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62497aac
Community Member

No response: What do you do when your client does not respond to work submitted?

Last week I submitted the first milestone of editing/writing work to new client. We had spoken, I had reviewed the ms, and I felt confident what she was looking for in terms of editing/revisions. I submitted on the deadline (last Friday) and heard nothing back which is very unusual, in fact has ever happened. I am a top-rated developmental editor and writer.

 

On Tuesday (yesterday) I followed up, making sure she had received material. No response. So of course I'm thinking the "worst."  She's put off perhaps by my editing and evaluation I gave her, maybe doesn't know how to address it having never working with a professional editor before. I understand it can be awkward. 

 

So I'm looking for some tips here -- what are some effective ways of handling this? 

 

Thanks everyone for your response!!

 

Sally Wolfe

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Annemarie, as others advised Sally above, if the milestone was funded and you used the "submit" button, you don't have to do a thing. The client has 14 days in which to request revisions. If that doesn't happen, the funds will automatically be released.

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18 REPLIES 18
petra_r
Community Member

If you submitted through the proper "Submit work and request payment" function on the contract you do nothing, as you will be paid automatically 14 days afterwards, provided it was fully funded.

kfarnell
Community Member

Twice recently files I've attached to the "Submit work and request payment" function haven't actually gone through although the screen said they were there when I pressed the button. 

 

I now submit files via the message board or email as well. It may be worth you doing this to be on the safe side.

Kim that happened to me today.

 

I submitted two files yesterday (a day early) and this afternoon got a message asking for the files. This time I not only sent them through the submit work, but I sent them through messages and gmail.

 

To the OP, if your client is in Europe, they might be out for the August holiday.

I only use the 'submit files' option when a client has gone AWOL - something I've only encountered once in the last 2 or 3 years.

 

My normal procedure is to email them to the client and attach them via the workroom message board as backup.

^ I used to do that but I found I got my escrow release faster if I forced them to grab files from the milestone. If they get them in email, they are less likely to release escrow faster since they don't have to log in.


@Cheryl K wrote:

Kim that happened to me today.

 

I submitted two files yesterday (a day early) and this afternoon got a message asking for the files. This time I not only sent them through the submit work, but I sent them through messages and gmail.

 

To the OP, if your client is in Europe, they might be out for the August holiday.


 This has happened to me four times with three different clients over the past couple of weeks. 

 

 

62497aac
Community Member

Thank you for your reply.

Hi Petra, Can you show a screenshot of where this "Submit work and request payment" page is? I don't see it anywhere.

Thank you,

Philip

Hi Philip, 


I responded to your other thread here. I thought it was a general question, and you were asking for future reference. When I checked your account, I did not see any fixed-price contract, and can only see hourly contracts on your account. This means that you do not have a milestone-submission page. Since you have hourly contracts, you should be logging hours for each contract using the Upwork Desktop App. 

I would recommend that you read up on the resources we have compiled here to help you understand the platform better. Let us know if you have further questions!


~ Avery
Upwork
nb88
Community Member

Not a lot you can do. 

I had a recent case where a client actually deposited a very large amount in escrow, we were all set to go and ... nothing. 

I eventually closed the job. I can only assume some personal matter or a change of mind. 

It does happen. 

aditipie
Community Member

Two weeks have passed since this thread started. Did the issue get resolved?

 

 

 

62497aac
Community Member

Yes client's family member was hospitalized. We are now in contact again.
amusawale
Community Member

I am dealing with this exact same thing. Have no idea what to do.

Annemarie, as others advised Sally above, if the milestone was funded and you used the "submit" button, you don't have to do a thing. The client has 14 days in which to request revisions. If that doesn't happen, the funds will automatically be released.

Thanks for your reply, Tiffany. Does this happen to you very often (generally or to you?  -Sally

Not often--I'd say maybe somewhere between one in five and one in ten clients never approves the final milestone. Of course, if it's milestone 2 of 4 (or whatever) I have to point out that I need them to set up the next milestone before we move forward, which necessitates approving the prior milestone. But, if it happens at the end of the project or in an ongoing project that doesn't yet have a next step, I just wait it out and it gets approved in 14 days. I've heard a few freelancers say that they've received revision requests on day 12 or 13, but that's never happened to me. Clients generally either approve within the first day or two or the milestone auto-approves.

934713af
Community Member

I had a conversation with a **Edited for Community Guidelines**and the conversation lists client funds of $100 for the job. I was willing to do it for $80. I was accepted and I logged onto The Appen Task application. Does that mean I worked outside of Upwork guidelines? I did the work by speaking into a microphone onto a dummy account. There's no record of having my own account on Appen. 

I haven't heard anything from the client since work was completed. I can't even block client. 

anshulrana85
Community Member

As per Upwork policy, If you submitted through the proper "Submit work and request payment" function on the contract you do nothing, as you will be paid automatically 14 days afterward, provided it was fully funded.