Violation of Upwork TOS?

[inspired64]

Is it a violation of Upwork TOS to ask me to do prep work before contract is started? I did not respond to employer's email prior to contract starting and he ended the contract and requested a refund. I have been compensated in the past for doing research and prep work, but this employer did not offer that.  Thanks for your thoughts.

[petra_r]

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Beth C wrote:

I have been compensated in the past for doing research and prep work, but this employer did not offer that. 

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A fixed rate contract should be priced in such a way that the price include all that is needed to complete it, that includes "research and prep" as needed. 

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Beth C wrote:

Is it a violation of Upwork TOS to ask me to do prep work before contract is started? I did not respond to employer's email prior to contract starting and he ended the contract and requested a refund. 

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I am somewhat puzzled about the timeline? The client asked you to do something, then sent the offer, which you accepted? Where does the "violation of the terms of service" come into it? Clearly you had a contract or the client couldn't be ending it? 

[inspired64]

I had a contract but it clearly stated the start date was 2/8/2021, and the email was sent on 02/05/2021.  I was not online or checking my Upwork messages on that day.

[petra_r]

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Beth C wrote:

I had a contract but it clearly stated the start date was 2/8/2021, and the email was sent on 02/05/2021.  I was not online or checking my Upwork messages on that day.

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There was a contract, so I don't see a terms of service violation. The contract was fixed rate, so the price should include all that is needed to complete the milestone.

The contract is over and closed, so it's really academic, isn't it?

[inspired64]

Sure it's "academic" as you say, but I was sincerely wondering about prep work being required prior to a contract started, i.e., no billable hours to do the prep. No sense in doing unbillable work.

[petra_r]

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Beth C wrote:

Sure it's "academic" as you say, but I was sincerely wondering about prep work being required prior to a contract started, i.e., no billable hours to do the prep. No sense in doing unbillable work.

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Wasn't it a fixed rate contract? There are no "billable hours" in fixed rate contracts. The price you bid should have included everything needed to complete the work, including any necessary prep or research.

[sandip_mondol]

Hi there!

Today, I received a warning email about a profile violation. Actually, it's not my profile violation it's my project catalog, and they take my profile in private. At this moment my profile is Private. They told me to reply to this email confirming that you will comply with the Terms of Service moving forward. We can then review your profile for compliance and set it back to the public. I already reply this mail. Now, what can I do? Please help me with what can I do at this moment.

Regards,

Sandip **Edited for Community Guidelines**.

[AleksandarD]

Hi Sandip,

As you already replied to the support ticket, please allow some time for the team to carefully review your case and follow up directly on the same ticket. Once they do, you'll be notified about it!

Thank you.

[sandip_mondol]

Hello Aleksandar!

Thank you so much for replying to me. Can you please tell me is there any chance they are restricted or permanently blocked my account? This is my first warning. I attached the email screenshots. Please see it.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[AleksandarD]

Hi Sandip,

If you have any questions, you need to post them directly on the ticket so the correct department can assist you further. 

Thank you.

[tlbp]

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Beth C wrote:

Is it a violation of Upwork TOS to ask me to do prep work before contract is started? I did not respond to employer's email prior to contract starting and he ended the contract and requested a refund. I have been compensated in the past for doing research and prep work, but this employer did not offer that.  Thanks for your thoughts.

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This sounds like a communication issue not a pre-contract work issue. You weren't planning to begin work until Monday as per the contract, the client reached out on Friday and you didn't respond.

If you had been online and seen the message, you would have been able to say, "Hey client, I wasn't planning to start until Monday." It would appear your client was impatient and just decided to move. Unfortunately, Upwork doesn't have an "out of office" responder for freelancers and usually, it isn't a problem. I think you just ended up with a rare combination of hasty client and bad timing. 

If you have communication policies such as no weekends or evenings or plan to be away after taking on a contract, you may have to reiterate this in your communications with the client. I don't recall ever running into this problem, but there's always a first time. 😕

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Tonya P wrote:

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Unfortunately, Upwork doesn't have an "out of office" responder for freelancers

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They do!

[inspired64]

Thank you, Tonya P!  Super helpful!!!

[inspired64]

First time I've run into it as well, which is why I'm asking.  Agree that clear terms should be set, and because I had not agreed to fixed rate contracts prior, I didn't understand that there was no additional hours for prep work.

[prestonhunter]

There is a learning curve with fixed-price contracts. Handled well, they can be a great benefit to a freelancer. Handled poorly, they can be disastrous.

There are many freelancers who simply don't work with fixed-price contracts. (And there other freelancers who don't work with hourly contracts... but for different reasons.)

[inspired64]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Tonya.  I agree - it was a communication error.  Good point to make start and end dates/times more clear before proceeding with a contract.