Here is something that everybody can agree on:
When a client hires a freelancer using a fixed-price contract, and the freelancer submits her work, the client has a button that he can use to "request changes."
This IS an option.
And we know that Upwork's software has no way of evaluating the work that the freelancer submitted.
So there is something "subjective" about the process. The client himself must make a decision about that freelancer's work.
Some questions that have been raised, and which I think remain points of disagreement, are:
Should the client pay for the work if he doesn't like it?
Should the client pay for the work if he claims that he doesn't like it?
Should the client pay for work that is awful?
Should the client pay for work that he can't use? Or that he no longer plans to use?
These questions have been discussed in many threads in the Forum.
Ultimately, there is a much that is subjective in these questions.
What if a freelancer was hired to create a custom illustration for a client, and she posted the illustration here in the Forum, along with the original written fixesd-price agreement? What if we all looked at that illustration and said: "That is stunning. That is beautiful work. That exactly fulfills the written task description."
But what if the client says he doesn't like it? This is an illustration that the client is supposed to pay $25 for. But he is refusing to pay.
What if the amount was $250?
What if the client has a history of commissioning work and then not paying for it, by manipulating the freelancer, giving horrible feedback in order to get a refund, filing disputes, etc.?
The specifics of any situation might influence how we feel about the general questions of whether or not a client should pay for work he doesn't like.
But let's talk about work that is awful... Work that we can look at and all agree that it is awful.
This question can be asked:
Should a client be required to pay for awful work?
Let's put aside that question, because I don't think that can be settled here.
Upwork's documentation does not provide us with a clearcut answer to that question. Upwork's documentation states that a client may request changes. That's what the user interface provides. There is no specific button for on the client side that allows the client to identify work as awful, and therefore not subject to being paid for. There is simply a way for a client to "request changes" or request a refund.
We can put aside the question of if a client should be required to pay for awful work. Instead, let's pose the question:
If a client is looking out for his own interests, and doing what is best for himself, should he pay for awful work?
What if the client came to Upwork thinking he can get some work done really cheap, and he hires a freelancer to create a corporate logo for his company, for $25?
And what if that work is awful?
Should the client continue to ask that freelancer for changes, until the freelancer provides him what he needs? At what point does the client become a mentor or teacher to the freelancer? At what point is the client just wasting his valuable time?
Maybe the client should not be "required" to pay for the awful logo. But that is different than saying the client "should" pay for the awful logo. If that client is working for my company, and I'm paying that client a significant salary, which translates to a significant amount of dollars per hour... Then I definitely don't want that person wasting time with a cheap freelancer, trying to get work out of her that - realistically speaking - is never going to happen. I would tell him to just release the $25 and stop wasting his time. I would tell him to hire somebody who can actually provide us with the work that we need. And yes, maybe I would tell him to hire a number of freelancers and then pay them all and then let me see what they sent us. Because this logo... it is going to represent our company. It is important. I am far more interested in getting the result I need for my company than spending time trying to avoid paying some freelancer I've never met because she doesn't deserve it.
This example is typical of many situations we see described in the Forum.
But there is another type of situation: What if it wasn't $25?
What if the client has put up $1000 for an escrow task, and what if the client legitimately feels that the work is awful?
This is where the concepts of "refunds" and "payment protection" for clients are potentially the most harmful.
This is where I am most critical of the idea of clients getting a refund or not paying for work they say they don't like.
We really do see situations like this. And this is where I think my positions about fixed-price contracts and refunds would be most helpful to clients:
Don't assume you can get any money back when you fund escrow. Don't think that you can click a magic reset button because the freelancer provided you with files you can't use.
Because utlimately, there is no such magic reset button. There is a button to REQUEST a refund. That doesn't guarantee a refund. And for a $1000 payday? A freelancer may just take this all the way to arbitration, in which case a client is likely to lose, and not get ANY money back.
That is why I say it is better for a client to understand that if a freelancer does the specified task, it is Upwork's intention that the escrow money goes to the freelancer.
If that $1000 is too much to risk on a complete stranger, then the client can hire that freelancer to only do the first part of the project. For $50. And then see if the work is on track. If it is, then do another milestone task, for $100. And keep going like that.
But if the first task is for $50, and it is a awful?
Then the WORST thing that can happen is the client never gets $50 back, and can't use the work. That's a much better situation to be in than having paid $1000 and having no way to get that money back.
