Solved: The customer cancel the order without paying

9ce22baa · ‎07-01-2021

Hello freelancers,

I'm new to Upwork, and I need your advice. The situation is as follows: I was hired on an hourly contract for urgent work (audio mixing for video). In the project that the customer sent, some audio fragments were muted. After I sent the ready order, the client complained that there were not all audios in the mix. After that, I returned to the project and returned them, but not all of them as I was in a hurry because the client was pushing me. Since I was in a hurry, I also made a couple of mistakes when exporting the file (incorrect format and the same file name on revisited file). After that, the client asked me to stop and terminate the contract without paying for my working hours. Also, after that, I lost my "rising talent" badge.

I admit that I didn't do my job perfectly because of the speed, but is the wrong format and the wrong file name a reason to terminate the contract rigidly? After my comment about the muted audio, the client did not even check what he sent me and, as I understand it, concluded that I was not competent in what I was doing.

What should I do in this situation?

Thank you for your time and help,
Andrejs

tlbp · ‎07-01-2021

New to Upwork and taking on urgent jobs is a dangerous mix (you can probably see why in hindsight). If you billed hour hours using the time tracker and followed the steps necessary for hourly payment protection, you should get paid for your time. If you are relying on manual time, the client may refuse to pay. (You can also delete the hours if you feel that the client should not have to pay for the work because it was not up to standard.)

What you decide to do is a question of customer management. How do you feel about the quality of your work? Should you be paid for it? Did you satisfy the customer's need? Only you and the customer really know what happened and whether the work was done correctly.

Being a freelancer means you will have to make these decisions and be cautious about the jobs you take.

View solution in original post

g_vasilevski · ‎07-01-2021

Hi Andrejs,

I'm sorry to hear about the bad experience you've had and I understand your frustration with this. When you're working on hourly contracts, your clients are billed every Monday for the time you have tracked in the previous week. To learn more about how you're getting paid on hourly contracts, check out this Help Article.

To learn more about how you're protected under our Upwork hourly protection, check out this Help Article. Thank you.

~ Goran

9ce22baa · ‎07-01-2021

Hi Goran,

Thank you for your answer! Unfortunately, I don't track my work with the app and put the hours manually. Does this mean that I will not receive the payment?

How can I get my reputation back? Do I need to earn some more positive feedback, or can I somehow challenge this?

Of course, I don't know for sure why my "rising talent" badge disappeared, but this case is the only thing that could affect this, as it seems to me.

Thank you so much for your help,
Andrejs

petra_r · ‎07-01-2021

Andrejs S wrote:
Unfortunately, I don't track my work with the app and put the hours manually.

Why? And DID you add manual time before the contract was closed?

Andrejs S wrote:
Does this mean that I will not receive the payment?

If you added manual time before the contract was closed, you get paid (unless the client disputes). If you didn't, you won't

Andrejs S wrote:
Of course, I don't know for sure why my "rising talent" badge disappeared,

The client wasn't happy so the (private) feedback will have been low. That loses you your RT badge.

Andrejs S wrote:
can I somehow challenge this?

There is nothing to challenge.

petra_r · ‎07-01-2021

Andrejs S wrote:
I was hired on an hourly contract for urgent work (audio mixing for video).

Did you track your hours? Then you will get paid automatically.

Andrejs S wrote:
I admit that I didn't do my job perfectly because of the speed, but is the wrong format and the wrong file name a reason to terminate the contract rigidly?

Clients can end contracts at any time. It was an urgent project and the client had no time to waste, so they had to try and find a freelancer who could deliver the work, complete and correctly. The client did nothing wrong.

Andrejs S wrote:
What should I do in this situation?

Nothing. In future, don't take on projects you can't do both perfectly and in time.

9ce22baa · ‎07-01-2021

Hello Petra,

Thanks for your reply

Clients can end contracts at any time. It was an urgent project and the client had no time to waste, so they had to try and find a freelancer who could deliver the work, complete and correctly. The client did nothing wrong.

The client is always right, and this is not discussed - do I understand correctly? Do you always need to do the work so that there are no revisions? And what if the client made a mistake and blamed the freelancer for this?

petra_r · ‎07-01-2021

Andrejs S wrote:
The client is always right, and this is not discussed - do I understand correctly?

In this case, the client did nothing wrong. This isn't always the case, but here it is... I am not sure what you are saying. Clients *CAN* end contracts at any time, paying the freelancer for the hours they had tracked/logged and moving on. Why would you want to work with a client who doesn't want to work with you?

You made mistakes. The work wasn't up to scratch. You ADMITTED that. The client cancelled the contract. That's the way it goes. Own how your mistakes led to this contract not going well and the consequences.

Andrejs S wrote: Hello Petra,
Do you always need to do the work so that there are no revisions?

Obviously you don't want to make mistakes on an urgent project. If you do make multiple mistakes, expect for the client to be unhappy. If the client is unhappy with your work, expect appropriate feedback.

9ce22baa · ‎07-01-2021

You made mistakes. The work wasn't up to scratch. You ADMITTED that. The client cancelled the contract. That's the way it goes. Own how your mistakes led to this contract not going well and the consequences.

And what if the mistakes of the client caused my mistakes, and he does not recognize it and leaves me a bad review?

It turns the client can send the wrong instructions to the freelancer and, after receiving the job without admitting his mistake, leave a bad review and at the same time be right?

petra_r · ‎07-01-2021

That isn't what happened here though. You admitted that the work wasn't up to scratch. Don't switch things around to some weird hypothetical scenario.

Time to own your mistakes, take responsibility for your actions and move on.

prestonhunter · ‎07-01-2021

re: "And what if the mistakes of the client caused my mistakes"

You don't have control over what another person does.

You have control over what YOU do.

You should ALWAYS focus on your own mistakes. That gives you POWER.

tlbp · ‎07-01-2021

New to Upwork and taking on urgent jobs is a dangerous mix (you can probably see why in hindsight). If you billed hour hours using the time tracker and followed the steps necessary for hourly payment protection, you should get paid for your time. If you are relying on manual time, the client may refuse to pay. (You can also delete the hours if you feel that the client should not have to pay for the work because it was not up to standard.)

What you decide to do is a question of customer management. How do you feel about the quality of your work? Should you be paid for it? Did you satisfy the customer's need? Only you and the customer really know what happened and whether the work was done correctly.

Being a freelancer means you will have to make these decisions and be cautious about the jobs you take.