Cannot file a dispute with UpWork and no way to contact customer service

[e095ab7d]

I would like to report a freelancer and also get my money back but all of UpWork's help articles are out of date b/c there is no way to file a dispute with UpWork anymore. Now the freelancer has removed their profile as well. I cannot get a refund for some of the work (they did some but took weeks longer than they said and twice as many hours and it was clear to me they didn't know what they were doing). Does UpWork have customer service? It seems to me that running a platform like this with no ability to dispute and reverse payments is a scam.

[e095ab7d]

Freelancer has also removed their profile to avoid dealing with giving me a refund.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[prestonhunter]

The following is my own opinion. I don't work for Upwork:

Refund thinking hurts clients.

I have hired over 150 freelancers on Upwork.

I recommend that you use the Upwork tool like I do:

- Hire and fire freelancers proactively

- Plan to never use refunds, disputes, mediation or arbitration, no matter what

- Instead of paying money to an underperforming freelancer and then trying to get the money back, stop paying him money.

- It is always MUCH EASIER to not pay money to somebody, than to pay them and ask for it back.

re: "Does UpWork have customer service?"

Yes.
Upwork actually has about 8 different customer service channels.

As a I client, I use none of them, because I would rather use the tools Upwork provides in order to manage my projects and freelancers.

I recommend that you use this Community Forum to ask questions about how to use Upwork effectively, how to save money, how to manage freelancers, etc., rather than trying to go through Upwork Customer Service.

Of course the more knowledge you have, the better. So I recommend that you read and familiarize yourself with the refund and dispute processes, and then proactively decide to not use them:

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062088-Request-a-Refund

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062158-Dispute-an-Agency-or-Freelancer-s-Hours

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062058-Get-an-Escrow-Refund

I believe that clients can save money by knowing precisely how to get refunds and file disputes, and then deciding to not do so, but to instead fire underperforming freelancers before paying them more money in the first place.

[e095ab7d]

Hi Preston,

I never approved the transactions. It just charged my CC. SO I wouldn't have continued but the system just charges it as the freelancer billed it.

I have requested a refund from the freelancer several times and then they removed their profile after I fired him because, as you said, they were not performing to what their qualifications and portfolio stated. In fact, I think this is a larger company that just puts up some worker under the individual account to work on projects b/c it seemed from day to day, there were questions that were not consistent to the previous day.

I have reviewed those articles. There isn't a way to do it in my interface. I have requested a refund and gotten no response and I can't dispute anymore b/c that link is missing. I have done my research and searched the help forums. There looks to be an escrow set up in my contract so I will try and pursue that.

BUT, UpWork switching to some automated system thinking that will solve all the CS problems to me is irresponsible.

[prestonhunter]

re: "UpWork switching to some automated system thinking that will solve all the CS problems to me is irresponsible."

But what if - as a client - I know how the tools work, and don't need to talk to anybody in Customer Service?

Wouldn't that mean that I possess POWER that another client does not possess?

Wouldn't this be power that you can obtain for yourself?

You don't need to get anybody's permission. You don't need to pay anything extra. You don't need to fill out a form. If you could obtain this power simply by reading some web pages and by asking some questions here in the Forum, would you be interested?

When you ask if Upwork's current Customer Service is hard to reach or difficult to navigate, and when you ask if Upwork could do more to make it easier for clients to talk to Customer Service representatives, you are asking worthwhile questions.

But in a sense, they are philosophical questions.
And they are questions about the future.

When I tell you that, as a client, I have a button that lets me fire a freelancer RIGHT NOW.
And I have another button that lets me monitor a freelancer's work diary RIGHT NOW...

There is even a BUTTON that I can click to BLOCK UPWORK FROM BILLING ME for a freelancer's time if the time doesn't qualify for Payment Protection. Such as if the time was manually logged, or doesn't have written memos, or doesn't show the freelancer working on my project.

You don't need to TALK to the freelancer about it. You don't need to TALK to anybody in Customer Service. You can just click a button, and not be billed. Did you know about that button? That's raw power.

