Freelancer Filed Dispute

[movieguru]

I hired a freelancer for a milestone based project. When the freelancer missed the deadlines he agreed to and delivered NO work I ended the contract. The freelancer claims he did work (although he submitted no files) and filed a dispute. I do not agree to pay him because I don't beleive he did any work and wasted my time for about a week.

Now I am left with the decesion to go to arbitration which is almost the amount in question and it's possible I could be told I need to pay some amount beyond the arbitration fee making it more than the milestone amount. Since I agreed to pay the freelancer only on delivered work and there was none, and because Upwork is refusing to make a decesion based on the facts I am left with no other choice but to dispute the charge with my credit card company.

However I am unsure what effect this will have with my status with Upwork and if it could limit my account. Not sure what to do here as the freelancer has nothing to lose by disputing and I on the other hand can be out hundreds of dollars. I feel like the freelancer is gaming the system and Upwork has been no help what-so-ever.

Please share opinions...

[michael9001]

Assuming the amount of money at stake is worth your time, I'd take it to arbitration IF the record is clear and the freelancer really didn't deliver anything.

Your other option is to give the freelancer another deadline to deliver (assuming that's even possible if he/she has already filed a dispute. You could try to negotiate a lower payment based on late delivery.

A word of caution, however: be realistic about the job record . . . did you warn the freelancer that you would cancel the job if the deadline was missed? Does the record show a good faith effort on your part to advance the project? Does the record (messages, etc.) show that the freelancer was putting forth any effort, e.g., giving you updates, asking questions, etc.?

I have no idea how asking for a credit-card chargeback could impact your Upwork status.

Good luck.

[movieguru]

Michael -- thank you for your response...

1) The amount of money owed is worth my time AND the record is clear the freelancer delivered NO work.

2) I had another freelancer complete the work and I have no need for the original freelancer.

3) I did not warn the freelancer I would cancel the job if late. However I did send multiple messages on Upwork inquiring about status. About the only thing the freelancer did was register some software with a license I provided him; 30 seconds max of time on this.

4) The freelancer promisced to deliver first milestone in 4 days, and 2nd milestone 1 day later. He failed to deliver any files by the dates he promisced. Then told me he had another job and wasn't available for mine AND he didn't work weekends losing more time.

I am worried that if I go to arbitration, I will need to pay that fee and I hae no idea if the arbitrator will ask me to pay an additional amount to satisfy the freelancer. I beleive he is lying about time he spent on this project and has not delivered ANY files showing he did any work at all. Since this was a milestone based project and he missed deadlines I have no idea why Upwork is won't deceide in my favor and return funds. Also not sure why the arbitrator would ask me to make a payment to satisfy freelancer since no work is delivered, but you never know...

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Howard,

I am sorry your contract with the freelancer didn't turn out well. I see that the team has already explained possible solution for the issue. 

You can check articles 6.4 and 6.5 of the User Agreement to learn more about Upwork policy regarding chargebacks.

[movieguru]

Valeria,

6.5 says "If Client fails to pay the Freelancer Fees or any other amounts due under the Terms of Service, whether by canceling Client’s credit or debit card, initiating an improper chargeback, or any other means, Upwork may suspend or close Client’s Account and revoke Client’s access to the Site, including Client’s authority to use the Site to process any additional payments, enter into Service Contracts, or obtain any additional Freelancer Services.  "

So it sounds like if I file a chargeback I jeapordize being able to use this service. If I don't file a chargeback I lose $291 for arbitration fee plus X amount of dollars that may be determined later in arbitration. 

I feel this is unfair as the freelancer clearly did not deliver any work, and I thought I was protected by Upwork since no milestones were met and no files delivered.

However it seems as if I must pay some amount to freelancer to make this go away or risk paying more in arbitration. Either way I lose and a fraudulent freelancer who has gamed the system wins and gets paid for doing nothing and can move on to scamming another client as Upwork essentially provides no protetion for employers while blindly protecting fraudulent freelancers. 

[michael9001]

Howard:

Based on my one experience with Upwork arbitration, I would expect it to be a fair process. If he/she can't show evidence of meeting the milestones I doubt they will be awarded anything.

If the facts are a you describe them I would not worry about the freelancer being awarded anything at all. Has he/she even agreed to go to arbitration? Given that that requires an out-of-pocket expense, it seems like a huge gample if no work was delivered and he/she actually told you your work ws pushed back in favor of another job. maybe they are just bluffing.

