"How to remove a bad review"

[683182ae]

I just had a bad experience with one of my client and she ended up rating me negatively. She was asking me to do more in less budget and I said no then she Just ended up contract rating me negatively. As I was new to this platform and everything was going on track, she thought that she can make me to do extra work just for review in lest budget when I said no she just ended with 1star rating.

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Abhishek K wrote:
How to remove a bad review

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The only way to remove the public feedback is to issue a full refund. Even if you do that, the contract will have a huge affect on your metrics and your future Job Success Score because it is 10 times bigger than your previous contracts together, and the Job Success Score is Dollar weighed.

It is likely that you will lose your Rising Talent status too.

[683182ae]

Is there any solution which don't have any negative impact on my jss and raising talent badge.

[petra_r]

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Abhishek K wrote:
Is there any solution which don't have any negative impact on my jss and raising talent badge.

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No. Every contract has an impact. This is why we have to nail down specifics before accepting a contract, so that misunderstandings such as this do not happen in the first place.

[anewdialect]

I had a similar issue with a client - this person was supposedly a project manager and she did not give me enough information about the project - in fact, she gave me WRONG information. She basically sent me documentation which was meant for 3 freelancers to do and said I'd have like a week to work on it, when they really wanted it in 2 days. After going back and forth with them, she (and later her boss) acted like I was taking advantage by using up close to the amount of hours we had agreed upon, AND gave me a negative, lackluster review. I definitely did not communicate poorly - this person was straight up a terrible manager. I have been a freelancer and contractor for over 15 years, and the review does not reflect me at all.

I responded to the feedback I received so future clients could see it, but I haven't gotten a single project I've applied to since then. I've had a few random people contact me and that's it. I feel like I've wasted my time applying to things and now just want a refund on the connects I still have. 

Upwork needs to change this rating system - it's completely unfair. Our worth should not be based on what clients think of us. The whole point of freelancing is to avoid a lot of the **Edited for Community Guidelines** that comes with employment.

[petra_r]

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Christina V wrote:

Upwork needs to change this rating system - it's completely unfair. Our worth should not be based on what clients think of us. 

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What else is there? The worth of every product is largely determined by what buyers think of it. 

[anewdialect]

But we aren't talking about products here, we're being rated as freelancers: as PEOPLE, and on HOW we produce. Clients have too much freedom to say whatever they want and even lie. We can respond, but then that isn't counted equally when clients can also leave a star rating that can change a numerical average.

[petra_r]

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Christina V wrote:

But we aren't talking about products here

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Bottom line: We are.

[feed_my_eyes]

Don't most, if not all, online services - not just products - have ratings systems? It's unfortunate that there are some malicious clients out there who give unfair reviews, but there are also lots of awful freelancers whose poor ratings are entirely deserved, and necessary to prevent clients from making bad hiring decisions. Would you want to be part of a platform where there are no consequences for freelancers who consistently make clients unhappy? There would soon be no clients left.

[anewdialect]

Fair point. I will say: I'm open to people's feedback if it's honest - even if it's not great - because then at least I have something to go off of. I could say "this is what I'd improve upon next time." But if someone writes a completely false review then there's not enough room for me to even defend myself and it's just my word vs. theirs.

Maybe it would be better if the negativity just wasn't a part of the rating system. If a client liked a freelancer and vice versa, they could leave a "thumbs up" with a positive comment. So freelancers who were not stellar just wouldn't get many reviews, if any.

[feed_my_eyes]

I disagree - that would be much worse. Sometimes clients don't leave reviews because they're just too busy, so it would be terrible if every "no feedback" was interpreted as a negative experience (which is exactly how it would be interpreted, if only positive feedback was allowed).

[anewdialect]

See, I wouldn't assume no feedback was bad. I would assume the same thing you just said - that the client either didn't have time, or the freelancer was anywhere from "not memorable" to "not great." So it's kind of an unknown, but either way they were not memorable enough to get a review, and the people who do get them would still look better in search results.

I feel like you're operating under the assumption that a lot of freelancers aren't solid workers, or flaky, and that's why they freelance instead of having regular jobs. A lot of people make this assumption, and it's not true. Sometimes when someone is new at the game, they don't know how to manage their time, or their communication skills need to improve, and getting ONE bad review on here can completely ruin someone's chances. And seriously...why the bad review in a case like that? Isn't not paying someone enough? And if a client did end up paying, how much did they really lose considering these problems are caught early on? Bad reviews are so petty. I don't believe that freelancers join this site with the intention of trying to take advantage. If crappy freelancers are such a concern, maybe Upwork should interview/screen people.

[feed_my_eyes]

Freelancers DO join this website - in droves! - with the intention of taking advantage. Spend some time reading the forum and checking out other freelancers - there are thousands who have profiles filled with lies and portfolios filled with stolen work. I agree that Upwork should vet them - or at least ban them when they're caught - but they don't. For whatever reason, the ratings are the only way for clients to be warned against being ripped off.

[anewdialect]

That's ashame - I wasn't aware of that. Hopefully if this is read by enough people they can consider screening freelancers. I also think more responsibiility could be placed on the client: asking for information, looking up portfolio websites and LinkedIn profiles, etc. Not just going by an Upwork profile.

[feed_my_eyes]

You might want to learn more about how this website works before you say anything else. Freelancers are not allowed to give out information like Linked In details or website URLs - it's a violation of Upwork's terms of service.

[anewdialect]

Really? Well yeah, apparently I don't since after 1 lone client gave me a **bleep**ty review, I stopped taking this website very seriously. It's not worth frequently updating the profile section if no one contacts me because of that.

I don't plan on trying to violate your terms of service but I will say, if I was hiring someone to do a job for me, I would research them thoroughly. I would google them, look up their portfolio site (though they should give me one), LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. I would not go by one profile, that wouldn't be an informed decision. 

I definitely won't be using Upwork anymore after I use the last of my connects.

[4396f845]

I think the solution here is; Upwork should leave the ratings and reviews settings as they are but in cases of very bad/ terrible reviews, Upwork should give each freelancer at least 5 chances to dispute bad reviews gotten. This dispute shouldn't involve the client who gave it.

After the contract has ended, payments are made and bad reviews given, a freelancer should be given the chance to dispute the review for removal by Upwork. You mustn't get a Top Rated badge first to remove it, because these reviews and ratings are the means to get to Top Rated.

As the dispute commences, facts are presented by the freelancer and the Upwork Team does their research. If the Freelancer is found on the right side, the bad review should be cleared out immediately. 

Upwork should enable their software/system to handle this with an automatic click, because most times the reasons they give is that their software system cannot handle this and because of this a feedback reply has been enabled beneath the bad review to help. This is still not okay!!!

Till Upwork favours freelancers on this particular end, what I will advice is this;

If a bad feedback blocks future contracts, it's best you switch to another skill for the maintime to push that unhealthy review away from the first page and to boost your Jss. Contracts looking for a certain skill won't hire you if you've been discredited based on that skill. Look for a skill that's off from the skill your currently selling and try your luck. I feel this is the only way out, if stuck in this disheartening situation.

[b599e295]

Thank you for this. I sincerely agree. I was given a bad review because I refused to commit Identity fraud which the client doesnt let freelancers know upfront. As soon as I asked him to terminate the contract. He proceeded to give a terrible unrealistic review. 1 star ratings for every skill. Unfortunately clients will not see through the 1 star. I have all proofs to back up my claims above.