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l_sanguineti
Community Member

losing connects/money for nothing

I've noticed that kind of issue a lot of times, and I want to share it and see if others freelancers has the same problem.
A lot of times we apply to an offer and then that offer is closed and another identical one is opened a few hours later.
 
(Happened right now with those ones, I will share the links but I don't know if it's the correct thing to do, if it's not I apologize and please delete them)
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
 
This way, proposal and my connects are lost, and if you want to apply again, you've to spend other money in connects.
That happens too many times, as too many times clients open an offer that ask for a fast delivery (2/3 hrs), you apply ASAP and then they disappear (not even a single interview in those offers)
 
Freelancers lose money and connects for nothing that way. Your opinion?
6 REPLIES 6
g_vasilevski
Retired Team Member
Retired Team Member

Hi Luca,

 

I understand this is frustrating and our team will review the client further. If any violations of our TOS are found, proper actions will be taken. 
I would also recommend to always check the client history and stats on the right side on a job post, before submitting a proposal. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork
florydev
Community Member


Luca S wrote:
I've noticed that kind of issue a lot of times, and I want to share it and see if others freelancers has the same problem.
A lot of times we apply to an offer and then that offer is closed and another identical one is opened a few hours later.
 
(Happened right now with those ones, I will share the links but I don't know if it's the correct thing to do, if it's not I apologize and please delete them)
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
 
This way, proposal and my connects are lost, and if you want to apply again, you've to spend other money in connects.
That happens too many times, as too many times clients open an offer that ask for a fast delivery (2/3 hrs), you apply ASAP and then they disappear (not even a single interview in those offers)
 
Freelancers lose money and connects for nothing that way. Your opinion?

If a client cancels a job your connects are returned.  You don't get them back immediately but they do come back.  So if a client has in fact closed the previous job (or it was closed for them because they violated TOS) you will get those connects back.

 

 

For what I know, connects are given back only if the client has chosen the option to give back them if nobody is hired, and that happens very few times.

 

Anyway, my issue was not centered on that single situation, but on a lot of similar ones in which freelancers lose connects (and therefore money) for nothing. I've on average 20/25 submitted proposals, and a lot of them disappear after one month without any kind of hiring. Same for the previoulsy commented "urgent jobs", clients request a 2/3 hrs response and then they don't even interview one freelancer. All those connects are lost.

 

Should be given back to the freelancer any time that the client doesn't really hire anybody, especially with those clients that have a very low % of hirings. We're actually spending a lot of money in projects that weren't up for grab.

 

Hi Luca,

 

Just to clarify, clients doesn't have an option to chose if the connects are refunded or not. We will return Connects when a client closes their job without hiring or we find a job post has violated our Terms of Service. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork


Luca S wrote:

For what I know, connects are given back only if the client has chosen the option to give back them if nobody is hired, and that happens very few times.

 

Anyway, my issue was not centered on that single situation, but on a lot of similar ones in which freelancers lose connects (and therefore money) for nothing. I've on average 20/25 submitted proposals, and a lot of them disappear after one month without any kind of hiring. Same for the previoulsy commented "urgent jobs", clients request a 2/3 hrs response and then they don't even interview one freelancer. All those connects are lost.

 

Should be given back to the freelancer any time that the client doesn't really hire anybody, especially with those clients that have a very low % of hirings. We're actually spending a lot of money in projects that weren't up for grab.

 


Yes, and that is probably by design don't you think?  Some people think it is a money grab by Upwork, personally I think that is silly.  I think if Upwork gave back the connects every time a client doesn't hire then there really is not much purpose in connects. 

 

I think that what Upwork really wants is for people to only apply for projects they have a realistic shot at and to not reward people who make really poor attempts at getting the work.  They want it to hurt a little so that you have skin in the game.

 

Nobody really knows why clients don't hire but it is hard for me to imagine they came on here and wasted their time going through the process for no purpose.  My best guess is in most cases they just didn't find what they were looking for.  It hurts to think of it that way somewhat because that means every job I didn't get the client didn't think I was worthwhile, but it just makes me try harder.

Mark, your point about applying only in the jobs with a realistic shot would be a valid one if Upwork would give the freelancer 30 connects for free every month. As there isn't such an option, and we have to pay for every single connect, I don't think that anyone enjoy to apply to every offer just for the sake of losing their own money. That would be silly.

So yes, for me it's absolutely a money grab in that kind of situations I've described. If a client ask for an urgent task and than doesn't even interview anyone, those connects should be refunded. If a client open multiple offers for the same job and don't close the previous ones, those connects should be refunded. If a client doesn't hire at all for multiple times, should be at least warned.

 

In the end, I've calculated that 32% of my earnings have gone to Upwork, and a good % of those is for connects. That's a big %, I think I've the right to be unhappy about this and other situations that, IMO, doesn't help the freelancers at all.

Another one, for example, is the fact that the private feedback has a great importance for the JSS, while freelancer could only know the public feedback of the clients, that is always positive. So freelancers cannot really know what clients are good ones and which are not, when they apply to an offer. 

How that situation bode with the desire to apply only if you have a realistic shot? I would probably avoid to apply to a ton of those offers, if I was given the possibility to know the private feedback of the client as they know the one of the freelancers.

That's another example of money grab IMO.

 

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