It's too bad Upwork is forcing you through arbitration if the issue is as clear-cut as you describe.

Again, good luck.

[movieguru]

Michael,

The situation is exactly as I described it. It's extremely simple and clear. I am dumbfounded that Upwork is making me chose between arbitration and paying the freelancer some amount he demanded which is basically extortion.

Upwork is free to check their own email server for the conversation I have had with this freelancer and it's perfectly clear no work was ever delivered and his deadlines were missed.

For some reason Upwork is chosing to not look at the facts and refuses to take sides. They asked me a few times to pay him a lesser amount and I refused in principal.

Upwork emailed me they want to remain neutral. Which forces me to choose arbitration and spend close to $300 just to have someone take a look and see that no work was ever submitted. 

Exert from their email to me: "The goal in cases of dispute, is to help facilitate a mutual agreement between the parties. Upwork in no way can make a determination as to fault or blame for unsuccessful job outcomes, nor can we compel either side to make agreements or produce outcomes as we need to maintain our neutrality as the bidding platform to ensure that we are not advocating for clients or freelancers. "

Then they continue "**Edited for Community Guidelines**."

Basically Upwork is asking me to pay this freelancer or pay more in arbitration which they know doesn't make sense and leaves me with few choices. It seems the way Upwork is setup any freelancer can lie about working weather they did or not and essentially get paid and/or cost the employer time + money to resolve an issue that should be a non-issue. 

If I agree to arbitration and the freelancer does NOT agree, what happens then? 

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

If you agree to arbitration and the freelancer does not agree, then you win, and you pay the freelancer nothing, and there are no arbitration fees.

That is what you should do: agree to arbitration. Either he backs down and you win outright, or it goes to arbitration and you win there. The freelancer has not done anything, so arbitration would uncover that fact easily.

[prestonhunter]

For a tight deadline project like this, you would have been better off hiring multiple freelancers with an hourly contract.

As soon as the project is done and you have what you want, you close the contracts on everybody. If you had done that, there would have been no money paid out to contractors who did nothing, and there is no way the freelancers can dispute anything.

Of course it is possible that you pay for some extra work hours if multiple contractors work simultaneously, but you generally will come out ahead, and you'll have peace of mind that the project will be get done in time.

[stencil_media]

You do make me chuckle Preston! I'm surprised you're not living in abject poverty if you're following your own advice.

Problem: "I bought some milk and it was off." 

Solution: "You should buy four different bottles of milk."

Problem: "My internet connection isn't very good."

Solution: "You should subscribe to four different ISPs."

Problem: "My car sometimes doesn't start in the mornings."

Solution: "You should buy four different cars."

Problem: "I'm regularly late for work as my taxi turns up late."

Solution: "You should order four different taxis and go with whoever turns up first."

Yes, hiring multiple freelancers will greatly increase the odds of obtaining a better end result, but not paying them just because they start a bit later than the rest of them is a bit unfair. Even if they've not done the work so they don't deserve any pay... that's like booking a table at a restaurant and not turning up. And if you do pay them, then you've essentially just paid four times more than you needed to. Hiring multiple people is more of a quick fix than a solution to the original issue. You know, firefighting rather than addressing the root cause.   

[movieguru]

Hi Preston. What you say makes the most sense. I think there is no chance the freelancer will win in arbitration as he never submitted any files.

The amount I would pay in arbitration is $291 and is about $60 less than the total amount in question. I would rather pay the arbitration fee than the freelancer who has been making life difficult for me and keeping my funds in Upwork's possession for three weeks now. 

It's unfortunate that I will lose my arbitration fee if all parties do agree but it seems to be the only choice I have since Upwork refuses to make a decesion either way; which will end up costing them $291 as well. This just doesn't make sense since the answer is so clear. Not sure why we need a 3rd party to bring up the obvious?

[stencil_media]

"If I agree to arbitration and the freelancer does NOT agree, what happens then?" 

You win and the money gets refunded to you. Likewise, if the freelancer agrees to arbitration and you don't, the freelancer gets the money. 

So did the guy press the "submit files and get paid" button, but attached no files to the submission? I'm guessing so, as there would be nothing to dispute otherwise, the money would just sit there until work was submitted. 

Not that I doubt what you're saying, but I find it strange that a freelancer would attempt to dispute a payment when they haven't done, or submitted, any work. What exactly is the guy saying regarding the work? Is he just saying "I've done the work, please pay me?". If so, then I'm assuming you're saying "great, send the work over so I can see it" etc etc. 

