🐈
» Forums » Freelancers » Spending more connects than the actual budget...
Page options
allasahakyan
Community Member

Spending more connects than the actual budget of the job

Hi, I applied for a project that had a pretty good budget, then immediat;ly I received a message from the client, saying that something happened and they can't offer me the money they had listed, and if I am willing to work more for fun then for money, they will offer me the job. I suppose that was a trick to attract freelancers. I spent 6 connects for this job. Is there a way to get them back? Thanks.

13 REPLIES 13
wlyonsatl
Community Member

No, that's just a freelancer hazard. 

Thanks.

a_lipsey
Community Member

If they asked you to work for free, meaning something other than cash money, then that is a violation of TOS, and you should report the job, and you may get your connects returned. If they simply had to adjust their budget and are still offering pay but just less, then no, that's a hazard of the job. 

Thanks Amanda. They had listed $666 fixed budget in the job posting, now they offer $3-4 🙂 it's another type of "work for free" I guess. 


Alla S wrote:

Thanks Amanda. They had listed $666 fixed budget in the job posting, now they offer $3-4 🙂 it's another type of "work for free" I guess. 


__________________________

Alla, 

I agree with Amanda, and I think you should report the client  for misrepresentation. I have also flagged your post to get a mod's attention. 

 

You will probably not get anywhere with this because it is one of the hazards of being a freelancer, but I  do not think this is acceptable client behaviour. 

Thanks Nichola, the post is still active and I belive other people are applying and getting fooled too. 


Nichola L wrote:

Alla S wrote:

Thanks Amanda. They had listed $666 fixed budget in the job posting, now they offer $3-4 🙂 it's another type of "work for free" I guess. 


__________________________

Alla, 

I agree with Amanda, and I think you should report the client  for misrepresentation. I have also flagged your post to get a mod's attention. 

 

You will probably not get anywhere with this because it is one of the hazards of being a freelancer, but I  do not think this is acceptable client behaviour. 


Yeah, that's a drastic change. I've had clients who have had to adjust by maybe 10-20% of  their original budget, which sucks but I can understand it. Going from nearly $700 to $3-4 for a fixed price is basically asking for work for free without saying it. I'm not sure if there was any other indicator to avoid bidding on that project. Maybe the Upwork gods will smile on you and find it out of TOS , so you can get a connects refund.  Fingers crossed for you. 

Thanks, spent connects are not a big deal, but Upwork should protect freelancers from this kind of scam. By the way, the person who is communicating with me on this job is another freelancer, how is this possible. How do I report the job and her?


Alla S wrote:

Thanks, spent connects are not a big deal, but Upwork should protect freelancers from this kind of scam. By the way, the person who is communicating with me on this job is another freelancer, how is this possible. How do I report the job and her?


It's not uncommon for a freelancer to be both a freelancer and a client. I am both a freelancer and a client on Upwork. If she is subcontracting work that she has secured through Upwork then she is obliged by the TOS to let her clients know that. My clients are all aware that I have an assistant who supports me to complete projects.  This only works on fixed-price projects though. She cannot outsource on hourly projects. 

 

You should be able to report the job post itself by  going to the job post itself and clicking the Flag as Inappropriate link. You should also be able to report her by clicking the gear icon next to the time stamp (in the message) and it will allow you to report the message. 

 

Hope that helps. 

Thank you so much Amanda, that was very useful. 

I totally agree with you and I think you have a shot at reporting this situation and getting a refund on your connects. However, I must mention the fact they were offering $666 should have raised your eyebrows a bit don't you think? It's kinda "the devil's number" and they definitely pulled some evil shady bait and switch on you. I don't think that posting was at all realistic or genuine from the start based on their fixed rate price alone.

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Alla,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. We know clients at times do not provide accurate information, for a variety of reasons. As a freelancer, we recommend carefully reading the entire job post and using your own experience to determine whether you have enough information, you trust that information, and it’s worth using your Connects to submit a proposal. We also suggest you look at other important details, such as any client history. On our end, we provide clients with tips to create complete, accurate job posts and will continue to look at ways to make sure freelancers have the information they need to vet a client. One area we are looking at closely is helping freelancers better evaluate a job post and client so they can decide whether it is worth using Connects to submit a proposal. To learn more about what you should be looking for, please check out this article

 

Our team will review the flagged job for any violations of Upwork ToS.

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork

Thanks.

Latest Articles
Featured Topics
Learning Paths