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filiatreau14
Community Member

Sketchy client. Offer accepted, but no work clocked. Can they leave a review if I end it?

I was excited to work with client but when she sent the proposal, it was not the rate we agreed on. I explained this and let is slide, saying that we could revisit the price once we started that part of the project, as we will be doing two projects for two different rates. She says she may need the project for the cheaper rate, so I accept and am ready to start. She then immediately says she wants to start on the project that is the higher rate. Sketchy right?

 

So I'm now hesitant to get started and I don't even want to deal with trying to force her to cancel the proposal and send the correct rate. If I end the contract and I have not clocked any hours, can she still leave me a review?

 

Thanks in advance.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Upwork isn't going to intervene here. If you accept a contract and end up not doing any work or getting paid, then it's not a "successful" contract.

I have always thought that clients should have a JSS score like we do, that counts private feedback, incomplete contracts, refunds etc. - but, they don't.

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12 REPLIES 12
lysis10
Community Member


Hannah F wrote:

I was excited to work with client but when she sent the proposal, it was not the rate we agreed on. I explained this and let is slide, saying that we could revisit the price once we started that part of the project, as we will be doing two projects for two different rates. She says she may need the project for the cheaper rate, so I accept and am ready to start. She then immediately says she wants to start on the project that is the higher rate. Sketchy right?

 

So I'm now hesitant to get started and I don't even want to deal with trying to force her to cancel the proposal and send the correct rate. If I end the contract and I have not clocked any hours, can she still leave me a review?

 

Thanks in advance.


lol she bait and switched you. This seems to happen with people who offer lots of different rates for things.

There is no protection or anything that I can do to prevent this from impacting my score If I cancel the contract? If this is a prominent issue I would hope they were working to help freelancers. It is clear from our messages.


Hannah F wrote:
There is no protection or anything that I can do to prevent this from impacting my score If I cancel the contract? If this is a prominent issue I would hope they were working to help freelancers. It is clear from our messages.

The only thing you can do is charge something to the contract and close it and try not to get bad feedback. Or just work at the lower rate. I think unless the job is extremely different (like graphic design and writing), this will always be an issue for you because it's a wild ride out there.

I truthfully don't have much of an issue with the lower rate. It is not by much. It is more fear that the client will end up being an absolute pain in the ass

Upwork can't protect us from making bad deals with bad clients. If it did, it would be a temp employment agency, not a freelance platform. If you are Top Rated, you have a perk you can use to remove one bad contract from your JSS. But, the rest is up to you. It is a painful lesson (I've suffered the consequences of a bad client pick a few times), but freelancing is more than just having a skill and delivering the work--client management plays a huge role in finding success. 

If you had misgivings about accepting the contract, you should have refused it. Once you've accepted, unfortunately there's no way to stop this impacting your job success score. (Edited to add: unless you have the top rated perk available. Your profile isn't set to public, so I can't tell if you're new here or not.)

That’s just it, I had no misgivings. I find it interesting that the blame is always placed on the freelancer when the client is the one in the wrong.

Upwork isn't going to intervene here. If you accept a contract and end up not doing any work or getting paid, then it's not a "successful" contract.

I have always thought that clients should have a JSS score like we do, that counts private feedback, incomplete contracts, refunds etc. - but, they don't.

That is unfortunate. I will probably move forward with the work and cross my finders that they aren't as bad as they appear currently.

Yes, I am Top Rated. Do you think they would actually help? I've never found Upwork to be helpful in these circumstances.

If you're top.rated and you've never used your perk before, then you can remove the impact of this contract on your JSS.

The crazy thing is that this is the only time I have ever offered different rates, and it was becasue I was encroaching on a new skillset. 

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