I'm just curious what the freelancer is saying. I'm assuming it's not "I've done the work so I want to be paid, but I'm never going to send you the work. So there.". It could be a case of him having done the work, but not wanting to send it over until he is paid. If so, he sounds new, as that's not how it works. If escrow is funded then you send the work and then you get paid, there's no two ways about it. If escrow wasn't funded, then his approach would be understandable, but it it.

Or he might genuinely think he has delivered the work, but you just haven't received it. Maybe it's just some crossed wires. Like I say, I'm not doubting you, and it sounds like I'm just looking for eventualities in which the freelancer is in the right... but it sounds like there must be a bit more to it than what you've told us... or your freelancer is just extremely daft. One of the two. I mean, if you're there in front of Judge Judy and the guy says "Yeah, I did some work for this guy and he won't pay me" then Judy is going to say "and when did you send this work to the client" and then he says "I didn't and I've no intention of doing so whether he pays me or not" and then Judy laughs him out the court, rules in your favour, and gets him to pay all the costs. 

Anyway, just thinking out loud. 

[movieguru]

Scott E,

I can appreciate your pessimism in this matter. The situation is literrally as crazy as it sounds and that is what is making this whole situtation way more frustrating than it needs to be.

I can assure you that I have hired numerous freelancers on here in the past for multiple projects for both hourly and milestone based agreements.

I am quite familiar with "submit files and get paid" because I have happily recently paid other freelnancers who have completed milestone based projects and submitted there work for review. I did NOT get my wires crossed and not notice he didn't submit work! 🙂 I' not an idiot... 

HE NEVER SUBMITTED ANY FILES WHAT-SO-EVER. NEVER SENT FILES HERE IN ANY WAY OR ANYWHERE OUTSIDE OF THIS PLATFORM EITHER. HE DOESN'T EVEN CLAIM TO HAVE SUBMITTED ANY FILES.

He does claim he put in time and that is what is being disputed. No files were ever sent to me. He missed two of his own deadlines. Admitted to having other clients and putting my project on the back burner and never explicitly says he actually did any work. He simply wants to be paid for his time. I do beleive he wants money for nothing.. 

I have happily paid OTHER freelancers in the past ON Upwork for good efforts they have made even though they failed to complete the project. Because they made a good honest effort and I felt they deserved something for their troubles I happily paid a bonus to those who deserve.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

I am familiar with the process of registering this application and it could not have taken more than about 30 seconds to enter his name, email address and paste the license. Judge Judy might throw this case out as you say costing me just about the entire project amount so I lose either way. Truly a bogus system Upwork has in place for disputes if you ask me.

[petra_r]

Howard,

Because of Escrow regulations Upwork can not (!) make a binding decision, it can only mediate. Only arbitration can make a binding decision.

If I were you I would agree to arbitration. Chances are the freelancer will NOT agree to arbitration because arbitration will be short and sweet:

"Freelancer, did you hand over the deliverables to the client, Yes or No?"

"No"

"Freelancer, you lost."

So up to now the freelancer has been bluffing as he did not have to put his money where his mouth is. I doubt he will pay $ 290 to carry on bluffing.

If you pay and the freelancer does not - you get your Escrow funds back, AND you get the Arbitration fee back.

The End.

[movieguru]

Petra,

I like your short and sweet solution to this very frustrating problem. I let my case worker know that I wish to continue with arbitration. Being as I don't see how it's possible for the freelancer to win I agree this should call his bluff. Hopefully I will get the escrow amount and arbitration fees returned to me. Before this I felt so confident placing fees in escrow on Upwork but after this experience I am going to need to be even more careful when selecting freelancers with little to no feedback/experience on Upwork.

[VladimirG]

Hi Howard,

I'm sorry about the outcome of your contract. I see Preston and Scott already responded to your question, so please take a detailed look at the arbitration process in the Upwork Escrow Fixed-Price Instructions. 

I understand that you're still under the impression and you're not familiar with the Upwork dispute process, but I can assure you that it was set it in a way to ensure all parties are equal and, as a a final step, receive final judgment on the disagreement from an independent third party. That's why Upwork won't assess blame or "take sides" as you mentioned in a disagreement. Upwork is also paying the same fee for the arbitration as the two other parties, and as already explained, the fee won't be charged if only one party proceeds with arbitration.

[movieguru]

Vladimir,

Thank you for clarifying the finer points of arbitration. It's clear what I must do to get a satisfactory outcome. It is not like there is any other path for me to pursue.

