Threat in disguise?

[bobafett999]

Well I have been working on this hourly project (time tracked all the way - no manual time).  First week was paid, second week was paid. Now the third week's bill was sent, and Among other things there was this sentence. "Got a bill today and you need to withdraw that request. I tried to say nothing to avoid giving you bad reviews."

I am bit confused about is he asking only for last week's hours or for wekk1 and week 2 hours as well?.  (Week 2 had the most hours - payment is in the security hold). 

Week 3 had total of 6.5 hrs - about half of them were for something that I was unable to achieve (Later I worked on my own and was able to complete the task - he does not have that page but I did send him the link to see).

[kprice777 · Accepted solution]

Hi Prashant,

Sounds like you've just had that heart-stopping moment when it becomes clear things are about to get complicated.

Yes, it does seem like a somewhat veiled threat,  although what they are saying, " .. I tried to say nothing to avoid giving you bad reviews", at least without a whole lot more context, doesn't make any sense."

In my opinion, the only thing you can do is maintain healthy communication with the client, find out what the problem is, and come to some resolution.

Hope it goes well.

As an aside, I just took a peek at your profile and noticed the terms, "salesman" and "craftsman".  You might think I'm nitpicking, but I wonder if you might consider replacing them with alternative non-gender-specific terms. I reckon most people will probably look past it , but you could be losing some potential clients.

[bobafett999]

Thanks Kevin.  I will try to reach out, but the tone of the e-mail was kind of derogatory. 

is the money for week1 and 2 mine?  Is the money for week3 is the most I would lose?The way I understand on hourly jobs is that buyers can only dispute last week's manually entered time - am I wrong? 

[kprice777]

​Yes, I understand where you are coming from, and my first reaction upon receiving such an email would probably be to get pretty annoyed... but I always like to give a client at least one opportunity to explain from their side what is going on. Sometimes people have all sorts of strange ideas or things they are dealing with which had a bearing on their communication. Maybe now they regret writing in that way.

For an hourly contract, my understanding is that once you have passed through that weeks review period, the money is yours. You may find the following helpful, especially this part:

"When can a client file a dispute on an hourly job?
The client can only file a dispute during the review period - from Monday at 12 noon UTC until Friday at 23:59 UTC following the work week."

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Content-Corner/Facts-about-Disputes/m-p/258942#M980

[bobafett999]

The money for week2 was available today and I withdrew.  I guess it will take day or two to show up in my account.

[resultsassoc]

Kevin,

"You might think I'm nitpicking, but I wonder if you might consider replacing them with alternative non-gender-specific terms."

A few decades ago, the US Labor Department notified everyone that henceforth gender neutral terms would be used for most professions, such as "letter carrier" or "flight attendant." The office which delivered the pronouncement? The U.S. Manpower Commission.

[bobafett999]

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@Kevin P wrote:

Hi Prashant,



In my opinion, the only thing you can do is maintain healthy communication with the client, find out what the problem is, and come to some resolution.

Hope it goes well.

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 Thanks Kevin.  I followed your suggestion.  I gave him the refund for the hours he was unhappy about. He is happy and I am happy that he was not after the total amount.