Freelancer Requesting Payment for Incomplete work

[3c47399a]

Some advice needed.

I hired a guy to build two apps (ios and android) and a website, that all work together.

We agreed on milestones and payment. 

The first milestone was design- that phase is complete and payment was released.

The second milestone is to be released on completion of the build.

We are now one month passed the initial dealine

the website has not been started

the ios app is barely started

the android app is one third built, but not functional as many features do not work as discussed

This is obviously a very large and expensive milestone

Problem i have is that the freelancer keeps requesting that I release partial payment, he sends me messages about how he has a family to support and bills to pay and says today that without partial payment there will be more delays in the work.

I am not comfortable paying for something that is not complete and does not work. he may have done some work on the project already- but there is nothing that i can do with a half-built app. i will not be able to take it to another developer to complete, i would have to start from scratch. so i am scared that this is a scam and the freelancer cannot infact deliver what he has promised and he is trying to squeeze some extra last cash out of me before he dissappears.

Thoughts?

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Tiffany,

I would strongly suggest  not to release any funds until the freelancer has completed the milestone and has delivered the work that both sides have agreed on, to you for a review. Our team will also reach out to you via ticket where you can share more private details with us so that we can assist you accordingly. You can access your tickets on this Link, thank you.

[prestonhunter]

Tiffany:

By setting this project up so that the entire build and compilation of the finished apps constitute a single milestone, you have set your project up for failure.

Your interests as the client and project owner would have been better served if this had been set up in a far more modular way, so that individual screens or components or areas of functionality could be completed, tested and paid for.

Your approach depends too much on the good will and patience of a single freelancer.

[3c47399a]

noted for future- do you know of a way to alter milestones after project has commenced?

[wlyonsatl]

See...

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000990268-Add-and-activate-more-milestones

[3c47399a]

thanks i have read this- it is only on how to add more milestones and how to activate another milestone. adding a new milestone would mean that i would have to add more money- i would not be able to have the new smaller milestones replace my current large milestone and this milestone is fully funded and is 50% of the project budget.

i would need to know how to edit or alter and existing milestone and cannot find this option

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Tiffany,

You can also release a partial amount on your current milestone and ask for a refund on the remaining funds that will be still funded on the milestone.
The freelancers will have 7 days to take actions on this request, if they reject it a dispute will be open and one of our dispute agents will assist you both further. If no actions are taken on the refund request the funds will be refunded back to your account. Thank you.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Problem i have is that the freelancer keeps requesting that I release partial payment"

That is completely unprofessional and inappropriate.

re: "he sends me messages about how he has a family to support and bills to pay"

What on Earth? What does this have to do with anything? He actually TOLD you that he has a family and that he has bills to pay?

Um.... Are there ANY people who don't have bills to pay?

I typically assume that anybody who says something like this is a scammer. I am not saying that YOUR freelancer is a scammer. I'm just talking about generally.

re: "he sends me messages about how he has a family to support and bills to pay and says today that without partial payment there will be more delays in the work."

This is essentially blackmail. It makes me believe that if any of the "work" the freelancer has done thus far was carefully inspected, one would find that it either:

a) doesn't work

b) was just downloaded from the Internet and doesn't work right for your needs

or

c) there's nothing there at all

re: "I am not comfortable paying for something that is not complete and does not work."

You shouldn't be comfortable with this.

re: "he may have done some work on the project already"

He may have invented a magical rocket ship that can fly you to Neverland.

re: "but there is nothing that i can do with a half-built app. i will not be able to take it to another developer to complete, i would have to start from scratch"

You are correct.

re: "so i am scared that this is a scam and the freelancer cannot infact deliver what he has promised and he is trying to squeeze some extra last cash out of me before he dissappears"

I agree with you.

[prestonhunter]

BOTTOM LINE:

This isn't going to work. Based on what you have said about the games this freelancer is playing, we don't trust him. You need to get out of there with and move on, with as little expense and wasted time as possible.

You can't get a refund unless he agrees. So come up with a figure that you think he will agree to. I don't know what kind of numbers we're talking about. You'll have to figure that out. Then tell him:

"Jacob:

I appreciate all the work that you have done on this project. And I appreciate how important your family is to you. You are so fortunate to have them! I feel like my project is taking up so much time that it is taking you away from your family, and I feel bad about that. If I agree to pay you 20% of the agreed up amount right now, will you accept that? You won't need to spend any more time on this, and I will be grateful for the work you have done thus far. You'll receive that money immediately, and we can close the contract."

