Claudia P wrote:
Good point. I guess I needed to make rent during those three and a half months in which I could not even wait tables due to strict shelter-in-place regulations. I made the best decisions with the information I had at the time...
Don't blame people on the forums because you entered an industry and began using a platform without adequate knowledge. Learn from the experience. Freelance platforms are not a place where nice people only hire other nice people. Just like the rest of the internet these platforms are populated by all types of people from scammers to dreamers. Not everyone is going to behave the way you think they should.
Your attitude about the client's communication is unrealistic. Your client's only obligation was to give you the assignment and wait. Milestones are paid automatically after 14 days. You aren't entitled to hear from the client during that period. Just finish the work, submit it for payment and wait.
That your expectations were different reflects you inexperience. You reaction to the transaction not meeting your expectations has created the current situation. Since you are in a new contract with this client, assume they found your work good enough to keep sending you money. Other than that, it seems very clear that no matter how chatty you would like to be, their workflow is to send the assignment, get the work, pay for the work. That's it.
If you truly cannot bring yourself to do the work, just close the contract. The funds will automatically go back to the client and with any luck, they won't notice you are gone until it is too late to leave feedback.
