What does it mean when Upwork closes a contract?

[60e2e62d]

Yesterday evening I was working on a project for a client. After I was done I needed to wait a few days until my client did his part so I could finish the job. Now it is around 24 hours later and the contract was abruptly closed.

Normally it shows that the client closed the contract, but this time Upwork itself seemed to have closed it. There was no benefit for the client to close it now, and it wouldn't make sense to me either.

Now I have a few questions on my mind:

- What could be the reason that Upwork closed this contract?

- Will the project still become visible on my profile as finished with no feedback?

My best guess is that either the job or the client got reported and that Upwork took action. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Have a nice day!

[martina_plaschka · Accepted solution]

If there is a problem with the client's payment method, the contract would be suspended, not ended. I don't think upwork ever ends contracts. It must have been the client. 

[lysis10]

How long was the money in escrow?

[60e2e62d]

Since we started off, which is yesterday.

[ericaandrews]

You should try to message the client on Upwork or try opening the original job posting on Upwork.  If the client account is somehow 'gone' suddenly or the job post 'no longer exists', then it's likely a crooked/scammy 'client' that got kicked off the site.  You should also check your email (including spam folders) to see if Upwork sent you any messages regarding a 'problem' with the client's account.  If you are able to reach the client and they closed the contract themselves, it could just be a bug in Upwork's software that didn't show you the proper message.  It looks like that screenshot is either from the phone app or the desktop client, and sometimes those show 'abbreviated' messages to fit the 'small' screen space.  You can get way more information about your contracts and contract history by opening them up in the full web site instead.

[60e2e62d]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the situation. The client sent a message just now, claiming they accidentally closed it.

[martina_plaschka]

That's what I thought!

[PradeepH]

Hi Sietse,

Thank you for your message. I checked the job you are referring to and I would like to clarify that the job was taken down because it was in violation of Upwork TOS. Specifically, it involves purchasing or requesting a fake review. Our team has already notified you about the same via a support ticket as well. Please review the 'What you’re not allowed to do on Upwork' section on our Terms of Use page to stay safe and keep your Upwork account in good standing. Please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime if you’d like to report a violation or any suspicious activity.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[60e2e62d]

Hi Pradeep,

Thank you for letting me know, I should have done more research before accepting this job offer.

If I may ask a question, can the client still leave a bad review if I refuse to complete the job as it was taken down?

Have a nice day.

Kind regards,

Sietse.