Freelancer Seems to be Flaking on Project

[#1]

Hello,

I have $500 in escrow for a project. It looks like the freelancer that I spoke with is flaking on the project. We haven't communicated since early July now it's July 20 as of today. I've tried to reach out to him via chat. I also waited til he's online. However, he never responds to my messages.

My concern is that if I cancel the contract the entire $500 will go to him automatically. I read somewhere that a canceled contract will send escrow funds. It's possible I may be dealing with someone that will not refund the money. I have not received anything we agreed on as a final product.

My goal is to get some advice before canceling the contract.

What are the steps I should take to avoid losing $500?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

re: "Freelancer Seems to be Flaking on Project"

I have hired 178 freelancers on Upwork.

I always get projects completed on time.

I know and utilize "best practices."

A big part of my success is that I assume some hires won't work out.

I rarely use fixed-price contracts.

Fixed-price contracts cause money to be tied up in escrow.

With hourly contracts, I can hire 10 freelancers, and if only one of them logs time, I only have to pay one of them.

If you don't want this $500 to go to the freelancer, then do this:
- close the contract

- edit the amount of money to be released; change it to zero

- finalize closure

Then if the freelancer does nothing (which seems likely at this point) ALL OF THE MONEY will be returned to you AUTOMATICALLY.

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062058-Get-an-Escrow-Refund

Hopefully the freelancer is either not paying attention, or really doesn't want to work on this, and will be relieved that the contract is being cancelled.

Is it POSSIBLE that the freelancer will say "no" to the refund request?

Yes, that is possible.

That is the risk you took when you created a fixed-price contract instead of an hourly contract.

But if the freelancer says "no" to giving you the $500 back, you can file a dispute. That doesn't mean that you get your money back. It means that Upwork will encourage you to come to an agreement with the freelancer. Often a client can offer the freelancer half of the money in order to expedite getting some money back.