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Sara's avatar
Sara S Community Member

Unresponsive client

Hi,
I have been working with this client on a milestone basis. I have submitted the first part of the job and she said she loved it and asked for some more changes. But after that became unresponsive. I haven’t completed the project and the final files are not released. I’d like to know what I need to do at this stage?
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Nikola's avatar
Nikola S Retiring Moderator

Hi Sara,

 

If you are working with a client and they become unresponsive for a long period of time, it may be best to stop working on the project and wait for contact from the client. In some cases, you may also reach out to Upwork to contact the client on your behalf.

 

On a fixed-price contract, ending the contract forfeits any funds remaining in escrow. Instead, it is often best to complete your last milestone before you end the contract. If your client fails to respond to your submission, funds will be automatically released after 14 days. If they respond but refuse the work and you believe you have completed the work according to the agreed terms, you have the option to file a dispute.

 

You can find more information in this help article

 

~ Nikola

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241 REPLIES 241
Mushfik's avatar
Mushfik R Community Member

My client paid me but didn't end the contract. Now he is not responding to my messages. If I close the contract then my jss will decrease.  What can I do?

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Clients are not obligated to respond to messages from freelancers.

 

Stop sending this client messages.

 

Close the contract yourself.

 

This will NOT hurt JSS.

Bella's avatar
Bella B Community Member

Hi. I am a freelancer. I would like to ask help from you. I would like to stop my ongoing project since my client is being unresponsive. I can't no longer continue the job because I have lots of inquiries to him and he isn't responding. I hope you can reach out to him on my behalf.

Bella's avatar
Bella B Community Member

I hope you can help me out.

Petra's avatar
Petra R Community Member


Bella B wrote:

I would like to stop my ongoing project since my client is being unresponsive.


Why don't you just close the contract?

 


Bella B wrote:  I hope you can reach out to him on my behalf.

No, Upwork won't harass your clients on your behalf. And "reach out" for what reason? Nobody can force a client to talk to you. The client knows where you are. If the client wanted to communicate with you, they could easily do so. Just close the contract and move on with your other clients. Or leave the contract open.

 

But stop writing to that client.

Bella's avatar
Bella B Community Member

How to close the contract ma'am?

Nichola's avatar
Nichola L Community Member

Bella do you have a formal Upwork contract in place for this client? If you don't, and you have already delivered work to this client, then you are not likely to hear from him again. 

Bella's avatar
Bella B Community Member

He sent me an employee form ma'am. I filled it out and sent to him

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member

You are not an employee. There are no employee forms. 

Were you asked to send any money?

For future reference: if somebody stops responding, don't run to upwork to talk to them. That is simply not how a professional acts. 

Bella's avatar
Bella B Community Member

I wasn't asked to send money. Okay ma'am. Thanks 

Bella's avatar
Bella B Community Member

I wasn't able to deliver work to him because I am on the first page afterwards, he is not responding. 

Shilpa's avatar
Shilpa B Community Member

I am a Graphic Designer and I have been working on a project for a client. The project almost completed and the client was supposed to revert back, but the client isn't responding since one month. Why should I do?

Md Helal's avatar
Md Helal U Community Member

You can deliver the project if it's done.

Michael's avatar
Michael S Community Member

If it's a fixed price contract, just use the "Submit work and request payment" button and send the completed work. After that, they'll have 14 days to review the work and either release the funds, or request changes. If they take no action, you get paid automatically after 14 days.

 

If it's an hourly contract, and you've been tracking your time with the desktop app and leaving accurate notes with your tracked time, send them the finished work, and you'll get paid automatically according to the Upwork payment schedule.

 

If it's an hourly contract and you haven't been tracking your time, it could be difficult to get paid if you're inputting hours manually and the client decides to not pay.

Shilpa's avatar
Shilpa B Community Member

Thanks a lot Michael S! This is very helpful :).

Morrison's avatar
Morrison A Community Member

A client offered me a job and funded my escrow After writing the paid test the Client has remain unresponsive

So I decided to submit the paid test to Upwork yet the client remains unresponsive will I still be paid by Upwork

Will's avatar
Will L Community Member

This explains most of what you need to know;

 

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063718-Get-Paid-for-Fixed-Price-Contracts

 

Unless the client objects, once you submit your work to your client using the "Submit" button on the project page, Upwork will automatically release payment ato you fter 14 calendar days  You shouldn't submit the work again to prompt the client to pay, because the re-starts the 14-day automatic payment countdown.

 

 

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Clients are not required to be responsive.

 

As a freelancer, I get paid the same amount of money whether or not the client responds.

Franceska's avatar
Franceska S Community Member

Hello,

So I was hired for an audio transcription project and it lasted only two weeks of intensive work. Client has only paid for the submission of audios but has not paid me the remaining part that would be processed after quality check. Now he is not even responding to the messages. How should I act? 

Tatevik's avatar
Tatevik G Community Member

If the remaining part is in Escrow, you can start a dispute and maybe arbitration. If it's not, then unfortunately the client got free work.

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

I have a term I use to describe clients who owe me money for work I did over a month ago:

 

"clients who don't owe me money"

Ahmed's avatar
Ahmed M Community Member

I have a job with a new Upwork client for 200$ the client funded 50$ as a first milestone and he stopped replying to me "Almost stopped opening Upwork " and I have finished the full work 

I have requested the payment and after 14 days I got the 50$ the problem is I would like to contact him as he paid 50$ and did not get anything till now "All of the work is ready, the work requires his email to transfer the job to his owner" and also I want him to fund the rest of the contract is there any way that Upwork can contact the client?

Arjay's avatar
Arjay M Retired Team Member

Hi Ahmed,

 

If you are working with a client and they become unresponsive for a long period of time, it may be best to stop working on the project and wait for contact from the client.

 

However, for us to proceed and assist you properly, can you please provide me the contract ID for the client that you're referring to? I will be more than willing to review and reach out to the proper department for further assistance if necessary.

 

 

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
Ahmed's avatar
Ahmed M Community Member

here is the contract ID 

29604899
thanks
 
Arjay's avatar
Arjay M Retired Team Member

Hi Ahmed,

 

We hope that the amount of work you put in is equal to the amount in the milestone. We highly recommend not doing additional work on a fixed-price contract unless the other milestones are funded, and the amount in escrow is commensurate to the amount of work you’ll do. We can’t help chase after money that was promised, or that was previously discussed. We can only help in cases where milestones are created and funded.

 

In your case, you may want to try and contact the client one last time to see if they still want to move forward with the project, otherwise, you have the option to close the contract if the client remains unresponsive. Feel free to check this help article to be more acquainted with how the procedures work.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork