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Caroline's avatar
Caroline B Community Member

Cancel Contract / End Contract

How do I cancel a contract and release escrow back to me. The freelancer and I have mutually agreed to cancel without payment.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
Valeria's avatar
Valeria K Community Member

Hi Caroline,

 

You can go to your Jobs>Contracts and click on the name of the freelancer. Then from the contract details you can click End Contract. On the next page you will be asked if you would like to release funed amount to the freelancer or refund it to you. Choose the appropriate option and make sure you provide honest feedback.

 

I hope it helps.

~ Valeria
Upwork

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90 REPLIES 90
Jasmina's avatar
Jasmina R Community Member

Thank you for your answer.
Ashley's avatar
Ashley C Community Member

I'm new to Upwork and learned a lesson recently about not accepting a contract until I have ALL of the details. 

 

I won't make this mistake again, but now I'm unsure what to do about my current situation. The deadline for the work is supposed to be tomorrow, but the directions from the client are so vague that I cannot possibly complete (or even really begin) the job. I've messaged him questions a few times with no response. 

 

Basically, I'm wondering what I should do to avoid a negative impact on my Job Success Score. Should I just end the contract? I don't want it to be open for a long period of time without anything being done. I also don't want to submit something that is not what the client wants and receive negative feedback.

 

Thanks!

Avery's avatar
Avery O Community Manager

Hi Ashley, 

 

We encourage freelancers and clients to communicate professionally and extensively, discuss all the terms, deadlines and details before the offer is ever made and accepted. I suggest that you continue communicating with your client before you decide on closing your contracts. 

 

If the contract is ended, both you and your client will have the opportunity to provide feedback during the 14-day review period. Your Job Success Score won't be affected negatively if you as a freelancer close your contracts, unless there's a pattern of contracts with no feedback.

 

The party that ends the contract is required to leave feedback, and we'd advise building your communication and relationships with clients in a way that you don't need to close the contracts yourself.


~ Avery
Ancuta's avatar
Ancuta P Community Member

Hello!

 

I have also an "End Contract" problem. I have an hourly contract and I agreed with my client to set manually a fixed number of hours, I finished the job succesfully and the client was very satisfied but I didn't submited my work before the client ended the contract. What can we do now? The contract is ended with 0 hours, but the client is very satisfied and want to pay, can we reopen the contract?  

 

Thank you!

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

re: "What can we do now? The contract is ended with 0 hours, but the client is very satisfied and want to pay, can we reopen the contract?"

 

Ancuta:

Clients can pay you the hourly money you earned in the form of a bonus (of any amount they choose) using the Bonus feature, even if your contract is closed.

 

Alternatively, the client could create a new contract that allows manually-logged time, let you add the manual time, and then close that contract.

Ancuta's avatar
Ancuta P Community Member

Thank you very much!

Vladimir's avatar
Vladimir G Community Manager

Hi Ancuta,

 

I see you already reached out to your client regarding issuing a bonus payment. Please note that bonus payments are not covered by our Payment Protection program. You can also find more information about working and getting paid on Hourly jobs here and here.

~ Vladimir
Upwork
Manuel's avatar
Manuel R Community Member

Hi

I already paid a contract but I and the freelancer agree to refund the money because the work wasn't fixed.

I would like some help because I do not know if end the contract or not.  how can I do this process to take my money back? 

Vladimir's avatar
Vladimir G Community Manager

Hi Manuel,

 

If the payment was released on your contract, you'll need to communicate with your freelancer regarding issuing a refund in order to get the funds back. If this was already agreed, you can keep the contract open until you receive the refund but note that refunds can be issued on closed contracts as well.

~ Vladimir
Upwork
Mhd Ghazwan's avatar
Mhd Ghazwan A Community Member

Hi,

 

I need to end a contract wich is aready paid, the freelancer keeping postponding finishing the poject since 45 days so far.....what is my best solution in this situation please !

 

Thanx

Vladimir's avatar
Vladimir G Community Manager

Hi Mhd Ghazwan,

 

I'm not familiar with the terms of your contract but if your freelancer isn't providing the work you agreed and paid for, and you can't resolve this problem in direct communication, let us know and we'll have someone follow up with you to review and advise.

~ Vladimir
Upwork
Mhd Ghazwan's avatar
Mhd Ghazwan A Community Member

Thank u so much dear Vladimir...I will keep u updated !

Mhd Ghazwan's avatar
Mhd Ghazwan A Community Member

Dear Vladimir,

 

I think the situation with that freelancer leading no where. it is clear she is busy with another larger project.

I asked her many times when I can get my project, and every time she soon....and nothing then !!

 

I have to end this contract and to got my money back.

 

Please advice what can I do.

 

Thank u

 

Regards

Gazwan

Valeria's avatar
Valeria K Community Member

Gazwan,

 

You can end a contract anytime. If the money is still in Escrow, you'll be able to request a refund from Escrow and the freelancer will have 7 days to approve it or dispute it. The money that has already been released to the freelancer can't be disputed. You can ask the freelancer to issue a refund if they didn't deliver work as agreed.

