Solved: Very bad feedback on my first job on Upwork

Kiran S · ‎08-03-2021

I received my first client on Upwork for working as a PHP Laravel Developer full-time. When I asked queries about the task, he constantly replies that I have been disrespectful and ask a dumb question. He even didn't provide the whole requirement.

Somehow, I have worked for 2 days. And, I have reported the hours that I have worked. I was new in the Upwork, therefore I reported to him the hours that I have taken rather than using the Upwork time tracker because I didn't know about the time tracker. I know it's my fault. I requested him to enable me to add the manual time. But, he claimed he will not allow me to add the manual time.

After 2nd day, he didn't assign any task for me. One of his team member, reply that they will let me know after they had a task. They asked me to work full time and now, they want me to wait for the task. I had waited 3 more days to get a work. However, I didn't get any reply from the client. When I pinged him, he begins to comment that I have been a harsh and ungrateful person. He even threatens me that he will not pay and said fraud to me. He even mentioned he will report to the Upwork support staff. After some long conversation, he only paid half amount of money and I canceled a contract. He was such an unpleasant and dishonest person. He always finds fault in others. And, he never accepts the mistake on his side.

After viewing the client's job history, most of the freelancing have given him a poor rating and feedback. It was my mistake I didn't study the client's history. And, he takes advantage of me because I was new in Upwork.

He has given me 1 and poor feedback which affects my future work on Upwork as it is bad feedback on my very first job, and will other clients not hire me because of this. Is there any way to eliminate bad feedbacks from my profile? (I can show that everything I just said)

Petra R · ‎08-03-2021

Kiran S wrote:
He paid as a bonus. Can I refund that amount?

Sure. As long as you refund in full, the whole contract and the feedback will vanish after a day or two. I wouldn't normally suggest rewarding bad clients for bad behaviour, but as this was your first and so far only contract it really isn't a good look on your profile and I suspect it would hurt your chances of getting hired.

In future ***DO*** check the history of clients before you even apply. If you had done so, you'd have seen that the client is a nightmare and never applied in the first place.

Go to the contract and click on the three dots, then choose "Give refund"

View solution in original post

Amanda L · ‎08-03-2021

Kiran S wrote:

I received my first client on Upwork for working as a PHP Laravel Developer full-time. When I asked queries about the task, he constantly replies that I have been disrespectful and ask a dumb question. He even didn't provide the whole requirement.

Somehow, I have worked for 2 days. And, I have reported the hours that I have worked. I was new in the Upwork, therefore I reported to him the hours that I have taken rather than using the Upwork time tracker because I didn't know about the time tracker. I know it's my fault. I requested him to enable me to add the manual time. But, he claimed he will not allow me to add the manual time.
After 2nd day, he didn't assign any task for me. One of his team member, reply that they will let me know after they had a task. They asked me to work full time and now, they want me to wait for the task. I had waited 3 more days to get a work. However, I didn't get any reply from the client. When I pinged him, he begins to comment that I have been a harsh and ungrateful person. He even threatens me that he will not pay and said fraud to me. He even mentioned he will report to the Upwork support staff. After some long conversation, he only paid half amount of money and I canceled a contract. He was such an unpleasant and dishonest person. He always finds fault in others. And, he never accepts the mistake on his side.

After viewing the client's job history, most of the freelancing have given him a poor rating and feedback. It was my mistake I didn't study the client's history. And, he takes advantage of me because I was new in Upwork.

He has given me 1 and poor feedback which affects my future work on Upwork as it is bad feedback on my very first job, and will other clients not hire me because of this. Is there any way to eliminate bad feedbacks from my profile? (I can show that everything I just said)

You can eliminate the public feedback, although not the impact on your JSS by refunding the client in full.

Petra R · ‎08-04-2021

Amanda L wrote:
You can eliminate the public feedback, although not the impact on your JSS by refunding the client in full.

I believe that this is one of the clients whose poor feedback does not have any impact on the JSS. There are freelancers who had 1 star feedback from him and 100% JSS.

Robert Y · ‎08-03-2021

Your account of what happened suggests there was bullying and intimidation on the client's part. It might be possible to persuade Upwork to have the client's feedback removed because of this.

