The client was rude, insulted me

rexha_12 · ‎06-25-2021

hi,

I have a contract with a client to clone a web site. The website was done with React and Nodejs and I was asked to clone it using React and WordPress. I was able to do that and I spent 2 weeks for this. I was concentrated to make 100% same as design was, not the content, because we didn't talk to upload same content. After that, I sent the url to the client to check the project, and he started insulting me. I was shocked and tried to explain that the text and images that I uploaded were just for testing. He didn't stop and it looks like he was not interested in the project, but just to insulting me.

Any thoughts about this issue? Should I have to get paid?

upworkexxo · ‎06-25-2021

i think you should get paid

e825750a · ‎06-25-2021

Hello,
It depends on the client, if he decides to approve the milestone, you will get paid. I think you should try to explain him again maybe he will end up understanding you. You worked hard and should be paid. Good luck!
Thanks,

rexha_12 · ‎06-25-2021

Ok but what if he do not decide to approve the milestone? Is it easy to do that, to work 2 weeks, to spend a lot of time and in the end client to decide to not approve milestones just because he want? I think this is not right and in that case Upwork should interfere in that case.

petra_r · ‎06-25-2021

Rexhep R wrote:
Ok but what if he do not decide to approve the milestone?

Then you can dispute the funds in escrow. *IF* that happens (not before, obviously) you can follow the steps outlined here.

Preston H wrote:
That doesn't mean that we will prohibit Upwork personnel from helping you.

What in the world do you mean? Clearly "we" aren't prohibiting Upwork personnel from helping him. I don't know who you mean by "we" but obviously you are in no position to prohibit Upwork personnel from doing a darned thing!

Preston H wrote:
Before you do anything else, decide what your goal is. Pick which of these is your primary goal:

Huh?

The OP wants to get paid for two weeks' worth of work, quite rightly so, and there is a dispute process which can formally handle the situation.

That doesn't guarantee the OP getting paid, but it guarantees a vastly better chance than just rolling over and not getting paid.

prestonhunter · ‎06-26-2021

re: "Huh? The OP wants to get paid for two weeks' worth of work, quite rightly so, and there is a dispute process which can formally handle the situation. That doesn't guarantee the OP getting paid, but it guarantees a vastly better chance than just rolling over and not getting paid."

Okay, I will elaborate.

In order for the freelancer to achieve his goals, he needs to know what his goals are. In order for people to help him achieve his goals, they need to know what his goals are. You are assuming that the freelancer's primary goal is to get paid. But the freelancer chose as the title of this thread "The client was rude, insulted me." The freelancer also specifically mentioned the client's insults. Overall, the freelancer is referring to the clients rudeness an insults more than the freelancer is referring to getting paid.

My post helps the freelancer by offering him an opportunity to clarify what his main goal is. His post definitely left this unclear.

Note that the first option I offered centered on maximizing the amount of money he gets paid for this contract. But if that is not really his concern, there are ways that he can maximize the effectiveness of pursuing OTHER possible goals. The steps he should take are DIFFERENT based on what he wants.

Implicit in my post is the concept that if the freelancer IS primarily concerned about getting paid, he will need to focus on that. He will need to set aside concerns about "insults". Perhaps temporarily. Perhaps permanently. That does not mean that it is acceptable for a client to be "rude" or "insulting." But on Upwork as in life in general, there are often tradeoffs.

re: "What in the world do you mean?"

I was assuring the original poster that talking to people in the Community Forum is NOT going to prevent Upwork personnel from helping him. This is a true statement. I was communicating this fact in a clear, concise, unambiguous manner, meant for the original poster. You didn't like my wording, but I wasn't saying this to you.

rexha_12 · ‎06-26-2021

Hi Preston,

I just asked and tried to get an opinion from people for the issue that I described. Yes, the client insulted me too much, what means that no one in my life talked with me in this way. So, I asked two questions, one was to get an opinion about that issue and the second one was should I have to get paid, because in this condition, looks like this will not happen. I described as well the client was not interested about to test the project, just to insult me. This means that he just created the contract for unknow reason and I am seeming to be deceived.

Right, this is why I am here. To get works and to get paid, like every one, and not to hear insulting wors because I will mention again, in my life no one talked with me in this way. I hope my goals are clear now.

Thank you for your opinion. I appreciate it.

prestonhunter · ‎06-25-2021

Before you do anything else, decide what your goal is. Pick which of these is your primary goal:

- maximize the money I get out of this

- maximize the way this enhances my profile page and JSS (or minimize the harm it does)

- get revenge on this client for insulting me

- help this client to become a better person

- help other freelancers on the platform, such as by making sure that anybody who considers working for this client will know what he is like and/or working to remove this client from the platform

I am absolutely serous about this.

YOU posted a thread in the Forum asking for our thoughts. But you have not stated what your goal is.

If you want to do ALL of these things equally... then forget it. That is not doable.

But if you can pick ONE of these things, and understand that what you do for the sake of THAT ONE GOAL will diminish your ability to achieve other goals... then we can help you.

re: "I think this is not right and in that case Upwork should interfere in that case."

Let's PLAN ON Upwork doing absolutely nothing to help you. Let's talk about what you can do to help yourself. That doesn't mean that we will prohibit Upwork personnel from helping you. But let's just talk about this situation as if they won't.

Because usually, Upwork doesn't "interfere" in any case.

JoanneP · ‎06-25-2021

Hi Rexhep,

I'm sorry to hear about what happened. I can see that you already have an open ticket regarding this issue. One of our agents will update your ticket and assist you further.

~ Joanne

rexha_12 · ‎06-26-2021

hi Joanne

Thank you for your reply. Finally got a hopeful response, and i hope to have further support.

resultsassoc · ‎06-27-2021

Rexhep,

I suspect the cause of the disagreement is the scope of work for the project. It is the most important part of any agreement, even more important than price, because the client will dispute your invoices if you do not meet what he thinks the scope of work is.

There are problems with scope when dealing in a foreign language or with someone whose culture creates expectations for clients that are not explicit. Even within my own country I had hammered out a scope of work on a project and at the end the contract for editing, which was actually for a rewrite, in his mind wasn't fulfilled because he expected me to triple the content. That was nowhere mentioned, and certainly did not appear in the scope of work. Another client said he intended to pay me with equity in his firm, and I declined, told him I will only work for money. When he paused the contract I stopped working; he then complained that I was uncooperative and not helpful because I wouldn't work unless he paid me.

If the client believed that "cloning" the site meant duplicating the content you can and should point out that doing so was almost certain to break copyright laws, and you never agreed to break any laws. If filling with content is mentioned anywhere in the agreed scope or even in messages, you may not win in arbitration. I've been writing contracts for forty years, and I still get surprised.