Freelancer failed to deliver the milestone repeatedly. Need refund of my escrow funds.

[4e990544]

Hi,

I created this contract "Create a discord bot" and hired a contractor name **Edited for Community Guidelines** . (https://www.upwork.com/ab/c/1002058310/contracts/29083406#milestones%2F20211211%2F20220109)

He agreed for this milestone:

**Edited for Community Guidelines** 

We also had a video call and I explained it clearly what I wanted. He submits a file on January 2 but its not what I wanted and he had completely misunderstood the milestone even after clarifying through video chat. He sends a buggy code on January 4th. He makes another submission on January 5th.

I test it and it doesn't meet the project milestone which he confirms.

**Edited for Community Guidelines** 

then he proposes another solution and then says that it doesn't work as well.

and eventually gives up on making any progress

**Edited for Community Guidelines** 
Right now I have $200 in the escrow for the first milestone. Whatever he has delivered doesn't work and caused a significant delay. I want to end this contract and I don't want to be charged. Please help me with resolving this issue.

Thanks

[prestonhunter]

I don't work for or represent Upwork. I am a user of the platform. What follows is my personal opinion:

As a client, you may end a contract at any time. For any reason. Or for no reason at all.

The fastest and simplest way to end this contract is to release the escrow money to the freelancer while closing the contract. There is nothing the freelancer can do to block that action. If you release escrow money and close the contract, then you can quickly be completely done with interacting with this underperforming freelancer. This is what I recommend. Refund thinking hurts clients. You don't owe it to this freelancer to spend more time with him, not even to ask for money back or explain why you don't like his work.

You are not required to ask for a refund. You are not required to use this freelancer's work, even if you pay for it.

If you want money back, you need to ask the freelancer to issue you a refund.

If you ask him using messages, to agree to a refund, then you stand a better chance of getting him to agree. If you don't communicate with him and ask him, you can still request a refund while you close the contract. But he might say no.

You may close the contract and formally request a refund while doing so by editing the amount of money to be released.

Read about how to do so here:

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

[4e990544]

Thanks for the response.

[4e990544]

Where can I contact the upwork official support staff?

[PradeepH]

Hi Gustavo,

Thank you for your message. As shared by Preston, you can choose to end the contract anytime if you are not satisfied with the outcome. You can refer to the help page shared above for more information on how to end the contract and request an escrow refund. A quick way to contact support is by clicking the "Get Support" button that shows at the bottom right corner of this page. You may be asked what type of account you need help with, please select the best option for your situation. If you don't receive the information you're looking for, you can click "Get Support" for more options, including contacting our support team. We'll also be happy to assist you with your issues here.

Thank you

Pradeep

[prestonhunter]

Gustavo:
Just to be clear about something:
Upwork provides clients with certain tools.

It is Upwork's intention that clients use those tools to resolve problems with freelancers.

It is not Upwork's intention that a client ask Upwork staff people to intervene whenever there is a problem. It is not Upwork's intention that a client ask Upwork to review the work that was done by a freelancer or to listen to complaints about a freelancer's work, and then refund money to the client. That isn't how this works.

Your best chance at getting money back is to work out an agreement with the freelancer. If you don't do that, you have the opportunity to file request a refund while closing the contract and if the freelancer says "no," the matter will go to the "dispute/mediation" phase. During that phase, Upwork will not make a decision about who gets the money. Upwork would only encourage you to come to an agreement with the freelancer. If the mediation phase doesn't resolve things, then you will have an opportunity to pay $291 to go to the arbitration phase. The $291 is non-refundable. This means you would have an opportunity to pay $291 in order to receive $200.

[aswinkumaar]

This is what I told you in my issue remember ? In my case why cleint got money not me the freelancer? 

[prestonhunter]

re: "This is what I told you in my issue remember ? In my case why cleint got money not me the freelancer?"

Aswin:
Are you asking about the situation faced by this thread's original poster, a client named Gustavo? My advice to him is to simply release any remaining escrow funds to the freelancer and stop wasting his time with an underperforming freelancer.

Or are you asking about your own situation, which you spoke about in a different thread?

https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/Why-specialist-do-nothing-but-ask-to-file-AAA-for-291-...

My advice to you is to not get involved in disputes.

As a freelancer, I know that disputes waste my time. They are a distraction.

Clients, also, should not get involved in disputes. Disputes and arbitration are a waste of time, and energy, and money for both freelancers and clients.

Disputes, mediation and arbitration represent a severe interruption of how Upwork intends for their platform to be used.

[aswinkumaar]

hi, don't release pay, close the job and state upwork freelancer failed to provide necessary work. They will simply ask both to pay $291 non refundable money, which no one on this earth will do inorder to gain $200. Eventually when no one files arbitration, the client will have the money back , it's a loophole in upwork. 

when I, freelancer completed my work successfully, my client raised ticket and got the fund as well as work without spend a single penny. 

but in my case I was able to prove the client was playing fool game and I had all record , I fought with upwork team for justice and upwork paid me from their account. I told them to change the policy which they are not taking it serious. 

if your genuine person , prove them and fight for it. Just like I did. 

[aswinkumaar]

 

Dispute case for contract ID# 28245619

this was my case file, in my case at first upwork support told client to pay freelancer no matter what but later in resolution that The fund willl return to client if freelancer don't fill arbitration for $291 non refundable, which surely no one will do. 

this is the issue with upwork. They never understand and make the policy better and fair. If I was board member or authorised person in upwork , I would surely make a dispute agent to involve in first degree vetting , the minimum level to find the genuine person and do the right justice,

upwork is amazing site and doing a wonderful job but still making better policies will surely take upwork to a new level. 

[tagrendy]

You can get refund by contacting Upwork, whether the Freelancer will agree or get into arbitration is up to him. 

Ethically, I might not be comfortable asking for a full refund if the Freelancer put in days of work. It may depend whether the Freelancer has the skills but doesn't care to be thorough or put efforts, or if they try but genuinely don't have the skills and fall short. Some of the responsibility is on me as a client to vet people and find the right person, test-phase where you actually start working and see how it goes can still be paid.