Learn how to manage Upwork consultations — update availability, reschedule or cancel meetings, set up instant consultations, and understand payment protection policies.
In this article
- How do I change my availability for consultations on Upwork?
- What happens after I have a consultation with a client?
- What are the policies for consultations regarding rescheduling, canceling, being late and no-shows?
- How do I set up instant consultations?
- Does Upwork Payment Protection apply to consultations?
How do I change my availability for consultations on Upwork?
You can change the calendar that determines your availability, or set specific hours for consultations.
- Go to Your services
- Select the consultation
- Choose Edit
- Select the availability section
- Update the calendar that was added or change your available hours
What happens after I have a consultation with a client?
After a consultation, you should have a clearer understanding of your client’s needs and whether you want to keep working together. Following up with them can help you move forward to complete the work and continue building your relationship.
If you want to keep working together
If you want to keep working with this client, you can propose a contract directly from the contract workroom by following the steps below:
- Go to Your active contracts
- Select the consultations contract
- Go to the Order Details section and choose Propose a new contract
If you want to provide feedback to the client
You can also provide feedback to the client by choosing Leave Feedback in the Order Details section. Feedback can help clients understand how well they’re working and communicating with freelancers, and it can give other freelancers insight into how the client works.
If you want to provide a referral
If you’re not the right fit for your client’s needs or don’t have the time to complete the work, you may consider referring them to another freelancer.
What are the policies for consultations regarding rescheduling, canceling, being late and no-shows?
Rescheduling policy
- You can reschedule a consultation up to 24 hours in advance. To reschedule, send a message to the client first to propose a new date and time that works for both of you. Then you can reschedule in the Overview tab of your consultation using the availability feature or by connecting to your calendar.
- Your client can also reschedule a consultation if they need to do so. They can do so by selecting another available time on your calendar. We’ll message you if the client reschedules and send you a reminder the day before the meeting. The new time that you or your client chooses must fall after your minimum booking notice.
Cancellation policy
- You can cancel anytime before the consultation. If you cancel more than 24 hours before the consultation, the client will get their money back and they won’t be able to leave you feedback.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the consultation, the client can leave you feedback which may impact your Job Success Score.
- If the client cancels more than 24 hours before the consultation, they’ll get a full refund. If they cancel within 24 hours, they won’t get a refund and you’ll get paid.
Late policy
While we encourage you to be on time, we understand things come up. You or the client can be up to five minutes late for your scheduled consultation.
No-show policy
If you don’t show up, we’ll handle it through our current dispute and refund process. If the client doesn’t show up, you’ll need to request payment and write that the client was a no-show in the text box.
How do I set up instant consultations?
To show you’re online and ready to start receiving consultation requests:
- Turn on instant consultations. Note: Not all freelancers can offer instant consultations
-
- On desktop - Go to Find Work Preferences dropdown, select Edit (pencil icon) under Consultations
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On mobile - Navigate to your profile, select the Edit icon under Consultations
- Decide how many hours you want to be online and select Save
- Receive consultation requests from clients
- Meet with clients within minutes
Important: When someone requests an instant consultation, you'll be notified and have one minute to accept, decline, or message the client. If you don’t respond or message the client within a minute, we’ll turn off your availability to meet now.
Does Upwork Payment Protection apply to consultations?
We provide payment protection for consultations if the following eligibility requirements are met:
- The client canceled the consultation less than 24 hours prior to the start time, OR
- You are less than five minutes late for the consultation and you send the documents you agreed to provide to the client within your set delivery time, which might include a project plan, time and cost estimate, or meeting summary, or the client opts out of receiving documents after the consultation and chooses to approve and pay without receiving them.