Unresponsive Client

[kathryn_ricke]

I was contacted by a client to edit photos. I'm new to Upwork and the client never initiated the contract, but we negotiated payment via messages. I completed the first half of the work required and delivered watermarked images for review. I've not heard from the client since then. Do I have any options here? Or did I make a mistake by doing the work without an active contract?

[prestonhunter]

You can't get paid without a contract.

You have been doing everying incorrectly.

You need to receive a contract offer from the client. Then your contract appears here:

Upwork > My Jobs > My Jobs

THEN you do the work.

Then you submit the work to the client. NOT watermarked or handicapped.

And you get paid automatically, whether the client is responsive or not.

The only thing you can do now is ask the client to click the Hire button in order to send you an official Upwork contract offer.

Without an official contract, you can't get paid. If you get paid without a contract, you could be suspended or terminated from the platform.

[kathryn_ricke]

That's the problem. He asked for work to be completed the next day and then completely stopped responding to me. I watermarked the images just in case this happened.

It makes me sick that people will take advantage like this.

[AveryO]

Hi Kathryn, 

I'm sorry to learn about your experience with this client. We always recommend for freelancers to only start working on projects if the following are met: 

• client sent an offer to the freelancer;
• the freelancer accepts the offer;
• the contract is showing as an active contract on the freelancer's My Jobs page;
• the client's payment method is verified. 

This helps ensure that you meet some of the requirements for Upwork Payment Protection. 

I would recommend that you read up on these freelancer resources and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs, for help getting started, and for more information about working safely through Upwork. 

[kathryn_ricke]

Thanks, Avery. Guess I'll have to file this one under "learning experiences." Or maybe he will still get back to me. It's only been a few days.

[martina_plaschka]

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Kathryn R wrote:
That's the problem. He asked for work to be completed the next day and then completely stopped responding to me. I watermarked the images just in case this happened.

It makes me sick that people will take advantage like this.

---

It would be impossible for nefarious clients to take advantage if freelancers just used the framework that upwork provides correctly. Not doing your homework does not only hurt you, it hurts every freelancer because clients are constantly taught how to cheat.

[prestonhunter]

If a client tells you that he really needs the work done by tomorrow, and then the client stops responding to your messages, then it means the client does not really need the work done by tomorrow.

If the client tells you that he really needs the work done by tomorrow, but he does not set up the contract properly, then it means the client does not really need the work done by tomorrow.

Just think about this logically:

If you were in charge of buying the birthday cake for your 8-year-old neice, would you leave the bakery without paying the required deposit and filling out the information they need? If they said they can only bake the cake if you leave a $30 deposit, would you say "don't worry about it, I'll pay in full tomorrow"?

If you received an urgent text from the bakery asking you what flavor you want the cake to be, would you ignore that message?

[kathryn_ricke]

Ok everyone. Please see that this has been answered already and stop making me feel worse about making a mistake. I've worked for clients before but never in this capacity and I got taken advantage of. Yes I know I was naive. I'm not unintelligent, I just made an error in judgment, and I definitely do not need half a dozen people talking down to me when the person who took advantage is the one who should be admonished.

[a_lipsey]

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Kathryn R wrote:
Ok everyone. Please see that this has been answered already and stop making me feel worse about making a mistake. I've worked for clients before but never in this capacity and I got taken advantage of. Yes I know I was naive. I'm not unintelligent, I just made an error in judgment, and I definitely do not need half a dozen people talking down to me when the person who took advantage is the one who should be admonished.

---

It's okay, don't feel too bad. It's  a rookie mistake that MANY people here have made. You were right, file under learning experiences, and  go on to the next client. You can use the images you did make in your portfolio, and maybe you'll get lucky and they will come back. 

It's okay, don't be too discouraged. We ALL have made contract mistakes before and will again. Each contract is a learning experience in which you learn to refine your contracts for your specific business. I'm sure you'll knock it out of the park next time.