Problematic Client: should I be worried?

j_kochashvili · ‎11-26-2018

So I'm pretty new to UpWork and I recently succesfully delivered my first project. However, today I recived message from client saying he needs changes to project, afther 12 days of project closure.

Projct type was Fixed-price, with 2 milestones. I recived first milestone after I submited my work, he paid me and sent me a feedback. after i finished doing changes to project, I asked him to fund and activate second milestone, and then i submited work trough it. hi accepted it, closed project and wrote me a 5 star review.

I assumed everything was fine, so I wrote him a 5 star review too, but as I mentioned above, he messaged me today, (after 12 days of project delivery) saying he wanted some changes.

I, of course refused to do so, and told him that it was unethical from his side to ask me changes.

he got angry and started messaging me things like: "Not unethical at all", "this is how it usually works", "i can always go ahead and file a chargeback" "you wanted me to clear your payment so your work doesnt gets to be free (I asked him to activate milestone, if he wasn't satisfied with results, why did he accepted it?)"

so my cuestion is, should I be worried about him actually filing a chargeback and losing my money?

petra_r · ‎11-26-2018

@Jaba K wrote:

I assumed everything was fine, so I wrote him a 5 star review too, but as I mentioned above, he messaged me today, (after 12 days of project delivery) saying he wanted some changes.
I, of course refused to do so, and told him that it was unethical from his side to ask me changes.

The client doesn't even have to file a chargeback, the client can dispute which is the last thing you need.

To be honest I would never reject a genuine request to tweak something. There is nothing unethical about it when a client released payment quickly (which is in your interest)

mtngigi · ‎11-26-2018

@Jaba K wrote:
So I'm pretty new to UpWork and I recently succesfully delivered my first project. However, today I recived message from client saying he needs changes to project, afther 12 days of project closure.

Projct type was Fixed-price, with 2 milestones. I recived first milestone after I submited my work, he paid me and sent me a feedback. after i finished doing changes to project, I asked him to fund and activate second milestone, and then i submited work trough it. hi accepted it, closed project and wrote me a 5 star review.

I assumed everything was fine, so I wrote him a 5 star review too, but as I mentioned above, he messaged me today, (after 12 days of project delivery) saying he wanted some changes.
I, of course refused to do so, and told him that it was unethical from his side to ask me changes.

he got angry and started messaging me things like: "Not unethical at all", "this is how it usually works", "i can always go ahead and file a chargeback" "you wanted me to clear your payment so your work doesnt gets to be free (I asked him to activate milestone, if he wasn't satisfied with results, why did he accepted it?)"
so my cuestion is, should I be worried about him actually filing a chargeback and losing my money?

Agree with Petra - there is nothing wrong here, especially if the request involves minor tweaking. It's called building a good relationship with your clients and is part of being a successful freelancer. I always let clients know I'm available to take care of issues even if a job is closed and I've been paid.

It sounds to me like he was a good client with regards to funding and releasing milestones ... telling him it was unethical was not the best way to respond.