Petra R · ‎08-04-2021

Robert Y wrote:
Your account of what happened suggests there was bullying and intimidation on the client's part. It might be possible to persuade Upwork to have the client's feedback removed because of this.

No, it isn't.

Kiran S · ‎08-03-2021

Hello there,

I received my first client on Upwork for working as a PHP Laravel Developer full-time. When I asked queries about the assignment, he constantly replies that I have been disrespectful and ask a dumb questions. He even didn't supply the whole requirement.

Somehow, I have worked for roughly 2 days. And, I have reported the hours that I have worked. I was new in the Upwork, therefore I reported to him the hours that I have taken rather than using the Upwork time tracker because I didn't know about the time tracker. I know it's my fault. I requested him to enable me to add the manual time. But, he claimed he will not allow me to add the manual time.

After 2nd day, he didn't assign any task for me. One of the workers from his team, reply that they will let me know after they have a task. They asked me to work full time and now, they want me to wait for the task. I had waited 3 more days to get a work. However, I didn't get any reply from the client. When I pinged him, he begins to comment that I have been a harsh and ungrateful person. He even threatens me that he will not pay and said fraud to me. He even mentioned he will report to the Upwork support staff. After some long conversation, he only paid half amount of money and I ended a contract. He was such an unpleasant and dishonest person. He always finds fault in others. And, he never accepts the mistake on his side. After viewing the client's job history, most of the freelancing have given him a poor rating and feedback.

He has given me 1 and poor feedback which affects my future work on Upwork as it is bad feedback on my very first job, and will other clients not hire me because of this. Is there any way to eliminate bad feedbacks from my profile? (I can show that everything I just said)

Petra R · ‎08-03-2021

Kiran S wrote:
Is there any way to eliminate bad feedbacks from my profile? (I can show that everything I just said)

Only by refunding what you've been paid.

Did you not look at the client's history? He has given really poor feedback to every single freelancer he ever worked with bar one.

Upwork, do you really, REALLY need clients like that?

Kiran S · ‎08-03-2021

He paid as a bonus. Can I refund that amount?

Preston H · ‎08-03-2021

re: "He paid as a bonus. Can I refund that amount?"

It does not matter how a client pays. A freelancer can refund any payment from a client.

Petra R · ‎08-03-2021

Kiran S wrote:
He paid as a bonus. Can I refund that amount?

Sure. As long as you refund in full, the whole contract and the feedback will vanish after a day or two. I wouldn't normally suggest rewarding bad clients for bad behaviour, but as this was your first and so far only contract it really isn't a good look on your profile and I suspect it would hurt your chances of getting hired.

In future ***DO*** check the history of clients before you even apply. If you had done so, you'd have seen that the client is a nightmare and never applied in the first place.

Go to the contract and click on the three dots, then choose "Give refund"

Robert Y · ‎08-04-2021

Petra R wrote:
Kiran S wrote:
Is there any way to eliminate bad feedbacks from my profile? (I can show that everything I just said)
Only by refunding what you've been paid.

Did you not look at the client's history? He has given really poor feedback to every single freelancer he ever worked with bar one.

Upwork, do you really, REALLY need clients like that?

There's definitely something strange going on there. He seems to hire freelancers just for the purpose of giving them bad feedback. I didn't know Upwork exempted freelancers from the JSS consequences of some clients' feedback.

Jamie F · ‎08-04-2021

That's quite possibly the worst client profile I've seen.

Petra R · ‎08-04-2021

Jamie F wrote:
That's quite possibly the worst client profile I've seen.

What can be seen is absolutely foul BUT we can only see less than 5% of that client's history (Upwork, for some bizarre reason, cuts out all but the most recent 50 contracts) and they have a high average star rating.

That means they must have large contracts that ended with great feedback (stars are completely and fully Dollar weighed so one single contract worth $5000 weighs the same as 100 contracts at $50)

Seems the client has massive turnover and most contracts are short and painful, but you can also see that he has freelancers he works with long term, so maybe he's only a beep to certain freelancers.

I do agree it looks absolutely horrendous and I am at a loss why anyone would accept a contract from them.