If he agrees to that, then release partial funds, close the contract, and move on.

If he doesn't agree, then offer him 10%, but only if he accepts the offer within an hour.

[3c47399a]

oh no that sucks- can i really not get a refund on a funded milestones? i read all their articles on money guarentee and how escrow works and how I understood it is that if the freelancer did not deliver he is not paid, I could then use that money to hire another freelancer- is this not true?

[versailles]

---

@Tiffany K wrote:

oh no that sucks- can i really not get a refund on a funded milestones? i read all their articles on money guarentee and how escrow works and how I understood it is that if the freelancer did not deliver he is not paid, I could then use that money to hire another freelancer- is this not true?

---

You can request that the money in the escrow is refunded to you. The freelancer can either accept or dispute. I would say that if no work was produced yet for this milestone, they won't win the dispute.

I agree with what Preston said:

—a project shall be broken up into small milestones, corresponding to actual deliverables

—the request from this freelancer is unacceptable

A more general note, that may or may not apply to your case: Upwork is a global platform, sometimes clients believe that this is a good opportunity to hire cheap people from places where the costs of living are modest. This is very often a total mistake.

Professional developers from around the globe will charge more or less the same amount. There will be differences, but not that much.

The reasons are:

—Computers and reliable Internet cost more or less the same regardless of where one is located.

—Good professionals have a good reputation which brings them a lot of business. They don't have to work for cheap.  People who work for cheap are the ones who cannot work at decent rates because they don't possess the skills to compete with others, so they compete on price.

When a freelancer on Upwork claims that they need money to support their family, it either means that they will run with the money, or that they are making so little that they are really in a financial disarray. They have too many financial issues to deal with, they cannot focus 100% on your project.

[wlyonsatl]

Assuming you like the work the freelancer has completed, now that you and the freelancer both understand the overall project better, can you add additional, smaller milestones to the project that reflect the work flow and stages needed for competion?

[3c47399a]

i don't know how to edit milestones after the contract has started- i only know how to add milestones. and my current milestones are funded as is so adding milestones means adding additional money above the budget of the project.

also- i am not happy with the work done thus far

[wlyonsatl]

If you can't change a milestone after it has been funded, that's a weakness in Upwork's system. (There are many.)

If you aren't happy with the work and don't want this freelancer to complete your project under any circumstances, someone else here who better understands the ins and outs of cancelling incomplete fixed rate projects can advise you.

Or ask Upwork Support directly.

[3c47399a]

i dont mind him completing my project- i mind paying for an incompleted project

[prestonhunter]

re: "i dont mind him completing my project- i mind paying for an incompleted project"

We do not know that he is physically capable of completing this project.

What have you actually TESTED?

Not screen shots.

Not promises.

What have you downloaded to your mobile device and TESTED for yourself, and seen working?

[richard_wein]

Tiffany, I don't know why the others are taking about refunds. If you want to continue working with this freelancer, you could agree with him to reduce the scope of the current milestone, and add some more milestones for the remaining work. Although I don't think you can change the formal definition of the first milestone, this shouldn't matter if you agree a new definition in Upwork Messages. When the informally agreed version of the first milestone is complete, you can accept the work and release just the agreed amount for it. The unused funds will remain in escrow, and can be used to fund the subsequent milestones, one at a time.

[prestonhunter]

The original poster wrote:

"I am not happy with the work done thus far."

and:

"I don't mind him completing my project. I mind paying for an incompleted project."

I believe you could focus effort on:

- trying to get him to finish the project.

OR

- trying to get some of the funded escrow money back and moving on

Trying to get SOME money back should be pretty easy. I already told you how to do it. Offer him a proportion of the money in exchange for ending things right now.

If you want to do the EASIEST and fastest possible thing, you could simply close the contract NOW and release all the escrow money to him. You have that option, and there is nothing he can do to stop you.

The MOST DIFFICULT thing to do would be to try to get this freelancer to finish the work. IF you accomplish this task (which is unlikely), then you will be left with an app which does not work well, which nobody else can modify, and which you are deeply unsatisfied with. Your target users are not going to put up with this app. Your competitors have something much better.

I don't know why anybody would encourage you to continue working with this freelancer.