As another moderator pointed out if I dispute the charge with my credit card company to recover my funds I risk having my account terminated which makes this option one I can't chose,

I think it's funny that a moderator here edited one of my posts citing community guidelines. I posted here for others to see that Upwork makes ridiculous requests of it's clients by suggesting they pay the freelancer "some amount" for work they didn't do.

I explicitly responded to the dispute and this Upwork employee letting them know I would not agree to pay anything because no work was ever submitted. Yet I have less than three emails in my inbox from Upwork suggesting I pay the freelancer to make this go away OR chose costly arbitration.

THE EXCERT FROM THE EMAIL I POSTED HERE DID NOT CONTAIN PRIVATE INFORMATION. I NEVER MENTION THE NAME OF THE FREELANCER OR MY OWN NAME OR IDENTYFYING INFORMATION. I SIMPLY POSTED A MESSAGE ALMOST DEMANDING I PAY THE FREELANCER AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS VALID FOR OTHERS HERE TO SEE. I THINK ITS WRONG FOR MY POST TO BE **Edited for Community Guidelines**

[VladimirG]

Hi Howard,

Please note that I edited your post from yesterday as it is a violation of our Community Guidelines to share email content, chat transcripts or other private communication in the forums. Regarding the information our agent shared, they outlined the options you have to resolve the disagreement. One of those options is to come to an agreement amicably and resolve the problem by issuing a partial payment.

Again, we are not allowed to discuss dispute cases in the Community, as we already have a process set up for resolving any contract related disagreements, based on reviewing your communication and verifiable facts. Please refrain from sharing any further information related to this contract or your freelancer. Some of our experienced users have been through the dispute process and they can attest to the fairness and impartialness of it.

[c3981b3b]

The remarks of this exchange interest me very much. I received a claim from a freelancer. prepared an answer and proofs but could not fill them. Upwork denied me the answer option which does not work.

I canceled the contract because the freelancer refused to make the slight changes I requested, even though I had explained them very clearly.

But I also broke the contract because he refused to draw a half-breed. I find that almost racist and totally inadequate in the current context.

I asked him how much he wanted for the sketches. He did not answer. So I decided on a price of $ 20. He then said he wanted the double $ 40 but posed a claim for the entire $ 100 sum in addition to the $ 20 already paid.

I was ready to hire other freelancers, for the drawings but also for the translation.

I canceled everything, not because of this dishonest cartoonist but because I am too shocked that Upwork refuses me the right to reply to a claim (something essential to justice) and does not position itself towards a possibly racist attitude.

Regards,

Eva C.

[BojanS]

Hi Eva,

I apologize for the inconvenience this caused and for the delayed response. I have escalated your issue to our executive escalations team. They will reach out to you directly as soon as possible to assist you accordingly with this concern.

Thanks so much for your patience! 

[prestonhunter]

Eva:
I am sorry if you were disappointed in this experience using Upwork.

I can assure you that every client/freelancer pairing is NOT a "match made in heaven."

I have hired over 100 freelancers on Upwork. A large share of those are artists, including cartoonists. I have been immensely pleased with my experience with most of these. But not every hire has worked out. I don't spend time worrying about that.

I recommend that you put your project first, and don't focus on the needs or concerns of one specific freelancer, especially a freelancer who is clearly not a good fit for this project.

If one freelancer out of many thousands isn't right for your project, so what?

YOUR project is unique and special.

The truth is, there are hundreds of thousands of great freelance artists you could hire on Upwork. The MAJORITY of them don't have the right artistic style or level of quality or rates or degree of professionalism that is right for YOUR project.

I have commissioned a lot of artwork on Upwork. It is normal for me to hire MULTIPLE artists to do the exact same task. That way I receive multiple options to choose from. I can use the ones I like, and discard the ones I don't like. That is my choice. I often hire 3 to 5 artists to do the same task. Sometimes as many as ten artists.

[petra_r]

---

Preston H wrote:

I recommend that you put your project first, and don't focus on the needs or concerns of one specific freelancer, especially a freelancer who is clearly not a good fit for this project..

---

As always when you say this, Eva isn't in the slightest bit concerned with the "needs and concerns" of the freelancer. She wants (more of) her money back. Please... PLEASE Preston! You've been spinning this particular thing for years (pretending to believe a poster is concerned about the other party despite knowing fully well that this is not the case).

