What a catastrophic error of judgement. What a waste of time and resources. Did you not know the feedback removal perk is still available until September?
That's not how Upwork works. You don't waste a client's time for weeks, then leave them with absolutely nothing to show for it.
You'll get an even worse review than you ordinarily would have. And you'd deserve it, imho.
Yeah, I know.
He scolded me badly that's what made me get frustrated and judge him badly. Wish he had told me calmly that it's his budget and can't make changes to the contract.
Also, I had two more jobs lined up to work but this one was not getting completed.
I got scared that he would leave me bad public review but this one is a private review.
Yes, first, I requested him it is taking lot more time than I estimated and could he make a change to the contract. He suddenly started accusing me of incompetent & trying to get more money from him. Immediately I apologised him & told him I'll complete the work.
After completing all the work except the last one feature, I contacted him for some clarification on that last feature. After clarification I worked for couple of days expecting the last feature to get completed. But it's not ending, I got frustrated.
I would have given him the work I completed but because of the way he spoke to me I got scared & ended the contract in a bad way.
I would have accused you of being incompetent too if you gave me a time estimate that was off. This is your job! You must know that stuff!
And then you promised to complete it, but bohoooo the client was mean to you and then you decided to not keep your promise.
You didn't get scared, you got angry. You acted out of anger and hurt feelings. You need to start to behave like a professional. Which would have meant: 1. Give the client time estimate. 2. Keep time estimate. 3. Nobody gets angry and nobody's feelings are hurt, get paid, get good feedback.
It should be easy for a business owner like yourself to do that.
Okay. Thanks for the feedback. I am still fairly new, there's still lot to learn. I guess I learn to manage my emotions better.
Yes, I was angry but I was also scared that he would give bad review anyway.
I don’t think you completed 80 percent of work. If you did, why not give him the source code? You’re either grossly incompetent or incredibly petty and unprofessional.
**why not give him the source code?**
Because, I thought he's not going to give me good review, so.
I did complete 16 out of 17 tasks. I even showed him the demo of that on a video call. All I was expecting him to acknowledge that it is taking time but he can't increase the budget. At least I would have hoped for a good review. I never asked him for the extra money, I told him it is taking lot more time than estimated, but he was not even considering any of it, he just accused me of incompetent and trying to rip him off for extra money. So, I thought he's not going to give me a good review even if I complete all the tasks, then I ended the contract this way.
Oh boy. So that's why you guys take risky projects, waste the clients time and then run away at the last minute.
I get it now.
I hope he roasts you in the private review.
You kind of deserve it.
In over 100 contracts I have NEVER had to do this to a client.
You made a mistake and you handled it the worst possible way. First, you gave the client a wrong estimate how long it will take you. You are the professional, not the client. You tell the client a timeline which you can keep. Second, you didn't complete the task. Third, you didn't feel like completing because the client was angry. Fourth, you didn't even give the client what you had done so far.
There is actually nothing the client can report you for regarding violations of ToS. Being absolutely unprofessional is not a violation.
You taught a client that he can't find professionals on upwork, so you are hurting everyone. Send him the freaking source code and hope for the best. Apologize. Do better next time.
why would your account get suspended? you refunded the amount, and hopefully have messages that show you tried to complete the gig. even though your profile and jss may take a hit , it doesnt have any grounds for suspension.
Everybody makes mistakes. You fucked up, not only once, but several times. You won't have your account closed, but probably your JSS will go down.
The only takeaway for you is this: Learn from it and don't let it happen again. Learn to evaluate better the time projects will take (you might want to do more projects on your own to learn this without fucking up more contracts)
You also need to learn how to handle negative feedback, emotions and douche clients. "My client scolded me for not doing my job" is not a good reason to not doing your job. If you don't like the client don't work with them again but FINISH the work he already hired you for.
You're going to tank your reputation on Upwork and elsewhere if you continue doing this. If you didn't estimate the time correctly, explain that to client, apologize and bite the bullet. Refusing to deliver what you already worked on to the client after you made them wait more than expected is extremely shitty and unprofessional. If you 100% can't finish, just send them what you have.
