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lemecoder
Community Member

Why are there so many unresponsive clients on Upwork, are they fake accounts?

In job description, the clients mostly say 'I want this urgently done' and when I submit the proposal the client suddenly is not in any hurry and even me waiting for hours, still client does not hire anybody and its not that they have not hiring history before. Is this any kind of scam? why upwork does not take action against such clients?

I am not satisfied with this platform.

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resultsassoc
Community Member

Abdur,

 

The client might have posted the job on  four different freelancer websites, and hired somebody from another site.

 

The client's needs might have changed. For example, over what I believe was a five-week period I had a client go into a coma the day before I was headed to Eupre; one client in Guatemala experienced a riot outside his building, and the building was destroyed with him in it; a client from Pakistan had to return there when his brother died, so mn-lawy client was going to marry his sister-in-law; I was in my car driving to Detroit to help merge five separate companies, and got a phone call letting me know that one of the owners had died overnight. If I had posted a job to hire someone to support the engagements, it would not have been awarded.

 

The client might specialize in complex engagements requiring a multitude of talents. Before submitting a response I needed to be sure I could find a reliable/affordable Chemistry Phd; an expert in converting ppt to online learnig; a statistician; etc. I will not respond to a lead until I'm absolutely certain I can deliver what is required. If the client canceled the work, or it was awarded to someone else, that's several jobs that weren't awarded.

 

I suggest you filter jobs by number of applicants. If a client receives 340 responses,she's not going to get back to anyone.

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12 REPLIES 12
hardorff
Community Member

"I am not satisfied with this platform."
- Upwork makes the rules and if we don't like them, no one is forcing us to stay.
BUT, I agree with you. Many clients are not hiring which costs us connects, which are a bit annoying. In other cases, you are up against a lot of other freelancers, who may have lower prices than you, a better portfolio, a better rating or they are better at writing proposals.

martina_plaschka
Community Member


Abdur Rehman S wrote:

In job description, the clients mostly say 'I want this urgently done' and when I submit the proposal the client suddenly is not in any hurry and even me waiting for hours, still client does not hire anybody and its not that they have not hiring history before. Is this any kind of scam? why upwork does not take action against such clients?

I am not satisfied with this platform.


Calling a job urgent in itself is not a scam. But I can see how inexperienced freelancers might jump at such a job, because they think it's their chance if the react quickly. I guess I did that too in the beginning. Now I stay away from "urgent" jobs by a country mile. A serious client with good time management has no urgent jobs. That was my learning. 


Martina P wrote:


. A serious client with good time management has no urgent jobs. That was my learning. 


Haha, I have made a lot of money out of clients' bad time management (or their previous freelancer dropping the ball...)

I charge significantly more for them, so I don't often get them, but when I do, it's worth my while.

 

 

 

 

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi All,

 

A few posts have been removed from this thread for Community Guidelines. I would just like to ask you to keep the conversation professional and avoid personal attacks. Please be mindful of the Community Guidelines and respectful toward other members of the Community.

~ Bojan
Upwork


Bojan S wrote:

Hi All,

 

A few posts have been removed from this thread for Community Guidelines. I would just like to ask you to keep the conversation professional and avoid personal attacks. Please be mindful of the Community Guidelines and respectful toward other members of the Community.


Darn. This feeling when I read that posts have been removed, and I've not seen them, and I have no idea what fun I missed - that is not a good feeling. 


Martina P wrote:


Darn. This feeling when I read that posts have been removed, and I've not seen them, and I have no idea what fun I missed - that is not a good feeling. 


Me too. I've totally missed all the dramz. booo

 

OP, if you're still around, my suggestion is to stay away from "urgent" stuff if connects is an issue for you. I generally avoid urgent, but I've done them before when I'm invited. I would not bid on them in the open marketplace though if I had to conserve connects. If you got plenty to throw around, then why not.

stecchino
Community Member

Frustrating, for sure, but there's nothing to be done about it. I love those urgent jobs because completing a project within a tight deadline feels highly satisfying and I know I can do the job well, but I'm with you. It seems like those clients rarely end up hiring anyone.
I've come to approach such jobs with caution (if I approach them at all) and to lessen my saltiness by reasoning that there could be any number of circumstances preventing the client from going through with their original intent to hire a freelancer.

resultsassoc
Community Member

Abdur,

 

The client might have posted the job on  four different freelancer websites, and hired somebody from another site.

 

The client's needs might have changed. For example, over what I believe was a five-week period I had a client go into a coma the day before I was headed to Eupre; one client in Guatemala experienced a riot outside his building, and the building was destroyed with him in it; a client from Pakistan had to return there when his brother died, so mn-lawy client was going to marry his sister-in-law; I was in my car driving to Detroit to help merge five separate companies, and got a phone call letting me know that one of the owners had died overnight. If I had posted a job to hire someone to support the engagements, it would not have been awarded.

 

The client might specialize in complex engagements requiring a multitude of talents. Before submitting a response I needed to be sure I could find a reliable/affordable Chemistry Phd; an expert in converting ppt to online learnig; a statistician; etc. I will not respond to a lead until I'm absolutely certain I can deliver what is required. If the client canceled the work, or it was awarded to someone else, that's several jobs that weren't awarded.

 

I suggest you filter jobs by number of applicants. If a client receives 340 responses,she's not going to get back to anyone.

Finally, Some logical and straight answer!
Thanks Bill.
irieislandgirl
Community Member

That happened to me 3 times now. Need it in two days, and weeks go by. Must not have been that "URGENT".

bundie702
Community Member

Equally frustrating (to me) are the clients who don't say they're in a hurry to hire, but within 15 minutes of posting a job they are already interviewing 2 or 3 applicants (when less than 5 people applied)...I saw this most recently just the other day. 

w62n
Community Member

before you get too upset. put yourself in their shoes. most clients here are failry new to whatever they are trying to have done. and if their job description (and budget) is anywhere near reasonable, they will get PILES of responses in just the first hour.

i'm an upwork freelancer AND a client. and like you, it used to frustrate the heck out of me when a client wourldnt respond to my thoughfully constructed and informative proposal. here's the problem, they probbaly have 20-200 other "thoughfully constructed and informative proposals" to sort though. i can tell you from experience, once you sort out the "form proposals" who clearly did not read you post. and the others who are dramatically either under or over qualified, you've eaten up half a day. and you still havent gotten to all the good ones.

dont take it personally. just keep sending proposals. and if you keep getting nothing back, maybe you need to evaluate the way you present yourself. there are a variety of threads here and on social media and various webinars and blogs that will help you improve your proposal skills.

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