Upwork Payment Protection

[Lena E]

UPDATE: this thread has been closed from further replies.

Hi Everyone!

I want to tell you all about Upwork Payment Protection, new name but same protection as before. As oDesk has now become Upwork, we have rebranded our payment programs under the larger umbrella of Upwork Payment Protection. In case you haven’t noticed around the website, our programs have been renamed:

• Upwork Hourly Protection (formerly the oDesk Guarantee)
• Upwork Fixed-Price Protection (formerly Escrow Protection) 

You get the same payment protections you had with oDesk. The only thing that has changed is these programs have been renamed to reflect the new Upwork brand.

What happened to the oDesk Guarantee? / What is Upwork Hourly Protection?

The oDesk Guarantee has been renamed Upwork Hourly Protection. It’s the exact same program as before, just renamed to reflect the new brand. You’re still afforded the same protections with Upwork Hourly Protection: an hour paid is an hour worked, and an hour worked is an hour paid.

What happened to Escrow Protection? / What is Upwork Fixed-Price Protection?

Escrow Protection has been renamed to Upwork Fixed-Price Protection. It’s the exact same program as before, just renamed to reflect the new brand. You’re still afforded the same protections with Upwork Fixed-Price Protection: using milestone payments to escrow, this program helps ensure that clients get what they’ve asked for and freelancers get paid for work completed.

If you still have questions check out the help article.

Thanks,

Lena

[Jess C]

I notice that a new Upwork Team App is available on the downloads page, but... once bitten, twice shy. I downloaded and tried to use the new app in the first days of the transition, since the old oDesk app stopped working, and the new one didn't work at all. It was two days of lost work time before the old app was made available again - with no announcements or help of any kind.

Does this new Team App actually work? Is the old one going to continue to work, or how soon do we need to switch? I have a client who does not want me to use manual time at all, so if the Team App isn't working, neither am I. Please advise!

[Lena E]

Hi Jess,

I completely understand your hesitation. I can confirm that the issues that we were experiencing with the new team app have been resolved. You are safe to download it.

-Lena

[Kristine Joy M]

I tried using the new team app. My laptop froze after launching it. I restarted my laptop and relaunched the app. Same thing happened. The old oDesk team app works fine. Can I continue using that instead of the new one?

[Valeria K]

Hi Kristine Joy,

I am sorry to hear about the issues you have been experiencing with the Team App. You can use the old Team App for now. However, I would suggest you report the problems you had with the new one to Customer Support so they can help you troubleshoot.

Thank you!

[Habib S]

Great 

[Khadezatul K]

love it

[Ruth S]

After having read the get started manual, it would seem like writers have less protection now than they did with Elance. If a client says they do not like the work, then we just don't get paid. Is that correct?

I understand that many clients have trouble explaining what they want, but when we follow their instructions, then we deserve to be paid for our efforts. 

[Valeria K]

Hi Ruth,

If a contract is hourly, the client can't dispute based on the quality of the work delivered. They can only dispute if during the review period they find screenshots in the Work Diary not relevant to the assignment.

If a contract is fixed-price, the client can close a job and request a refund from Escrow, but the freelancer will have an option to dispute it and prove that the work was delivered.

I hope this information helps.

[Preston H]

re: "If a client says they do not like the work, then we just don't get paid. Is that correct?"

Ruth, essentially you are correct.

That does not mean you are without ways to protect yourself. You are responsible for protecting Ruth.

You do this by working for trustworthy clients.

You also do this by starting with small amounts of work when you begin working with an unfamiliar client. If the client pays fairly and promptly, they pass your test, and you can do more work for them.

Clients do not set the terms of the contract. You do. Only you can decide whether to accept a hire button.

If a client does not pay you for your work, you own the work, and what you write is more valuable than any amount of money a client could pay you, because you are such a good writer. You are welcome to use writing that you own in your portfolio or sell it to somebody else or use it however you want.

There are other suggestions in this forum from writers about ways you can protect your work from scam clients.

My advice: never file a dispute against a client for any reason, no matter what. Ever. There are far more useful tools at your disposal for dealing with problems with clients.