End of Contract

[72519afd]

I've requested a Freelancer to create a logo for my business, however, she didn't deliver what I expected after 2 attempts. I've ended the contract with the reason she has not enough experience on the FOOD logos world to deliver what I need and gave her 10% of the money. I'm I doing it wrong? 

My logo was not delivered the way I requested and I still have to pay her for the job? Not usre if this is acceptable.

Have anyone had any abuser Freelancer like this before?

Thanks a lot.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Not sure if this is acceptable."

I will clarify what your options are in this situation.

I am an Upwork client and freelancer. I am telling you my own position, and I am not here to represent Upwork or anyone else.

If you hire a freelancer to do a fixed-price contract, then you have a right to end a contract at any time, for any reason. The SIMPLEST and BEST way to end a contract is to release any remaining escrow money to the freelancer and close the contract. If you do this, you don't need anybody's permission, and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop you.

What if you are dissatisfied with the work? The fastest, simplest way to close end things is to release all money to the freelancer and close contract.

BUT: If you really, really want to pay the freelancer less than the agreed-upon amount, that IS possible. But in order to do so, you need to get the freelancer to agree. To make that happen, you should COMMUNICATE with the freelancer. If you briefly explain your position and ask the freelancer to accept a different (lower) amount, and if the freelancer AGREES... Then you can go ahead and close the contract, and when you do so, you can edit the amount of money to be released. The freelancer will receive a message from Upwork asking her to agree to the change. She will click a button to authorize the refund, and then Upwork will AUTOMATICALLY return the rest of the money to you.

In most cases, the freelancer WILL agree to any reasonable request for a refund. I always tell freelancers that they SHOULD agree to reasonable refund requests. For example: If only 50% of the task has been completed, then an honorable freelancer SHOULD agree to refund 50% of the escrow funds.

If you communicate with a freelancer and she does NOT agree to the refund request, then at least you tried. You should go ahead and release full escrow payment and close the contract.

If you can't accept that... then it means the client and freelancer are at an impasse, and the only way for the money to be disbersed in case of such a disagreement is to go to a dispute. And if that fails: arbitration.

[dsmgdesign]

I, too, am a freelancer and a client. Unlike Preston, I’m a graphic designer and have done a ton of logo work. So, I can tell you that designing logos starts with a detailed creative brief. For example, did your freelancer have a discovery meeting with you? Did they ask dozens of questions about your brand, audience and competitors? A true professional will do these things before any work is done, or how else will they know what your expectations are?

Should the freelancer get paid? As a freelancer and a client, I would say YES. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fixed priced contract or hourly contract, the time and effort involved in designing your logo is the same, and that’s what you are paying for…not the logo itself. 

I agree with Preston about communicating with your freelancer and working with them on an acceptable rebate. All freelancers (or at least all freelancers on this platform should) want to offer a high level of professionalism and work with their clients, on this platform…even when things go sour. You always do have arbitration, but that should be a last resort after communicating with your freelancer.