A freelancer tricked me into accepting the dispute

[soban_sharif]

Few days ago i created a milestone for a freelancer but she was not replying.

So after few days i thought she stopped using upwork so i canceled the contract.

After 2 days she came back and said that i was out of town so that's why i couldn't reply you. She declined my dispute and told me to accept it so she can start working on it.

I thought that if i accept the dispute the money will go back to escrow but turned out all the money went to her.

Although she said that she will start working on the project but i am still scared. What should i do now? Is there anyway that money can go back to escrow or to me?

[f4c023cc]

It was your fault you didn't pay him in full earlier

[9f395534]

Hi Ameer H.

Can you explain further to educate us?

[prestonhunter]

re: "What should i do now?"

This freelancer will either do the work. Or she will not. You have no control over that.

You are a businessperson. You are not the freelancer's uncle or imam or priest. So you should not try to get the freelancer to do the right thing. You don't owe her that kind of concern or attention. Don't try to balance the freelancer's karma. If she behaves honorably, accept her offering. But if she does not behave honorably, just move on and forget about her. Her dishonor does not reflect upon you.

You should never try to get money from a freelancer. It is a waste of time. It rarely works.

You should not say anything to the freelancer to discourage her from doing this work.  But you should not put any effort into pushing her to do the work.

You should hire someone else to do the work, if you still need it done. If both freelancers do the work, then you will be able to choose which version you like better.

[9f395534]

Hello Preston H.

You sound like you know Upwork rules like the palm of your hand, I love knowledge-equipped people like you.

Can you kindly further share more educative insight? 

On such related.

[25005175]

Your description of events is a bit confusing. This is how I understand it - please clarify anything that I misinterpreted.

1. You hired a freelancer (FL)
2. FL may or may not have completed one or more milestones. Regardless, you funded a new milestone on the contract
3. Holidays started, so your FL went on vacation
4. You panicked after only a few days of no response and closed the contract
5. In closing the contract, you requested a refund of all funds in escrow
6. FL returned from vacation, saw that you canceled the contract and requested a refund, which resulted in one of these three responses:
   1. If at least one milestone had been funded, completed, and paid, the FL saw that you requested a refund and thought that you were requesting a refund for work already completed
   2. The FL was ignorant about the possible results of a Fixed-Price refund dispute and thought that they could resume the contract and keep the funds in escrow
   3. The FL noticed your ignorance of the Fixed-Price refund dispute processs and attempted to trick you into accepting their dispute. 
7. You accepted the dispute, causing all funds in escrow to be released to the FL.
8. You started this discussion.

If I got all of that correct, note that there are 3 possible reasons (that I thought of) for the FL to have disputed your refund request. My suggestion to you is that you request that the FL give you a partial or full refund and create a new contract to resume the work. I also suggest that you take Preston's advice and hire another FL (or two) to do the work, which will protect your project in case that the FL requested the dispute per (c).

Oh, and go to the Upwork Support website and learn how all of this works, so that you won't make the same mistakes again. Never rely on your FL to teach you how the system works.

[9f395534]

Hi Jonathan L.

You will be a great fit for a lecturing position, I love the way you break things down for easy understanding, and your input as well as backing up Preston's advice on hiring another freelancer makes good sense.

I only disagreed with one thing you said "Never rely on your FL to teach you how the system works." there are a lot of honest freelancers in the Upwork market space with a good mindset, that can openly be honest with the process, being one of them. 

let's not consider all eggs bad because of just one or two eggs.

Remain bless!

Jonathan L

PREVIE

[25005175]

The only reason that I said "Never rely on your FL to teach you how the system works." is because it is the client's responsibility to educate themself. The street goes both ways - no freelancer should rely on their client to teach them how the system operates.

[the-right-writer]

Upwork does not do an adequate job in explaining very simply to people who have never used a platform before. I know there is advice, but it doesn't seem to deliver the critical information first. In addition, the language barrier is real. I have tried to help many non-English speaking people through the system, and it is not simple. There is no way to try and translate all you need to know. Still, it is the responsibility of the client to figure it out.

However, I have had clients that were so frustrated with getting no help from Upwork, they were going to leave with their project and money. I have helped, and it was a nightmare time killer. I am now reluctant to work with those who just don't understand the system.

[9f395534]

Hello Subhan S.

What are you scared of?

That she will not do the work?

That your money is gone?

That what concisely?

[colettelewis]

If you are confident your freelancer can deliver the work, then agree to her offer and get the work done for which she has already been paid if the money really has gone to her. You do not need to fund escrow again, unless she does further work for you.  The freelancer should have been a better communicator and told you she was going away. She also gave you the wrong advice. I agree with Preston it would be better to move on, and put it down to experience. 

On the other hand, if you are still within a 14-day time frame since closing the contract, you can still leave feedback, if you haven't done so already. 

For future reference have a look here: https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062068-Respond-to-an-Escrow-Dispute

[9f395534]

Great input Nichola L

[jeremiah-brown]

There's a lot to be said about the adage "haste makes waste".

Let this be a learning experience as to why you shouldn't rush to action at the first sign of a problem.  Instead, message the freelancer that you hired and ask if there may be a reason they have not started working.

If you don't hear from them right away, give them time to respond.  This may take a day or a week.  Unless explicitly stated in the contract terms, you can only expect a freelancer to complete the work on their own schedule.  If the contract terms state that you expect 24 hour turnaround, then give them 24 hours.  If no deadline was discussed, learn from it and set one next time.