Developer on Upwork is trying to get paid for work he could not evidence

[13f30ece]

I am a client of Upwork invited by a developer to pay by Escrow.
I paid the Escow  and was promised my work in 7 days. On the 6th day I had a feeling that the developer was misbehaving and not being honest. He kept saying he had to go and would be back in 30 mins only to then make other excuses. We were talking on skype during the 6 days with no communication on Upwork as he sent a file to me which contained his skype details. 

I posted the project and he said a fee and would complete in 7 days. After the 6th day and not seeing any work I then felt that something fishy was going on.. I immediately assked through Upwork to see evidence of the work he had dome in the 6 days he had been working locally from his own machine. He asso tried to say he was working from my server but kept asking for FTP details. When I asked for evidence again he said he didnt want to speak on Upwork and tried to communicate on skype.

I then realised this was now right and he came back on Upwork and then said I am tired of working on your site. There you go the proodf was in the Upwork chat, he had done nothing and was trying to get the money out of me within doing the work. I asked him if he wanted to continue on my project and could he show me the work he had done so far. But no luck so I cancelled the contarct and requested my money to be refunded from escrow. 

The thing thing I see is that the developer raised a dispute saying I was deleting all the files from the server and that he couldnt get hold of me. WOW what a joke now I am having to go through a dispute to get my money back. The dispute is listed under the ? at the top of the page but I cannot see anymore info under disputes. Cannot contact anyone about the fraud and cannot see what to do next.

I reposted the job on Upwork but have been speaking to other developers and they have said Upwork has many fraudulant developers trying to earn a quick buck..

I have been unable to contact anyone on Upwork apart from a BOT who is about as useful as bucket with a whole in the bottom.

Please be careful when using Upwork there are some real bad people on here. 

I have not found a good developer on Freelancer to do my work but still waiting on a decision on getting my money back.

If anyone knows how to actually speak to a human please let me know.

Will let you know the outcome but here are the facts.

- Developer found on freelancer but told me he preffered upwork. Strange but I trused him

-Sent me his skype details in a file

-Promised he would deloiver everything in 7 days for £100

- Told me to send him the sql database and files which I stupidly did

- Told me he was working on his AWS site locally and not not worry as he would upload by ftp as he did work

- 6 days passed and he maanged to change a logo that I can change in admin area. 

- Kept telling me he would be back in 20 minutes or 30 minutes

- Day 5 I asked to see his work and he said tomorrow we can go through

- Day 6 asked to see work but he said will be back in 30 minutes and then said why are you being like this

-Day 6 finallyu had enough as I relaised he was trying to get money out of me for reaching a milestone

- Day 6 canclled contract between us as he could not deliver or provide me any work.

-Day 6 He filed a dispute to try and get money out of me.

Still waiting for outcome.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Be aware please and if I was you I would use another dev site.

Cant wait for the dispute as I have all the evidence to show he was a fraud.
If you can help please let me know.

[13f30ece]

ed to contact support too as Upwork have my money and I need it back to pay another developer.

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Richard,

I'm sorry to hear you've had a negative experience with a freelancer you hired on Upwork. It looks like the freelancer has disputed your refund request for the funds in escrow. That means that Upwork dispute team will be reaching out to both you and your freelancer shortly and assisting you with the dispute process. I've also followed up with them with the information you shared here. 

[13f30ece]

Evidence in chat to say he was working from localhost
wanted ftp details for what reason?
Show me what changes in my list he has done?
Showed me AWS server where he does his work
No evidence uploaded of any work complete

If he didnt have access he couldnt have worked
I have reuploaded exactly the same tasks.

Hr kept saying he was uplaoding but never did in skype chat

As soon as we spoke in Upwork he said he didnt want to do any more

Show me evidence that you did the work?