Woodrow Q · ‎08-04-2021

Hello Petra,

Petra R wrote:
Jamie F wrote:
That's quite possibly the worst client profile I've seen.
What can be seen is absolutely foul BUT we can only see less than 5% of that client's history (Upwork, for some bizarre reason, cuts out all but the most recent 50 contracts) and they have a high average star rating.

That means they must have large contracts that ended with great feedback (stars are completely and fully Dollar weighed so one single contract worth $5000 weighs the same as 100 contracts at $50)

Seems the client has massive turnover and most contracts are short and painful, but you can also see that he has freelancers he works with long term, so maybe he's only a beep to certain freelancers.

I do agree it looks absolutely horrendous and I am at a loss why anyone would accept a contract from them.

Unfortunately, I have seen this type of behavior far too often with clients in one particular industry; TECHNOLOGY, e.g., SaaS, IT, MSP, Cybersecurity, Cloud Providers, Software Engineers, etc.

It doesn't excuse the freelancer, but a word to the wise to you, Kiran, and anyone else willing to take on a technology client. They are brutal in their feedback and criticism.

If they are a Chief Technical Officer on the project they will expect perfection. They give no room for error or excuses. If you say you can perform a certain task, then by golly, you'd better bring it and more.

I've paid my dues with them, and honestly, I hope I never have another tech client again.

Petra R · ‎08-04-2021

Woodrow Q wrote:
Hello Petra,

Unfortunately, I have seen this type of behavior far too often with clients in one particular industry; TECHNOLOGY, e.g., SaaS, IT, MSP, Cybersecurity, Cloud Providers, Software Engineers, etc.

I work with clients in those industries frequently and haven't found them any more challenging than any other client-industry.

Jennifer R · ‎08-04-2021

One freelancer feedback says that the client is also a top rated freelancer on Upwork.

Christine A · ‎08-04-2021

Robert Y wrote:
There's definitely something strange going on there. He seems to hire freelancers just for the purpose of giving them bad feedback.

It's extremely weird. You'd think that a client who has hired freelancers over 1,500 times would learn how to avoid working with people who don't fit his needs. He pays low rates, but even so, some of the freelancers who got 1-star reviews were paid hundreds of dollars, in at least one case over $1,000 - why didn't he stop working with them sooner, if they were so terrible?

Jennifer R · ‎08-04-2021

Christine A wrote:
Robert Y wrote:
There's definitely something strange going on there. He seems to hire freelancers just for the purpose of giving them bad feedback.
It's extremely weird. You'd think that a client who has hired freelancers over 1,500 times would learn how to avoid working with people who don't fit his needs. He pays low rates, but even so, some of the freelancers who got 1-star reviews were paid hundreds of dollars, in at least one case over $1,000 - why didn't he stop working with them sooner, if they were so terrible?

Could be a freelancer hired as project manager by an Upwork Plus Client.

Christine A · ‎08-04-2021

Jennifer R wrote:
Christine A wrote:
Robert Y wrote:
There's definitely something strange going on there. He seems to hire freelancers just for the purpose of giving them bad feedback.
It's extremely weird. You'd think that a client who has hired freelancers over 1,500 times would learn how to avoid working with people who don't fit his needs. He pays low rates, but even so, some of the freelancers who got 1-star reviews were paid hundreds of dollars, in at least one case over $1,000 - why didn't he stop working with them sooner, if they were so terrible?
Could be a freelancer hired as project manager by an Upwork Plus Client.

It sounds like he's a really bad project manager, then.

Petra R · ‎08-04-2021

Robert Y wrote:
He seems to hire freelancers just for the purpose of giving them bad feedback.

That would be an incredibly expensive hobby, look how much money he's spent...

I suspect he farms out work he gets on his freelancer account via his client account.

Christine A · ‎08-04-2021

Petra R wrote:
Robert Y wrote:
He seems to hire freelancers just for the purpose of giving them bad feedback.
That would be an incredibly expensive hobby, look how much money he's spent...

I suspect he farms out work he gets on his freelancer account via his client account.

You could both be right, though. Maybe he gets work from clients, farms it out to cheaper freelancers, and gives them bad reviews to reduce the chances that clients will hire them directly. Since one of his unfortunate freelancers describes him as an "evil robot person", anything is possible.