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israninavin
Community Member

My hourly contract was ended without any intimation or suggestion

My last client simply ended the contract after first submission. He promised me continuous work, but after I billed one page (1hr 40min), he simply ended the contract. This was **edited for Community Guidelines**. I like copywriting so writing in a different language was a unique challenge and hence I took it. He gave me multiple pages in the contract when he invited me for interview. But after submitting just one page, this guy simply ended the contract.

I still don't know the reason. I think he will file a dispute and steal my work and Upwork might just award him. I still don't know WHAT is happening. This is a vile, cheap cheat. This is new to me. Please suggest what to do!

8 REPLIES 8
patty_pretty
Community Member

Hey, Navin

Have you try to talk to your client?

 


 I like copywriting so writing in a different language was a unique challenge and hence I took it. He gave me multiple pages in the contract when he invited me for interview. But after submitting just one page, this guy simply ended the contract.

 


 Are you sure that your grammar and spelling were correct? Is possible that ur skills were not strong enough to complete the task in a good way. Some clients don't like to deal with this kind of issues so they just end the contracts and cut all the comunication.

I did ask him. This is what he replied:

"No problem. This was a test contract. The work was done. We got the translations we wanted.

We will have more translations coming up soon. I will send them to you as and when the need arises.
"

 

These are flat out lies. In the contract, he told me:
1) 2 full website pages to be copy-translated
2) Dozens of pre-composed social media messages were also to be translated

And test contract? Testing what? He already has 3 reviews and payment method verified. 

This is freelancing. You will be paid for the time you logged.

 

Both clients and freelancers can end any given contract at any given time for any reason they want.

 

What was it that took you an hour 40 minutes for a page by the way? You mention both "writing" and "translating."

 

"copy-translated" into which language?

 

Nowhere on your profile can I see anything that would indicate that you are a translator (and knowing 2 languages does NOT make a translator by any stretch of the imagination.)

 

I can, however, see that your self assessment of your English as "native level" is at best "optimistic!" 

 

Overstating skills never ends well, and will invariably come back to bite you, hard.

 


@Navin I wrote:


And test contract? Testing what?


 Quality and quantity.

 

A wise client checks both the quality and the output as soon after starting a contract as possible. If either quality or productivity are not up to scratch, the only intelligent thing to do is to immediately end the contract. The freelancer still gets paid for the work done, whether it's of any use to the client or not, and the client limits their potential losses.

tlbp
Community Member

Perhaps he lied in order to be polite. You might interpret the closed contract to mean that the client didn't like your work and has no intention of working with you ever again. If the client was expecting native-level copywriting from you, that is probably what happened. 

There are other reasons that a client might close a job with no notice. The client might have had money for a project, and suddenly that funding has dried up and she is too embarrassed to tell you.

 

She might have become too sick to work on the project any more and just can't deal with talking to people and explaining what is going on.

 

Maybe she doesn't know how to use Upwork properly.

 

But as a client who has hired over 60 freelancers and liked the work that MOST of them did... but not all...

 

When I have closed a contract and not said anything, it was because that was more polite than what I might have said about the freelancer's work.

LOL did you go cheap because of "long term work" cuz then haha I think that's so funny. Client got you good, sun.

re: "I think he will file a dispute and steal my work and Upwork might just award him."

 

He closed the contract. That's all. He is not going to file a dispute. He is not going to steal your work. If he wanted your work, he would have continued paying you to produce more of it.

 

Don't take this so personally.

 

Have you ever gone out to eat at a restaurant? And then NOT gone back the next day? Think of it like that. Your client tried what was on the menu. And now he's trying out some other places.

e_luneborg
Community Member


@Navin I wrote:

My last client simply ended the contract after first submission. He promised me continuous work, but after I billed one page (1hr 40min), he simply ended the contract. This was **edited for Community Guidelines**. I like copywriting so writing in a different language was a unique challenge and hence I took it. He gave me multiple pages in the contract when he invited me for interview. But after submitting just one page, this guy simply ended the contract.

I still don't know the reason. I think he will file a dispute and steal my work and Upwork might just award him. I still don't know WHAT is happening. This is a vile, cheap cheat. This is new to me. Please suggest what to do!


 Do you really think the client would file a dispute for 1h 4 min, with an hourly pay of $3? I have never heard of a client bothering to do that to get $5 back...

 

I have on the other hand had some clients that doesn't understand milestones, and think that they have to open a new contract for every milestone. So there's still hope that the client will get back to you with more work in a new contract.

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