vanish from your profile. 

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While this is true, having closed contracts with no money paid will negatively impact your JSS.

Rashmil, how do you know that negative review is impacting you alot?  Personally, I think your response carries more weight and sounds more credible than the client's remarks. At least it does to me.  If I were you, I'd remove the first line of your profile description that says "Are you looking for a five-star service? You are at the right place." This just sounds disingenuous given you don't have all 5-star reviews. 

[#10]

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David S M wrote:

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While this is true, having closed contracts with no money paid will negatively impact your JSS.

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No, it doesn't anymore, that changed last year. Even before the impact of a 1 star feedback would not have gotten any worse if refunded.

He doesn't have a JSS yet anyway and there is a good chance that the client is still suspended. If that is the case it doesn't even matter, because contracts with clients who have been suspended for a violation of the terms of service are excluded from the JSS calculation, so they have no effect at all.

[#11]

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Petra R wrote:

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David S M wrote:

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While this is true, having closed contracts with no money paid will negatively impact your JSS.

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No, it doesn't anymore, that changed last year.

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I know closed contracts with no feedback no longer negatively impacts JSS. That changed last year. I didn't know they changed anything about closed contracts with no money paid. Where is that announcement? 

[#12]

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David S M wrote:

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I didn't know they changed anything about closed contracts with no money paid. Where is that announcement? 

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Somewhere in that thread, doubly confirmed by Valeria and many times since by other mods.

[#13]

David S M,

This is what moderator Aleksandr D. said a couple of months ago:

Re: Order cancellation - Upwork Community

"....when a contract without earnings is closed, both parties won’t be able to provide public feedback, but they can still provide private feedback. If the client provides positive private feedback on a contract with no earnings, that contract will be excluded from JSS. If the client specifies in their feedback that the contract had a negative outcome, that will be counted in the score."

[#14]

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Will L wrote:

David S M,

This is what moderator Aleksandr D. said a couple of months ago:

Re: Order cancellation - Upwork Community

"....when a contract without earnings is closed, both parties won’t be able to provide public feedback, but they can still provide private feedback. If the client provides positive private feedback on a contract with no earnings, that contract will be excluded from JSS. If the client specifies in their feedback that the contract had a negative outcome, that will be counted in the score."

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Thanks for sharing Will. That's interesting, and that makes sense to me. I guess what doesn't make sense to me is Petra's encouragement to refund the money. If the OP refunds it and ends up with a contract closed without earnings, and the client left poor private feedback (which let's face it, they did..why would they leave such a bad remark publically and not specify a negative outcome privately), that will count in the OP's score (whenever the score is eventually calculated). I guess he's removing a public blemish to anyone who might read it, but as I said, I personally think the freelancer response sounds more credible.

[#15]

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David S M wrote:

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I guess what doesn't make sense to me is Petra's encouragement to refund the money. If the OP refunds it and ends up with a contract closed without earnings, and the client left poor private feedback (which let's face it, they did..why would they leave such a bad remark publically and not specify a negative outcome privately), that will count in the OP's score (whenever the score is eventually calculated). .

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The contract counts against the OPs future JSS anyway (UNLESS the client is still suspended, which is reasonably likely).

So there are 4 possible scenarios here:

1. The client is not suspended, the freelancer does not refund the measerly $15, the contract shows on the profile and affects the future JSS
2. The client is suspended, the freelancer does not refund the measerly $15, the contract shows on the profile and will not affect the future JSS
3. The client is not suspended, the freelancer refunds the measerly $15, the contract no longer shows on the profile and affects the future JSS
4. The client is suspended, the freelancer refunds the measerly $15, the contract no longer shows on the profile and won't affect the future JSS

Refunding won't make the contract's impact on the OPs JSS any worse. It isn*t the refund that affects the JSS, the refund has no effect whatsoever at all in any way, it's the private feedback. The refund does absolutely nothing other than remove the public feedback.

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David S M wrote:

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I guess he's removing a public blemish to anyone who might read it, but as I said, I personally think the freelancer response sounds more credible.

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"more credible" than what? How can a bad feedback with a very reasonable response be "more credible" than nothing at all? If the whole contract, complete with the poor feedback has vanished as if it had never happened, there is nothing to sound more or less credible because there is no trace of the contract (and the feedback) left.

The OP specifically asked how to refund and whether it will make the contract go away. I told him how to refund and that yes, it will make the contract go away. That was ultimately what he wanted to know.

[#16]

Hi David,

I really appreciate your feedback. I will remove the line. Earlier I had 5 rating however now situation is different.

[#17]

Thank you so much guys for your support. I will wait to see if the upwork will remove this job posting. In case not, I will refund the client.

[#18]

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Rashmil S wrote:
 I will wait to see if the upwork will remove this job .

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They won't. That was a joke.

[#19]

Rashmil, do you understand that by refunding this client you could be encouraging such inappropriate behaviour on this platform.

[#20]

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Abinadab A wrote:
Rashmil, do you understand that by refunding this client you could be encouraging such inappropriate behaviour on this platform.

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The client is already gone and frankly, if you look at the job post, not much could encourage the client to be any more of a cheapskate than they already are. Whether a client pays $0.17 an hour or nothing is pretty much the same.

I generally agree that refunds are a bad idea and teach clients to misbehave, but this situation is a bit different, It's only $15, the client's gone.

[#21]

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Petra R wrote:

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Abinadab A wrote:
Rashmil, do you understand that by refunding this client you could be encouraging such inappropriate behaviour on this platform.

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The client is already gone and frankly, if you look at the job post, not much could encourage the client to be any more of a cheapskate than they already are. Whether a client pays $0.17 an hour or nothing is pretty much the same.

I generally agree that refunds are a bad idea and teach clients to misbehave, but this situation is a bit different, It's only $15, the client's gone.

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- The client may survive the ban and get reinstated.

- OP left a pretty professional, matter-of-factly response to the negative review.

If I were OP, as a new freelancer, as a matter of principle, I wouldn't refund the money.

And I'd eventually land new jobs. Because to refund would be to send a message all one needs to get away with free work is threaten, and leave unreasonable feedback. And encourage future freelancers to enter the trap (in the event such client gets reinstated) by removing your feedback.

[#22]

Leaving a visible bad review with a response explaining that you didn't bow to a scammer is a strategic decision. IMO, it shows other potential clients that you won't put up with their scheming. 

[#23]

So true. One tends to attract fewer of the type of clients one doesn't want after calling out their shenanigans in the feedback.
I guess future clients read these things after all 😉