Obviously there are many cases where expecting a refund or payment is unrealistic, but let's just try not to treat the readers and posters like complete idiots by pretending nonsensical stuff such as the motivation having anything to do with "focus on the other party".

---

Preston H wrote:

Sometimes as many as ten artists.

---

Having to hire and pay ten people to get something useable simply means a client is spectacularly bad at choosing the right freelancers.

Usually that goes hand in hand with a very low budget.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Having to hire and pay ten people to get something useable simply means a client is spectacularly bad at choosing the right freelancers. Usually that goes hand in hand with a very low budget."

I agree that in many cases that would be true. But you are making a broad generalization.

In my case, hiring multilple people to do the same task is not a matter of a low budget, but stems from a desire to have multiple options and many results. When I have hired 10 or more freelancers to do the same task, I am not throwing out all but one result. I am using most or all of them.

Even when I hire only 3 or 4 artist or writer to do the same task, it has been because I want to have more than one result, and I may end up using all of them. But regardless of the intended purpose, hiring multiple freelancers always provides options.

I hire almost exclusively using hourly contracts, using a freelancer's posted hourly rate.

But your overall concept that hiring multiple freelancers goes hand in hand with a low budget IS accurate for those clients who want to minimize cost. I really don't believe that it is likely that a client who hires just one freelancer using bargain-basement rates will get usable results. But if a client wants to spend as little as possible, it IS possible to hire multiple low-cost freelancers and find a "diamond in the rough."

Although I do not personally use this strategy, it is a mathematically sound strategy for many clients. For example if a client is going to need 100 illustrations for a project, it may make sense to hire 10 different low-cost artists to create just one of the illustrations. Then the client can pick the artist whose submission shows that they will work best for the project. And the client can hire that artist to create 99 more illustrations.

The client has spent a little additional time at the outset, but has minimized their overall costs while ensuring that they have the quality they require.

As for posts I have written about clients who show more concern about an underperforming freelancer than they do about their own project: I don't expect you to agree with me about all this. But my comments on these topics are sincere attempts to help clients succeed with their projects.

I do not believe that all of these clients have genuine compassion or charitable motives as the underlying cause of their "concern" about freelancers. But I do believe that clients often BEHAVE as though they are more interested or "concerned" about a freelancer than about the success of their project. I think you may be thinking of "concern" in a more positive sense, while I am using it to describe inappropriate sentiment or emotional reaction on the part of the client. Perhaps you prefer if I used words such as "obsession" or "agitation"?

And many clients do BEHAVE in a way that makes me think they are putting the "needs" of the freelancer ahead of the client's own needs.

I see clients obsessing about about a $20 payment - clients who CAN afford to lose that amount money. These clients would be better of letting it go. They hired a lowball freelancer. They got a lowball result. Serious businesspersons know that not every hire will turn out. Any place that hires entry-level workers for entry-level pay expects to have a high "failure rate" in their hires and expects to have significant personnel turnover. That is part of the business model.

The projects of the clients who I comment on in this manner would be better served if the clients focused on the project rather than trying to balance the karma of the freelancer to make sure that the freelancer is not paid for work that they don't "deserve" to get paid for. I know that the clients are not consciously trying to balance any freelancer's karma or ensure that the freelancer repents. But clients really act like this is what they are trying to do. We can see it in their writing... in their hand-wringing about the possibility that a lowball freelancer might run away with some undeserved cash and that the cosmic scales of justice will be injured.

[c3981b3b]

Hello Preston,

Two details:

I did not hire ten people to do the same work, on the contrary. But I was about to start other works with a few other freelancers with other skills.

My proposal was for $ 150 for a relatively simple design. I gave a very precise detail of my wishes supported by photos. I don't think I was too short on the budget.

I think I have the right to ask for some corrections on the draft and that the freelancer does not have to do the opposite, or refuse to make the characters as I wish, especially for disreputable reasons.

If a freelancer has the right to do this, I can't risk hiring others and losing even more money. Money in escrow is only good if both parties are honest or that the provider also protects clients. 

[prestonhunter]

Eva:
I appreciate your situation:

Just to clarify something:
There is much in ths thread that has been said by me and others that has nothing to do with your situation or your posts. There are topics here that have been discussed for years.

As for your specific situation:

I don't think that you hired 10 freelancers to do the same work.

I have done so, but when I did so, it was NOT because I was interested in obtaining only ONE usable result. When I have hired ten to twenty freelancers, I did so because I was interested in obtaining and using MANY variations of the same thing.