These are REAL buttons that really exist right now. That's not a philosophical discussion. That is RAW POWER that I have right now that lets me save money as a client.

[prestonhunter]

re: "I have requested a refund from the freelancer several times and then they removed their profile after I fired him because, as you said, they were not performing to what their qualifications and portfolio stated"

Requesting a refund from a freelancer IS NOT A POWER MOVE.

Clearly this has NOT proven to be a very effective technique for you.

An effective client uses a POWER MOVE:

Close the contract.
Or pause the contract.

When you do either of these, then the freelancer can no longer bill any more time. It completely BLOCKS them!

This is a real power move.

I recommend that clients proactively plan to never ask a freelancer for a refund (who might say yes, but might also say no) and instead STOP PAYING the freelancer.

[e095ab7d]

That's what I did. But, what if the freelancer makes incremental work in good faith? That's the issue. It's not as black/white. Having dealt with freelancers off this platform and running my own business with my own clients for decades, there's a good faith effort here. But before I closed the contract, the freelancer billed me and also went past what they agreed to charge. So it's on THEM to do what they say.

[e095ab7d]

What I'd like to see is UpWork making all contracts default escrow so you have to approve payments going thru.

[prestonhunter]

re: "What I'd like to see is UpWork making all contracts default escrow so you have to approve payments going thru."

Upwork doesn't need to do that.

You already have the power to do that yourself for your contracts.

[AndreaG]

Hi Karen,

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience with this freelancer. Please know, if your freelancer logs hours not related to your project you can file a dispute for the previous week's hours. Keep in mind that timing is critical here — you must file any dispute during the five days after the billing period closes and it looks like this window was missed in this case. We'll have one of our agents reach out to you directly via support ticket in order to assist you further with this.

[e095ab7d]

Sorry--that comment was for the other thread.

[prestonhunter]

re: " I always like asking someone directly a question rather than trying to use bots and buttons to resolve issues"

I recommend that clients never try to use the bot to get their questions answered.

Better options are these:
- Do a search of the Upwork Help documents.

- Do a search using the "Search the community" search field at the top of each Community Forum page.
- If you can't find the information you are asking for, post a question in the Community Forum

- Proactively plan to never ask Customer Service to help you with managing your projects or freelancers.

[prestonhunter]

Karen:
I believe that everything you have written in this thread is valid and authentic and reflects a real client's experience (and disappointment) in using the Upwork platform.

In a very real sense:

I am incapable of relating to much of what you are saying.

Upwork Forum Moderators are incapable of fully relating to much of what you are saying.
Other regular Forum participants are incapable of relating to much of what you are saying, or at least not fully feeling what you feel, as you experienced it.

We have been using Upwork too long and know it too well to really be able to perceive things as you do.

But Upwork personnel can (and do) read what is posted here in the Forum, and they can try to make improvements to the user interface and the wording used and the messaging used by the system, in an effort to improve the client user experience.

Sorry if none of that helps you with your specific situation. But maybe your comments will help others down the line.

[359d600d]

I need to file a dispute but the instructions regards the user interface do not match what I see. Their instruction are a cull de sac with no way to dispute. I have been charged for two consultations: one the bandwidth made the contractee in India inaudible. We played with it for 10 minutes, there was no professional dialog, and then I received bill for 30 minutes. Scam! I had another contractee whom I waited for for 10 minutes. They missed the appointed meeting time and I was charged! Outrageous. The  Upwork software could easily determine that there was no conversation but I was charged. What to do????????

[PradeepH]

Hi Stirling,

I am sorry to hear about your experience with the booked Consultations and trouble reaching our support team. I will be happy to share more information on this matter.

If the freelancer doesn’t show up or you don't get the value from your meeting, we recommend you do not approve the payment and request a refund from the freelancer. If the freelancer denies the refund, our support team can step in to help you. However, the consultant will also have the opportunity to show what they have provided. 

I will share your report with our team and one of our agents will reach out to you using a support ticket to assist you further. You can access your support tickets here.

- Pradeep