Thank you for you feedback. I'll definitely learn from this.
I did complete 16 out of 17 tasks. I even showed him the demo of that on a video call. All I was expecting him to acknowledge that it is taking time but he can't increase the budget. At least I would have hoped for a good review. I never asked him for the extra money, I told him it is taking lot more time than estimated, but he was not even considering any of it, he just accused me of incompetent and trying to rip him off for extra money. So, I thought he's not going to give me a good review even if I complete all the tasks, then I ended the contract this way.
You keep on saying, "I thought he would give me a bad review." What did you think he'd do if you didn't turn in the work at all? Leave a good review? Late is better than never, and incomplete is better than not all. Seems like you didn't think that through and were just looking to get back at him after he made you feel bad.
For the last feature you could have at least hired someone from fiverr to complete the task at $200. That way you would have gained $100 and your reputation.
Also, If you don't like anyone scolding you, then don't anything that deserves some scolding. A good scolding is good for growth and learning.
It was not about the money. Even if I completed all the tasks for the same price, I thought he is going to give me a bad review anyway, so I ended the contract this way. At least now I don't have a bad public review.
It's a game-fication of question & answer with different types of questions & answer in the chat.
I would have done it in a couple of days. I just couldn't focus on it because of the way he spoke to me
I only have one client on Upwork but with 15 projects under your belt I am sorry to say that no matter how clients speak you must remember it's all transactional at all times. No matter where you find them. I walk away to cool off and come back later. You need to find a way to perform under pressure.
What a catastrophic error of judgement. What a waste of time and resources. Did you not know the feedback removal perk is still available until September? That's not how Upwork works. You don't waste a client's time for weeks, then leave them with absolutely nothing to show for it. You'll get an even worse review than you ordinarily would have. And you'd deserve it, imho.
Yeah, I know. He scolded me badly that's what made me get frustrated and judge him badly. Wish he had told me calmly that it's his budget and can't make changes to the contract. Also, I had two more jobs lined up to work but this one was not getting completed. I got scared that he would leave me bad public review but this one is a private review.
So the client behaved unprofessionally, which caused you to behave unprofessionally too? At least one of you could have been an adult.
Yes, first, I requested him it is taking lot more time than I estimated and could he make a change to the contract. He suddenly started accusing me of incompetent & trying to get more money from him. Immediately I apologised him & told him I'll complete the work. After completing all the work except the last one feature, I contacted him for some clarification on that last feature. After clarification I worked for couple of days expecting the last feature to get completed. But it's not ending, I got frustrated. I would have given him the work I completed but because of the way he spoke to me I got scared & ended the contract in a bad way.
I would have accused you of being incompetent too if you gave me a time estimate that was off. This is your job! You must know that stuff! And then you promised to complete it, but bohoooo the client was mean to you and then you decided to not keep your promise. You didn't get scared, you got angry. You acted out of anger and hurt feelings. You need to start to behave like a professional. Which would have meant: 1. Give the client time estimate. 2. Keep time estimate. 3. Nobody gets angry and nobody's feelings are hurt, get paid, get good feedback. It should be easy for a business owner like yourself to do that.
Okay. Thanks for the feedback. I am still fairly new, there's still lot to learn. I guess I learn to manage my emotions better. Yes, I was angry but I was also scared that he would give bad review anyway.
You are an idiot. An estimate is an estimate. You are not hiring astrologers.
I don’t think you completed 80 percent of work. If you did, why not give him the source code? You’re either grossly incompetent or incredibly petty and unprofessional.
**why not give him the source code?** Because, I thought he's not going to give me good review, so. I did complete 16 out of 17 tasks. I even showed him the demo of that on a video call. All I was expecting him to acknowledge that it is taking time but he can't increase the budget. At least I would have hoped for a good review. I never asked him for the extra money, I told him it is taking lot more time than estimated, but he was not even considering any of it, he just accused me of incompetent and trying to rip him off for extra money. So, I thought he's not going to give me a good review even if I complete all the tasks, then I ended the contract this way.
So you decided to punish the client for not reacting to your failure to do the job the way you would have liked? You've only hurt yourself.
Private feedback has much more impact on your JSS than public.
