Oops, I Did What?

Another category of troubleshooting is required when we actually shoot ourselves in the virtual foot. We might release funds from escrow when we didn’t mean to, or forget to turn on Work View when we begin the day’s project. I once had someone send me the wrong manuscript to edit and then they disappeared for two months.

In these cases where you or the person you are working with has made a mistake, the best way to solve the problem is to first contact the other party and explain the situation. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, take it up a step by contacting Elance.

BEST PRACTICES

As a client, you have more clout because you control the money in the project. Given this and the end goal of long-term mutually beneficial relationships, give the contractor the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. Mistakes and misunderstandings happen; stick with innocent-until-proven-guilty unless you have a really strong gut feeling about it.

If you released funds from escrow when you didn’t mean to, let the contractor know and either ask them to refund the money or make it clear that this payment is not in acknowledgment of the work being completed. Nine times out of 10 the contractor will understand and the issue will be resolved.

The outcome of these types of mistakes depends on you and the relationship you have with the other party. Again, the better the relationship, the easier these knots work out. In my case with the wrong manuscript, I simply waited the two months until the client returned and then we canceled the project.

If you are a contractor and forget to turn on Work View, you are reliant on the goodwill of the client to believe you and pay for the time. Lesson learned: always turn on Work View. You can dispute the issue with Elance, but you’re stuck in a situation where you aren’t able to prove you were working.