Changes to Direct Contracting (Client Feedback)

[skodtdesign]

Like all of you I recieved that e-mail about the changes coming for Direct Contracts.  I reached out to my long-term DC Clients and to gauge their thoughts on plan out how we are going to continue working on the projects that we are ongoing.

All of them have no interest in joining the platform.  Period.  These are clients I have been working years for.  They have no interest in having a thousand other designers post proposals on projects that they came specifically to me for and certainly no interest in adding their contact information to yet another online database for an inbox full of robo-emails.

I use Upwork primarily for the direct contracting function as I work as a sole-proprieter/freelancer on very limited projects to streamine my adminstrative process.  Up until now it has worked just fine for what I have needed out of it.  Now I am going to have to find another service provider, since the platform has effectively destroyed that function.  I assume this was intended outcome as it was announced and all the threads about the upcoming changes are locked and user are unable to reply.

If the goal was to drive users off the site, good job, y'all succeeded.

[AndreaG]

Hi Jarrett,

I appreciate you sharing your and your client's feedback on this update. I'd like to clarify only that, if your clients created an account, they would not receive any proposals unless they posted a job publicly. They could always send you direct offers only and never engage with any other freelancers if they didn't want to. You could also propose the contracts to them so they don't have to do that task on their end.

I understand they have no interest in creating an account for other reasons as well so we will definitely be noting this sentiment and sharing it with the team for review.

[skodtdesign]

My clients are fine with the current situation, as a means of tracking hours and making payments.

The issue is being require to create an account, which the removal of the choice.  And as a result of this, they are choosing option 2 and no longer participating because they are no longer dealing with just me, but now there are going to be these additional hoops to jump through.  and regardless of what the platform says at this point, it is falling on deaf ears.  My clients do not want to hear convoluted excuses.  They want to get their designs drawn up and to pay the bill.

I would much rather spend my time working on the designs that I am hired to do, the platform has now created a situation that I have to stop that work to figure out a solution to a problem I did not create.  Unlike Facebook or LinkedIn (free sites) that can legally make changes arbitrarilly, I am paying for the privilege of being here (like everyone else).  This arbitrary change that has been dumped upon us is an unnecessary headache that makes folks like me ask the question; Is the juice worth the squeeze?