Only wanted 80 for all work

Why would I delete his work

He said he didnt want to work with me again when I asked him for the work he had done in 7 days
What did he show me in 7 days - nothing

Evidence not to worry he had backup?
evidence he was using ftp

[13f30ece]

Hi Valerie
I have submitted everything and the developer has too. What do we do now.
I need my money to pay another developer for the work

[BojanS]

Hi Richard,

I checked and I see that this case has already been escalated to the correct team and you've responded on your existing ticket with our Mediation team. They will review your request and respond as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience. 

[13f30ece]

Dear Clients,

I need to let you know that when going into a contract with a developer there are developers who promise you the world and deliver nothing. They then say they uploaded the work to server but you deleted it. You cancel contract after 6 days as you have not ben shown any work that the developer has completed and he continues to say you deleted it. He then opens a dispute that potentially drags on for a while and if not resolved from what I see. Upwork get a % of the payment you have paid into your account. Due to developer and client nearly never being able to agree an outcome. 

Can anyone tell me how developers work as my developer for some reason has worked relentlessly for 6 days but has not provided any evidence of his work. Because I keep strangely going in and deleting it.

Be aware of Upwork dispute policy as at the moment I am not impressed with the service here and really would use another freelance hiring company. The vidence I have uplaoded is unbelievable and the developer has just said I kep deleting the files.

I will let you all know the outcome and let everyone know on facebook this scenario as I do not want anyone else to be caught out by con developers like I am at the moment.

[prestonhunter]

Richard:

This is a project management issue.

It does not have anything to do with Upwork as a platform.

This is very simple:
I am a client.
I have hired developers to work on my project.

One developer works a lot but doesn't deliver anything, and says that I am deleting his files.

The other developers do solid work which I can see on the server and test to validate that it works well.

I (or my project manager) closes the contract on the developer who claims I delete his files, and continues working with the good developers.

You are quite correct to be skeptical of the dispute process.

Many new Upwork users make assumptions about what the dispute process will be, and they often end up disappointed by the reality. If a client starts a project planning to use the dispute process, she has already set herself up for failure.

The dispute process is not a part of a successful project management strategy.

[13f30ece]

Thanks Preston.

So you have the same issue as well about deleting files.
I am IT and know that a developer would not work live but would work locally or somewhere else first then upload his changes.
This developer does not have local files although he asked me for a copy first.

My bfeelings at the moment if it goes to arbitration is that Upwork want arbitrations as they receive money from both parties. So they win when a dispute is made.

I think that is right unless I have been misinformed.

Also can those developers who are obviously not genuine be removed from palces like this?

[13f30ece]

Dont get caught out like me.

If Upwork stand by their values they will amend their policy.

When you have a rpoject you must ensure you state that evidence of tasks completed are signed off.

Esnure that as part of your agreement you get the developer to provide you code with each task using Upwork. This will help you like in my scenario where we are finding that many developers on the Upwork platorm are actually fraudseters. Upwork are not doing anything about this as there are many disputes whereby a developer claims that the client has deleted the files off the server and opens a dispite to say he has been working.
Upwork need to amend their policies to say disputes raised by developers whereby their case is that the customer has deleted the files will not be accepted and no money will be paid to you unless you can prove your work.

That way clients like myself are protected and Upwork stand by their values.

At the moment values mean nothing here as I await the decision of a case wherby a developer claims I deleted the files off the server and he cannot prove any work he has done in 6 days.

Be aware

[prestonhunter]

re: "My feelings at the moment if it goes to arbitration is that Upwork want arbitrations as they receive money from both parties. So they win when a dispute is made."

Upwork never wants any contract to end up in dispute, mediation or arbitration.

Upwork loses money whenever arbitration happens.

If a contract dispute goes to arbitration, then the client pays $291, the freelancer pays $291, and Upwork itself pays $291.

Out of Upwork's own pocket. To a third-party arbitration company.

Arbitration really is a losing proposition for Upwork. They want to avoid it if at all possible.

[13f30ece]

Thanks Preston.