Job Not Exactly What Advertised

georgina75 · ‎02-23-2020

I am new to Upwork. I responded to this ad by **Edited for Community Guidelines** - "Female actress needed to read sales copy" in which the poster says, "I have a written sales script I would like read and recorded by a middle aged woman." I responded with a proposal, he contacted me asking me to record myself on video reading from a script he sent to me. He also sent a link to a Clickbait promotion for Leptitox, a weight loss product. I assumed he needed a voiceover which is why I submitted a proposal. Nowhere did his ad mention I would be in a video that would be promoting this product all over the internet. On further research, there are numerous complaints that Leptitox is a big scam. I do not want to be associated with this product as an actor. Do I simply withdraw my proposal? Do I get my connects back since this doesn't seem to be exactly what was in his job description? Do I go and withdraw my proposal? Thanks for any help.

a_lipsey · ‎02-23-2020

Georgina L wrote:
I am new to Upwork. I responded to this ad by Nicholas Pounder - "Female actress needed to read sales copy" in which the poster says, "I have a written sales script I would like read and recorded by a middle aged woman." I responded with a proposal, he contacted me asking me to record myself on video reading from a script he sent to me. He also sent a link to a Clickbait promotion for Leptitox, a weight loss product. I assumed he needed a voiceover which is why I submitted a proposal. Nowhere did his ad mention I would be in a video that would be promoting this product all over the internet. On further research, there are numerous complaints that Leptitox is a big scam. I do not want to be associated with this product as an actor. Do I simply withdraw my proposal? Do I get my connects back since this doesn't seem to be exactly what was in his job description? Do I go and withdraw my proposal? Thanks for any help.

Please tell me you didn't send him a video or audio file of you reading the script already? Because then you've done free work and it doesn't matter.

But yes, just withdraw your proposal.

georgina75 · ‎02-23-2020

No, I didn't send anything. Thank you for your answer. I will go and withdraw my proposal now.

prestonhunter · ‎02-23-2020

re: "Do I get my connects back since this doesn't seem to be exactly what was in his job description?"

No.

Sorry.

re: "Do I go and withdraw my proposal?"

You are welcome to withdraw your proposal. That is what you should do if you have no intention of working on this project.

re: "Female actress needed to read sales copy I have a written sales script I would like read and recorded by a middle aged woman."

I'm sorry if you are disappointed by how this particular proposal turned out. But based on your description, I can't see anything inaccurate about the job posting. It seems that the job poster was insufficiently familiar with industry norms for wording, and failed to make it clear that when he wanted to record an actress, he meant video AND audio, instead of just audio (which is what you assumed).

In case it helps, I can point out that even if the job turned out to be "not exactly what was advertised," it doesn't necessarily mean you would get your connects back.

Freelancers receive their connects back when a job posting is removed due to violation of Upwork ToS. But imperfect or imprecise wording does not constitute a ToS violation.

georgina75 · ‎02-23-2020

Okay, thank you very much for your answer. I appreciate it.

georgina75 · ‎02-23-2020

Hello, I originally posted in the "New To Upwork" section but I think I should actually post it here instead. I am pretty new to Upwork. I responded to this ad - "Female actress needed to read sales copy" in which the poster says, "I have a written sales script I would like read and recorded by a middle aged woman." I responded with a proposal, he contacted me asking me to record myself on video reading from a script he sent to me. He also sent a link to a Clickbait promotion for Leptitox, a weight loss product. I assumed he needed a voiceover which is why I submitted a proposal. Nowhere did his post mention I would be in a video that would be promoting this product all over the internet. On further research, there are numerous complaints that Leptitox is a big scam. I do not want to be associated with this product as an actor. Do I simply withdraw my proposal? Do I get my connects back since this doesn't seem to be exactly what was in his job description? Do I go and withdraw my proposal? Thanks for any help.

jithintv · ‎02-23-2020

Unfortunately, you won't get your connects back!

mwiggenhorn · ‎02-23-2020

Were you actually hired, i.e signed a contract on Upwork? Go back to the original job post and flag it with a complete description of what happened. If the job is taken down, you will get your connects back. If he got you to provide a free sample, the job should be taken down as being against the TOS (no unpaid samples allowed). In that case, you should get your connects back.

