Freelancer Did Not Do The Work

[markaffleck]

I hired a freelancer and put money in escrow but he has not done the work...five days late. I don't want to go through the dispute process because I need to hire someone else. What do I do?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[petra_r]

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@Mark A wrote:

I hired a freelancer and put money in escrow but he has not done the work...five days late. I don't want to go through the dispute process because I need to hire someone else. What do I do?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

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 Have you discussed it with your freelancer?

Either way, you are free to end the contract and request your funds back.

You are also free to hire someone else.

Those are two different processes and not mutually exclusive. Get your stuff done by hiring someone else and sort out getting your funds back from the first contract afterwards.

[nkocendova]

Hi Mark,

It looks like you have already ended the contract in question and have released the funds to the freelancer. At this stage, you can select the contract under 'My Jobs' and "All Contracts" and then click on 'Terms & Settings' and request a refund from the freelancer.

*Post was edited for clarity

[petra_r]

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@Nina K wrote:

Hi Mark,

... you have already ended the contract in question and have released the funds to the freelancer.

The freelancer will have the option of approving the refund of the funds remaining in escrow.

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 Nina, the above statements are mutually exclusive!

If Mark has indeed released the funds, there is nothing "remaining in Escrow".

[nkocendova]

Mark,

It looks like you are back in communication with the freelancer and that you two will be working on a new contract so I hope that goes smoothly.

Petra,

You're right, my statement was incorrect and probably caused confusion which I apologize for. I've edited my original response to avoid further confusion.

[jr-translation]

Is it possible to edit posts in a way that the changes show. I hate to read though threads wondering why a post is told to be wrong just to find out further doen the line that that was some editing done. By edting posts without showing what you have changed it just looks like you are trying to hide something.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Jennifer,

Content that is edited can`t be seen or showed . Sometimes we edit content if we think that there`s a chance that an additional confusion will be created. Thank you!

[jr-translation]

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@Goran V wrote:

Hi Jennifer,

Content that is edited can`t be seen or showed .

That depends what you do. You can delete it or you change the formatting. This is a grear way to do it.

Sometimes we edit content if we think that there`s a chance that an additional confusion will be created. Thank you!

I am posting because you are creating additional confusion by editing content without highlighting the changes.

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[g_vasilevski]

Hi Jennifer,

I understand your point and we will start using this method in similar cases. I will also share your feedback with the team. Thank you!

[nkocendova]

Hi Jennifer,

While my goal is to share the correct info, if I do make a mistake then my intention isn't to hide anything that I've written (you can see my original remarks in Petra's reply where she's quoted it). That said, I appreciate your point of view and going forward if I need to edit comments that I've made previously, using strike-through formatting for transparency won't be a problem.

[prestonhunter]

If you already released funds to the freelancer and closed the contract, then there's nothing to worry about.

Your business with him has concluded and you are welcome to hire any additional freelancers you want to.

re: "I don't want to go through the dispute"

That is a very wise choice. Disputes drain valuable time and psychological resources. Serious businesspeople who know how disputes work on Upwork know better than to participate in the process. By closing the contract as you did, you made it impossible for the freelancer to trigger a dispute.

[reinierb]

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@Preston H wrote:

If you already released funds to the freelancer and closed the contract, then there's nothing to worry about.

Your business with him has concluded and you are welcome to hire any additional freelancers you want to.

re: "I don't want to go through the dispute"

That is a very wise choice. Disputes drain valuable time and psychological resources. Serious businesspeople who know how disputes work on Upwork know better than to participate in the process. By closing the contract as you did, you made it impossible for the freelancer to trigger a dispute.

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 For what it's worth, I think it is highly unlikely that the freelancer will initiate a dispute, because after all, he was paid money for doing nothing. 

[petra_r]

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@Reinier B wrote:

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 For what it's worth, I think it is highly unlikely that the freelancer will initiate a dispute, because after all, he was paid money for doing nothing. 

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 If the money has already been released, the freelancer could not initiate a dispute if they wanted to as there is nothing in Escrow and the freelancer was paid already.

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@Preston H wrote:

That is a very wise choice. Disputes drain valuable time and psychological resources. Serious businesspeople who know how disputes work on Upwork know better than to participate in the process.

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 Surely that depends on the size of the milestone. Obviously it is not worth disputing piddly little amounts, but many hundreds or thousands in Escrow are clearly worth disputing.

Without knowing what kind of money is involved there is no "One fits all" answer given purely from a "low contract value" perspective, where it's indeed valid.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Surely that depends on the size of the milestone."

That is true.

The biggest problems occur when clients or freelancers get into disagreements over large fixed-price milestone/constracts.

You and I have both read many tales of heartache in the Forum when that happens. Which is why experienced Upwork users advise both freelancers and clients to avoid setting up large fixed-price contracts with people you don't know and have not built a level of trust with yet.

But you're right, I have no idea what the numbers are in this particular case.