Freelance made a mess of cover letter and resume

[Lynda N]

This is my first time on Upwork. I hired a freelancer to edit my cover letter and resume and she made a mess of it. I only needed a couple sentences in my cover letter and my resume proofread. I don't know how to fix the formatting, the titles and descriptions of my professional experience are split between pages, the work dates are not lined up....it's a mess and I don't know what to do. When I posted the job I needed done, I included my resume, cover letter, job description, what I needed done, and that I needed it by today - I found a job posting yesterday (I'm looking for a new job), I had been working on my cover letter and resume but was getting frustrated. I remembered hearing about upwork so thought I 'd give it a shot. I emailed the freelancer back twice today while I was at work but have not heard back. The job posting closes tonight and I'm in tears. The money is sitting in escrow and I don't know what to do. If I choose to pay a different amount, do I get the rest of my money back? I would attach everything but I don't want my boss to happen upon this conversation. Some guidance would be very much appreciated. 

[Preston H]

re: "I don't know what to do."

This is very simple.

Do not work with this particular freelancer again.

What you asked for is beyond her capabilities.

In the future, if you have a deadline, then is important to not hire only one freelancer who you have never worked with before.

Should have hired four different people.

[Lynda N]

she sent a link to her webpage, she does marketing, etc. all i asked for
was a few sentences in a cover letter.

[John K]

Lynda, sorry to hear what happened but as long as the money's still in escrow, you can cancel the job and the freelancer will be asked to refund you the money. 

[Valerio S · Accepted solution]

Fire the freelancer, create a new post and specify that you need everything ready in 1-2 hours, raise the amount of money and pick a freelancer with good reviews and a good job score.

once this is done deal with the refund.

[Preston H]

Use an hourly contract.

Hire 4 freelancers, explaining the deadline.

Once you get what you need, close all the contracts.

If anybody didn't record ANY time, pay them a $5.00 bonus for their participation in the project.

[Lynda N]

Yep. The freelancer emailed back, she thinks it looks fine. Wow. Ok, how do I fire her?

[Michelle S]

I'm sorry you aren't happy with the results. 

Here's a thought before you close the contract.  How did the freelancer send you the file?  I've read in these forums that some of the formatting is getting messed up when files are sent through "submit work" or through messages.  Have the freelancer send you the resume file via email and see if that fixes the problem.  Again, just a thought.

[Lynda N]

Perfect! How do i fire her and get my money back?

[John K]

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Lynda N wrote:
Perfect! How do i fire her and get my money back?

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All you have to do is end the contract. Directions are provided here:
https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000990228-End-a-Fixed-Price-Contract

Make sure you only click the End Contract button, not the other 2 buttons.