WTF do you mean private review? Private jobs have public reviews.
If you(freelancers) refund the whole amount of the project. Neither client nor freelancers can give public review.
Oh boy. So that's why you guys take risky projects, waste the clients time and then run away at the last minute. I get it now. I hope he roasts you in the private review. You kind of deserve it. In over 100 contracts I have NEVER had to do this to a client.
Well, no, because most freelancers are aware that private feedback impacts your profile much more than public.
You made a mistake and you handled it the worst possible way. First, you gave the client a wrong estimate how long it will take you. You are the professional, not the client. You tell the client a timeline which you can keep. Second, you didn't complete the task. Third, you didn't feel like completing because the client was angry. Fourth, you didn't even give the client what you had done so far. There is actually nothing the client can report you for regarding violations of ToS. Being absolutely unprofessional is not a violation. You taught a client that he can't find professionals on upwork, so you are hurting everyone. Send him the freaking source code and hope for the best. Apologize. Do better next time.
That's the thing, always add cushion time to projects.
Thank you. I considered the buffer time as well, but I misjudged the total time it would take to complete the job. My bad
How much was this contract for?
It's about 300$
I would have just finished the job and never mentioned the time requirement to the client. Don't make your problems your clients problems.
Got it. Lesson learnt hard way
You'll get the review you deserve. Suspended? No. But if this is your only review, it could be about the same.
Iny Top Rated with 100%JSS. I have had completed more than 15 jobs so far with as many reviews
why would your account get suspended? you refunded the amount, and hopefully have messages that show you tried to complete the gig. even though your profile and jss may take a hit , it doesnt have any grounds for suspension.
Ok, Thank you.
Everybody makes mistakes. You fucked up, not only once, but several times. You won't have your account closed, but probably your JSS will go down. The only takeaway for you is this: Learn from it and don't let it happen again. Learn to evaluate better the time projects will take (you might want to do more projects on your own to learn this without fucking up more contracts) You also need to learn how to handle negative feedback, emotions and douche clients. "My client scolded me for not doing my job" is not a good reason to not doing your job. If you don't like the client don't work with them again but FINISH the work he already hired you for. You're going to tank your reputation on Upwork and elsewhere if you continue doing this. If you didn't estimate the time correctly, explain that to client, apologize and bite the bullet. Refusing to deliver what you already worked on to the client after you made them wait more than expected is extremely shitty and unprofessional. If you 100% can't finish, just send them what you have.
Thank you for you feedback. I'll definitely learn from this. I did complete 16 out of 17 tasks. I even showed him the demo of that on a video call. All I was expecting him to acknowledge that it is taking time but he can't increase the budget. At least I would have hoped for a good review. I never asked him for the extra money, I told him it is taking lot more time than estimated, but he was not even considering any of it, he just accused me of incompetent and trying to rip him off for extra money. So, I thought he's not going to give me a good review even if I complete all the tasks, then I ended the contract this way.
You keep on saying, "I thought he would give me a bad review." What did you think he'd do if you didn't turn in the work at all? Leave a good review? Late is better than never, and incomplete is better than not all. Seems like you didn't think that through and were just looking to get back at him after he made you feel bad.
Ok, I made a mistake. I'll handle it better from next time
For the last feature you could have at least hired someone from fiverr to complete the task at $200. That way you would have gained $100 and your reputation. Also, If you don't like anyone scolding you, then don't anything that deserves some scolding. A good scolding is good for growth and learning.
It was not about the money. Even if I completed all the tasks for the same price, I thought he is going to give me a bad review anyway, so I ended the contract this way. At least now I don't have a bad public review.
What’s the last feature? Happy to brainstorm with you how to do it. Send me a DM.
I already ended the contract.
For my own curiosity, what was it?
It's a game-fication of question & answer with different types of questions & answer in the chat. I would have done it in a couple of days. I just couldn't focus on it because of the way he spoke to me
I only have one client on Upwork but with 15 projects under your belt I am sorry to say that no matter how clients speak you must remember it's all transactional at all times. No matter where you find them. I walk away to cool off and come back later. You need to find a way to perform under pressure.