~ Valeria
Upwork
Mhd Ghazwan's avatar
Mhd Ghazwan A Community Member

Velaria,

 

Thanks for the reply.

depends on the attached file, that's mean that my payment is not in the Escrow any more.

so in this case 95% I will not get my money back and I will nt get the project also !!  right ??

Valeria's avatar
Valeria K Community Member

Gazwan,

 

Fixed-price contracts allow clients to deposit money into an Escrow account at the start of the project and release the payment from Escrow after they received and reviewed work delivered by the freelancer. The client releases the money at their own discretion. Unfortunately, after the money was released and withdrawn by the freelancer, Upwork doesn't have any access to it as it's not stored in Escrow anymore. 

 

In the future, please make sure you release payment to the freelancer only after you received and checked the work.

~ Valeria
Upwork
Mhd Ghazwan's avatar
Mhd Ghazwan A Community Member

in fact I'm surprised about this point bcs I didn't release the amount at all.
I thought this is happened automatically somehow !!

even I tried to find any history actions to review what and how the amount had released but I find nothing !!

 

Valeria's avatar
Valeria K Community Member

Gazwan,

 

A milestone is automatically released from Escrow only if the client fails to reply to freelancer's request to review work and release payments for 14 days. You can find more information about that in Fixed-Price Escrow Instructions here.

~ Valeria
Upwork
Mhd Ghazwan's avatar
Mhd Ghazwan A Community Member

Strange !!!

she sent me the first draft and I kept every two days asking her what happened with the fnal version !!

 

Ok...thak you, seems it is useless 

Mary Ann's avatar
Mary Ann B Community Member

Can the client still give me feedback if i end the contract? it is a fixed pay and i will receive it after a month. l
Valeria's avatar
Valeria K Community Member

Mary Ann,

 

When the freelancer ends the contract, the client is notified and sent a link to leave their feedback. They have 14 days to leave their feedback but if they don't, the contract will show as "No Feedback Given" in freelancer's Work History. 

Also, please note that if a freelancer ends a fixed-price contract with money still in Escrow, the money is automatically returned to the client.

~ Valeria
Upwork
Rania's avatar
Rania S Community Member

hi

i am REALLY mad. this one client, i've finished everything for him, even revised TWICE

initially, he really like my designs, and we move forward to technical parts. i noticed the size file he gave me was wrong. i mentioned it to him, then he later say its fine. he questioned me about the fabric choice, then i ask him to ask him manufacturer whether the fabric choice is right or not. then he later says its fine (its all in the screenshot)

then he hired me for another project (hats), i finished the first project but did not request for funds right away. i finished the hats then i requested

then he's MIA for like 3 days

THEN SUDDENLY HE CANCELS THE PROJECT (AND THE HATS I COMPLETED ALSO!!!!) AND BLOCKED ME!!

SAYING THE SIZE AND FABRIC WERE WRONG!!!!! (i confirm it to him like LOADS of times already).

 

so in a fit of rage i commented in his instagram, but then he threatens to ban my upwork account. like really????? he duped me out of $880 then later he wants to ban my upwork account!!!! can upwork do something about this?

AND MIND YOU this is the second time i had this kind of client. i was silent the first time because i thought its just this 1 client, but pls upwork, this kind of system is very bad for freelancer!!!

 

I GAVE HIM THE .AI FILE SO HE CAN EDIT ALL HE PLEASE. OMG I NEVER MET A BETTER CONMAN THAN THIS ONE, PLS UPWORK DO SOMETHING!!

 

******EDIT: HE SAID HE WILL NOT PAY BCS HE WILL NOT EVER USE MY DESIGNS. HAHAHAHA SO WHERE WOULD THE 25 HOURS OF ME WORKING FOR HIM GOES TO???? AND I BET YOU $100000 HE'LL USE MY DESIGNS LATER WHEN I AM NOT LOOKING!!!!!

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Petra's avatar
Petra R Community Member


@Rania S wrote:

THEN SUDDENLY HE CANCELS THE PROJECT (AND THE HATS I COMPLETED ALSO!!!!) AND BLOCKED ME!!

SAYING THE SIZE AND FABRIC WERE WRONG!!!!! (i confirm it to him like LOADS of times already).

 

 he duped me out of $880 then later he wants to ban my upwork account!!!! c


 Hourly contract or fixed rate contract?

If hourly, did you trackyour time?

If fixed price, was it fully funded?

 

Rania's avatar
Rania S Community Member

its fixed price and its fully funded

Goran's avatar
Goran V Retired Team Member

Hi Rania,

I`m sorry to hear about the bad experience you had with your client. I can see that a dispute has been already opened and one of our team members will reach out to you and your client and assist you both further. To learn more about how you`re protected on fixed price contracts, check out our guide for Fixed-Price Protection for Freelancers. I would also suggest to check out this Thread and learn more about disputes as well. If you have any additional questions feel free to post them here, thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork