My client is missing, doesn´t respond

[ivicha0610]

Hello all!

I have a client who was supposed to activate 2 milestones. He activated the first, I deliver the job on time and he said "good job", but didn´t approve the milestone. After 15 days Upwork approved it.

Meanwhile, I finished translating the book and since I had no milestone active, I created one. But I can not deliver the job until it is approved, and my client is missed in action.

I don´t believe that he is doing it on purpose, but how could I deliver the document and get paid?

Thanks in advance!

[LuiggiR]

Hi Silvia,

In general, it's best to make sure that you have an active funded milestone on your Fixed-price contract before you start working. That way the work you do can be covered by Upwork Payment Protection. If you feel your client has been unresponsive for a considerable amount of time, we can have one of our agents reach out to the client on your behalf. Please let me know if this is something you'd like to do.

Thank you,

[ivicha0610]

Thank you Luiggi!

I'll wait a few more days. I translated his biography, and he seems to be an outstanding guy... so probably he's helping the firefighters, or medical centers or something like that.

If after a while he is still missing, I will ask Upwork to try to contact him.

[martina_plaschka]

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Silvia C wrote:

Thank you Luiggi!

I'll wait a few more days. I translated his biography, and he seems to be an outstanding guy... so probably he's helping the firefighters, or medical centers or something like that.

If after a while he is still missing, I will ask Upwork to try to contact him.

---

Don't do that. Never send upwork after a client, that does not end well. Trust that he knows how to find you, should he want to.

If he never reponds, nothing you can do but learn from this experience. 

[prestonhunter]

re: "My client is missing, doesn´t respond"

Clients are not required to respond.

As freelancers, we get paid whether a client is "missing" or not.

We get paid whether or not a client responds or not.

Upwork freelancers work on fixed-price milestone tasks when the task has been funded.

And then - as you have already experienced - we get paid AUTOMATICALLY. Even if the client is completely missing. Even if the client does nothing at all.

So you have nothing to worry about.

[wescowley]

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@prestonhunter wrote:

As freelancers, we get paid whether a client is "missing" or not.

We get paid whether or not a client responds or not.

Upwork freelancers work on fixed-price milestone tasks when the task has been funded.

And then - as you have already experienced - we get paid AUTOMATICALLY. Even if the client is completely missing. Even if the client does nothing at all.

So you have nothing to worry about.

---

That's true for the milestone that was already funded and approved, but definitely not for the one that not yet funded. There's no way to be paid for that one until (and if) the client returns to activate and fund it, so, OP, you shouldn't turn over the remaining work until that happens (if it ever does). 

Be careful about working without a funded milestone unless you have strong reason to trust the client, because there's no guarantee you'll ever be paid for it.

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

Wes:
Excellent points.

The freelancer said she worked on an unfunded milestone.

This mistake is one that many inexperienced freelancers make.

That is not the client's fault. It is the freelancer's mistake.

For example, if a client dies, it doesn't do any good to complain that a "client is missing." There is nothing that Upwork can do about it to help a freelancer get paid escrow money that doesn't exist.

So we wait until milestones are funded before working on them. Then we get paid if the client does nothing. It doesn't matter if the client decided to go on a sailboat trip around the world without Intenet access, or died, or just doesn't care about logging in to Upwork any more. Freelancers get paid for their work. It is a very fair system, but it requires that a freelancer understands the difference between funded and un-funded milestones.

[ivicha0610]

You are right!

Lesson learned! My mistake.

Fortunately for me, my character judging was correct, and the client contacted me and now everything is on track.

This one helped me to learn a big lesson.