A lot of YOUR situation has nothing whatsoever to do with money.

Upwork does not have rules about which races (or combinations) of characters cartoonists must draw. Upwork is never going to mandate that. It is up to each Upwork artist to decide for herself which races of characters (or combinations of races) she is willing to draw.

You asked an artist to draw a half-breed character.

That artist does NOT draw half-breed characters.

MOST Upwork cartoonists DO draw half-breed characters.

So this was just a bad fit.

There MAY be a language barrier issue going on here. In some languages and in some cultures "half-breed" is not considered an acceptable term. In other languages - such as Thai - "half-breed" (lūkkhrụ̀ng or luk khrueng) is an honorable term. In Thailand it is a compliment if somebody asks if you are a half-breed.

re: "...especially for disreputable reasons"

That is an opinion.

You ARE NOT WRONG.

But at the same time, you are wrong.

It depends on who you ask.

Some people would consider it "disreputable" to refuse to draw a half-breed character.

Some people would consider it NOT disreputable to refuse to draw a half-breed character.

Some people would not think much about it one way or the other.

I don't even know enough about your situation to know for certain if the freelancer was refusing to CHANGE a character purely because you were asking for extra work without offering extra pay, or if the freelancer was refusing to make the changes because the freelancer doesn't draw half-breed characters (either due to lack of ability, or for ideological reasons), or if the freelancer didn't like the word that you used (a perfectly acceptable word in some places, and an objectionable word in other places).

I don't know all the details of your situation.

But here some general concepts about fixed-price contracts:

- If you asked the artist to draw something that he doesn't want to draw, then the artist should have immediately closed the contract himself and refunded the money back to you. That is: IF the client hadn't done any work yet.

- If the freelancer did the task described in the original agreement, then you should release all money in escrow to the freelancer.

- If the freelancer did HALF of the work in the original agreement, and then you asked for changes which the freelancer was NOT willing to do, then you should ask the client if you may pay him HALF of the money in escrow, and in return you will get to keep the work that has done so far. And the client will not need to do any more work on the project. The freelancer SHOULD agree to that.

- If the freelancer completed the task EXACTLY is described in the original agreement, then the client needs to release all money in escrow to the freelancer. The freelancer is ALLOWED to make some changes requested by the client. But the freelancer is NOT required to make any changes. The client SHOULD NOT ask for any changes that go beyond precisely what is described in the original agreement.

- If the freelancer has completed the task as described in the original agreement, then if the client wants something changed, this is what the client should do: The client should release the money in escrow, close the contract, and then ASK the freelancer if he is willing to make some changes. The client should ask in this way: "Can I hire you using a new hourly contract or fixed-price contract - as you prefer - to make some changes?"

- If the freelancer has "completed" the task, but something is not right, the client may ask for changes WITHOUT paying more or creating a new contract. Example: The task is "Draw a picture of six frolicking kittens, each wearing a differently-colored hat." The artist drew a picture of six frolicking kittens wearing hats, but two of the hats are the same color. The client MAY request that the freelancer make changes. The client may do this informally through messages, or formally using the "Request Changes" button. The freelancer DOES NEED to make those changes, at no extra cost.

- But the client may NOT ask for changes which are not part of completing the original, agreed-upon, written task description. Example: The task is "Draw a picture of six frolicking kittens, each wearing a differently-colored hat." The freelancer completed this task. But the client didn't like the red hat, and wants the freelancer to change that hat to blue. The client MAY NOT DO THAT without offering to pay more. The original task description did NOT specify what colors each would be. So that is left to the freelancer's discretion. If the client wants a red hat to be changed to a blue hat, then the client must offer to pay the freelancer to make that change. The freelancer may refuse extra payment if he wants to. But the client MUST offer to pay. The client should NOT request such a change until AFTER she has released the escrow payment to the freelancer.

[prestonhunter]

re: "If a freelancer has the right to do this, I can't risk hiring others and losing even more money. Money in escrow is only good if both parties are honest or that the provider also protects clients."

If this is a concern, then simply use hourly contracts.

I nearly always use hourly contracts when hiring artists.

If you use an hourly contract, there is no money tied up in escrow.

You can close a contract any time without needing to either (a) release escrow-funded money or (b) ask a freelancer to give you a refund.

Hourly contracts are VERY flexible.

There doesn't need to be a detailed task agreement. You can simply hire an artist, and tell the artist what you want him to draw. It doesn't matter if what you ask for was in an "original task agreement" or not.