Upwork should refund connects for jobs that expired but didn't hire!

[#1]

Upwork should refund connects for jobs that expired but didn't hire! This would make the Upwork approach more balanced between clients and freelancers as the system is now a bit less favorable to freelancers and more favorable to clients.

[#2]

Yes, if all freelancers run out of money and can't send proposals, then that would be a bad thing and Upwork would have to make connects cheaper, or free. But that isn't happening, is it? Every project in my category is getting 20-50 bids, and making connects free would mean that clients get buried in even more proposals.

[#3]

Clients don't want garbage. Clients like great proposals and freelancers. If clients receive garbage proposals, they will leave. The clients are on Upwork to quickly find a reasonably priced freelancer who will do the job and not require any support.

[#4]

🤔 this just doesn't seem to aligning with my experience. I wish it did. I think we are in different areas of Upwork.

[#5]

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Muhammad Furqan A wrote:

Hey Jeanne,

That is literally what upwork is. You post a job, you get proposals and you choose the best ones.

If the clients don't have theental fortitude then they should simply not post a job. Or they can just go and hire an expert with amazing reviews and success score.

Like seriously if a client doesn't understand that garbage is going to be a part of the process then why is he even on upwork?????

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But in whose world?  Yours or theirs?

People are irrational.  Adapt and overcome or get left behind.

[#6]

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Muhammad Furqan A wrote:

Hey Jeanne,

That is literally what upwork is. You post a job, you get proposals and you choose the best ones.

If the clients don't have theental fortitude then they should simply not post a job. Or they can just go and hire an expert with amazing reviews and success score.

Like seriously if a client doesn't understand that garbage is going to be a part of the process then why is he even on upwork?????

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Give a moment's thought to what you're suggesting here--that clients who want to deal with qualified freelancers should look for them somewhere else. Is that really what you want?

[#7]

Nothing is done from upwork to prevent clients getting crap applications. Neither they are working on stoping Clients to open 100 test jobs. Actually, this increases Upwork´s income, why would they?

[#8]

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Daniela C wrote:
"Clients should get great proposals and freelancer should get their connects back if a job is not a job, it is a spam or test or something else.' 

"Nothing is done from upwork to prevent clients getting crap applications. Neither they are working on stoping Clients to open 100 test jobs. Actually, this increases Upwork´s income, why would they?"

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Re: Nothing is being done to prevent clients from getting crap proposals:
They implemented a bidding process with connects.  They are trying.  Unfortuantely, its not the right solution.  Some of the threads in this forum have shown jobs with 200+ connect bids - thats completely unreasonable.  If you consider only the freelancers who simply need that first breakthrough job to earn a glowing review, how many are there?  How many of these new freelancers are willing to invest their money into purchasing enough connects to secure their first job?  

I also believe people would be wise to consider what alternatives might exist...

Re: clients should get great proposals:
What if Upwork suddenly offered clients the ability to automate their screening process?  What happens when Upwork offers something like an ala carte fee for a built-in ATS (applicant tracking system) that screens by keywords, word count, and other characteristics?  You'd probably be shocked if you read my proposals.  They are short and concise, cutting straight to the point.  I consistently stay busy against my schedule.  I also know there is room to improve and reach for more, but what I have works for some reason.

[#9]

Upwork does offer this type of assistance--at a free, algorithmic level and a paid human level. The results of both are horrific.

[#10]

Nothing is done from upwork to prevent clients getting crap applications. Neither they are working on stoping Clients to open 100 test jobs. Actually, this increases Upwork´s income, why would they?

[#11]

I don't see how that increases Upwork's income that much. They get paid only after a client and freelancer start a contract. Job posts are free. If you think the "Connects" wasted by freelancers that are then bought from Upwork then yes it does help. But still, a contract is their major income stream.

[#12]

I agree that making connects more expensive rather than boosting is a MUCH BETTER idea.

[#13]

I do, too, but that's a luxury we have as high billers. It won't work for freelancers who bid on $20 jobs. 

[#14]

You make the connect system more expensive then me and I'm assuming many others are gonna bounce out. Good freelancers and honest workers don't need this platform that doesn't work to keep them and wants to quality control through cheap tactics rather than implementing real sustainable quality control on all accounts.

[#15]

How much are you will to pay in increased fees for Upwork to hire the army of additional staff necessary to implement the quality control that seems so simple to you? 

[#16]

Other people live in low income countries, where the $ is worth more.  If connects get more expensive those earning $3/hour won't be able to continue working here.

[#17]

Hi All, 

A few posts have been removed from this thread as they were in violation of our Community Guidelines and values. Please, be mindful of the Community Guidelines and respectful toward other users when posting.

[#18]

You are right, but Upwork gets money from people buying connects, even more if a freelancer boosts his bid with a lot of connects that he buys.

They only give back connects if the client closes the job without hiring. But, usually this doesn't happen. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

There are other posts here that talk about these topics, and give suggestion to solve the problems like connects, scammers, boosting bids, etc. We hope Upwork will read/hear us, but is not happening, or we can't see yet results. 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Upwork-needs-to-upgrade-its-algorithm-now/m-p/1190267#M7... 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Upwork-after-12-years/m-p/1171969#M711146

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Not-a-fan-of-bidding-and-the-bidding-table/td-p/1183935

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Buying-connects-boosting-bids-Yes-or-No/m-p/1186496#M717...

[#19]

No offense to anyone here or to Upwork, they make plenty of money on the work completed taking their cut. As a freelancer I would literally rather you take a bigger cut and remove/fix/come up with a real system to keep out or bag fake competitive baiting posts, fake jobs, jobs that waste time and just be a real direct way to connect with a client. It's gimmicky and has been making me consider leaving.

[#20]

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Bryan D wrote:

No offense to anyone here or to Upwork, they make plenty of money on the work completed taking their cut. As a freelancer I would literally rather you take a bigger cut and remove/fix/come up with a real system to keep out or bag fake competitive baiting posts, fake jobs, jobs that waste time and just be a real direct way to connect with a client. It's gimmicky and has been making me consider leaving.

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I'd rather that Upwork made more of an effort to get rid of all the bad freelancers who waste clients' time. It doesn't matter if freelancers leave, because there are too many.

[#21]

They could give out badges instead of giving back connects.

[#22]

It's a no brainer that if a post expires, the freelancer should get their connects back. Anyone that says otherwise is just ignorant. What's the difference in if a client closes the job so that connects are returned vs if they let the job expire?

How many clients create jobs, then never return to view them because they changed their mind, then they expire, and the connects are gone. A LOT! It's happened to me dozens of times.