And block this guy while you're at it.

georgina75 · ‎02-24-2020

No, I wasn't actually hired. It is not something I would want to be associated with and I only knew that AFTER I made the proposal and AFTER he contacted me with what the job really was. I have tried to flag it, fill out my explanation and all, but when I go to submit, it only disappears. Nothing says my flag went through. Looking back at the post, nothing says flagged.

colettelewis · ‎02-23-2020

Georgina L wrote:
Hello, I originally posted in the "New To Upwork" section but I think I should actually post it here instead. I am pretty new to Upwork. I responded to this ad - "Female actress needed to read sales copy" in which the poster says, "I have a written sales script I would like read and recorded by a middle aged woman." I responded with a proposal, he contacted me asking me to record myself on video reading from a script he sent to me. He also sent a link to a Clickbait promotion for Leptitox, a weight loss product. I assumed he needed a voiceover which is why I submitted a proposal. Nowhere did his post mention I would be in a video that would be promoting this product all over the internet. On further research, there are numerous complaints that Leptitox is a big scam. I do not want to be associated with this product as an actor. Do I simply withdraw my proposal? Do I get my connects back since this doesn't seem to be exactly what was in his job description? Do I go and withdraw my proposal? Thanks for any help.

___________________________

Georgina,

I'm surprised a moderator hasn't helped you on this. First of all, I think you should report the client, as you did not agree to the video being published.

Second, tell your non-client that since he has not paid you, your picture, your video and your recording belong to you and that unless he removes your video and your recording, you will ask Google for a takedown. If he doesn't remove it.

(When you give a sample to a client give a generic recording of yourself,not something they can use until you have a formal contract in place.)

You won't get your connects back unless Upwork finds that the client has violated their ToS. Has the client ot any feedback on Upwork?

georgina75 · ‎02-24-2020

Actually, on further reflection, it is not truly to do with a poster not being acquainted with industry norms. The original post asks for an actress to "read and record" from a script. It says nothing about appearing as a character in a long, probably 1.5-hour video, falsely representing someone who has used or recommended **Edited for community guidelines**. I only found out the true nature of the job (after I wasted my connects!) after he contacted me with a sample of the script to videotape myself and send to him, along with a link to a previous video. As an actor it also says nothing about whether you must be union or nonunion. When I saw the sample of the script and then link to the video he sent me it was this -

**Edited for community guidelines**

It is a long, drawn out promotional video for **Edited for community guidelines**. I looked up **Edited for community guidelines**google, FB, ScamAlert etc. and it appears to be just that, a scam with many, many complaints and people being ripped off. Now, had I known even a tiny idea of what this job entailed would I have made a proposal? Absolutely not.

I did try to contact customer support but I guess I wasn't successful. I kept getting redirected to other possible solutions. I will, however, go back and flag the original job post.

georgina75 · ‎02-24-2020

Okay, so I did go back and flag the post with my explanation, but when I hit the submit button the flag windo just disappears. I have the job saved and when I go back it still gives me the option of flagging. Nothing tells me my "flag" went through. How do I know if the post has been flagged or not?

georgina75 · ‎02-24-2020

This is very frustrating. It's impossible to reach customer support. It redirects to other similar issues but that's it. Nowhere to continue to support. Also, I cannot seem to flag the original job post that is still available. Every time I hit submit, it just disappears. I've even tried changing browsers and same thing happens. Is anyone there who can maybe flag me or a moderator who can escalate this? Thank you.

BojanS · ‎02-24-2020

Hi Georgina,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I checked this for you and can confirm that your flag was recorded. Our team will review this report and appropriate actions will be taken according to our internal processes.

Thank you!

~ Bojan