declined proposal

[candacewingfie89]

Hey! UpWork declined a proposal I made to a client. I received a an email saying this: Dear Candace Wingfield, The job that you have applied for, Draw this cute little plumber man in vector, has been reviewed and removed by a member of the Upwork Marketplace Quality team. The job was not in compliance with the Upwork User Agreement. The Upwork Marketplace Quality Team proactively reviews job postings to ensure the trust, safety, and quality of the Upwork Marketplace. For more information on Policy 2.4: Job Postings and Proposals please read. We appreciate your participation in the Upwork marketplace. Thanks, Upwork Support

[jmlaidlaw · Accepted solution]

The client may have been asking for free work and/or pretending this job was a "contest." He or she might have attempted to take the job off-platform. The work could have been in violation of someone else's copyright. Hard to tell. But it wasn't YOU!

[candacewingfie89]

That does make sense. He asked me to send a "sample" of what he was looking for, and that if he liked it he would pay me. I guess he did like it but was scamming me. Thanks for the quick reply! I was concerned I had done something wrong. 

[kat303]

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@Candace W wrote:

That does make sense. He asked me to send a "sample" of what he was looking for, and that if he liked it he would pay me. I guess he did like it but was scamming me. Thanks for the quick reply! I was concerned I had done something wrong. 

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Yes, you did something wrong, you gave this client free work. He asked for a specific sample, which clients can't do (that's why his account was suspended.) and you time and effort and sent him what he asked for. In doing that, you kind of reinforced the notion that even though his account was suspended, he got what he wanted, for free. He may have more then one account, and if so, he knows what he can get and how easy it was.

If a client asks for a mockup, test, specific sample, they need to pay you for it. You can show him samples of work you have in your portfolio or upload samples and attach them to your proposal, so the client can see the Style of your work. But anything else, should be paid for.

[candacewingfie89]

I wish I could have spotted the warning signs. I thought putting a watermark on it would protect me. Thanks for the reply. I am definetly going to be more careful now. 

[susieque96]

I received the same letter for a different job-- one for which I did NOT provide any "samples" -- 

The job that you have applied for, Freelance Proofreader for reviews, has been reviewed and removed by a member of the Upwork Marketplace Quality team. The job was not in compliance with the Upwork User Agreement.   The Upwork Marketplace Quality Team proactively reviews job postings to ensure the trust, safety, and quality of the Upwork Marketplace. For more information on Policy 2.4: Job Postings and Proposals please read.   We appreciate your participation in the Upwork marketplace.

Thanks, Upwork Support SO, then I got an email from the company telling me they wanted to interview me and all these elaborate interview instructions.     It is a legit company but I don't trust the whole deal now.

[craiggabriel]

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It is a legit company but I don't trust the whole deal now.   

No it's not. The company the client pretended to be is a legit company. The client is not a legit company. There's a big difference.

Let me guess, their "manager" wants to interview you on Google Hangouts?

[susieque96]

I don't think there are ANY legit clients with Upwork.   It's all a big scam judging from the two jobs I was offered interviews for--both apparently fake bs.

[jane_fitzwilliam]

YES! So what's with that, the Hangouts interview?

[jane_fitzwilliam]

This just happened to me. Why do you focus on Hangouts? That's where I was interviewed. What's going on, really? I received this same notice from UPwork: Policy 2.4: Job Postings and Proposals

[kat303]

Susan - Good for you, for NOT giving away your time and your work. The job in in question was probably reported to Upwork by someone else.