having a problem, unfortunately

cearared1073 · ‎03-04-2019

i submitted a proposal and the client wants me to do work without accepting the proposal, in order to hammer out details.

the client is a long time Upwork client:

History

3 applicants

1 interview

69 jobs posted

Over $20,000 total spent

2,236 hours billed

4 open jobs

54 hires

Member since: Feb 29, 2012

I have no clue what I should do at this point and it’s not like I can back out when I’m so far into the process.

this is very confusing and if Upwork wants this thing to be successful, they should really make this entire process a LOT easier. for example, I should NOT have to go into MS word to type out a ridiculously long community support question. instead having the screen with the rich text screen i finally got to would be VERY useful.

yitwail · ‎03-04-2019

Meredith, how long do you think it would take to 'hammer out details'? If it's no more than 30 minutes, and the job has a decent budget, or it's an hourly job that will take several hours to complete, you might consider going along with this request. Regardless, as long as you haven't accepted a contract, you can back out no matter how 'far into the process' you might be. Lastly, I'm not using MS Word to type this, so I don't understand why you needed to do so. Is it because the text area for typing in questions is fixed size? If so, you should be able to drag the lower right corner of the text area down to increase the height of the text box.

__________________________________________________
"No good deed goes unpunished." -- Clare Boothe Luce

prestonhunter · ‎03-04-2019

John is right.

I don't like it when any client asks a freelancer to work for free prior to getting hired.

But there is a BIG difference between a scammer trying to pay nothing for anything ever, versus a client who has hired 54 freelancers and spent over $20,000.

lysis10 · ‎03-04-2019

$20k in 7 years though. This guy isn't worth the hassle. I always find these types of clients that know the system and spend very little on the platform are the worst.

mtngigi · ‎03-04-2019

You've not been officially hired and are only in the interview stage ... so of course you can back out. That hiring history isn't all that impressive if you figure out the averages. Tell the client you'll be happy to do a small paid test. If he/she agrees great ... if not say thank you and leave it at that.

I'm with John ... not getting the MS Word reference.

prestonhunter · ‎03-04-2019

It works out to at least $370 spent per freelancer.

Not a huge number, but also not nothing.

lysis10 · ‎03-04-2019

Preston H wrote:
It works out to at least $370 spent per freelancer.
Not a huge number, but also not nothing.

It is nothing though. Obviously not about the shell out thousands if you put any effort into anything.

prachi163 · ‎03-05-2019

Meredith R wrote:
History
3 applicants
1 interview

69 jobs posted
Over $20,000 total spent
2,236 hours billed
4 open jobs
54 hires
Member since: Feb 29, 2012

I think she is referring to this, which she had to type out into a word doc and then copy here.

Meredith, The problem can be solved by using win+shift+s to capture only a selected area. This can then be copied as an image in the forum messages.