re: "One of them, who produced 0 output, charged me over $3,000 (in $150 increments) over the past months and isn't paying the company back. I wasn't receiving any notification until recently. Can something be done about this? I'm horrified about this."
Anne:
The freelancer who logged time without producing output for you was wrong. There is no excuse for a freelancer doing this.
Unfortunately, it is always a possibility that a "bad apple" will slip through.
But the main person you should be upset with is your project manager. What does he have to say for himself?
Why did your project manager allow one of the freelancers on the project he was overseeing to bill continually - for months - without actually providing any value? This is grossly negligent.
NOTE that it is also possible that a regular weekly $150/per week payment was NOT the result of any action by a freelancer, but was due to a mistake in how the contract was set up. If a client clicks on additional buttons while setting up a contract, it is possible to set up an automated weekly payment (sometimes called a "stipend" or "weekly salary"). This would then cause an AUTOMATED weekly payment to be sent to a freelancer, without the freelancer doing ANYTHING. If the freelancer is not actively monitoring their Upwork account or bank account, then it is possible for a freelancer to be completely unaware that such payments are taking place.
As a practical matter, it is helpful to understand the raw mechanics of how Upwork's software works. If a freelancer has an hourly contract, then after the end of each week (midnight on Sunday, UTC), the client has 5 days to reivew the freelancer's work log. During those five days, the client may dispute any time logged if it appears that the time was not actually spent working on the client's project, or if the time was logged manually. If the client does not dispute the freelancer's time, then this is considered approval. Clients have constant access to all freelancer's work diaries, even before the week ends. Upwork does not necessarily send out specific "notifications" by email for all time logged by all freelancers. But this information is available to the clients. Moreover, all money billed to a client will show up on the client's credit card. Clients have access to details about which freelancers are logging what time and how much they are spending.
This is how the site works.
It is not Upwork's intention that a freelancer log time for months, incurring billing in the thouands of dollars, and then have a client come back months later and ask for money back.
It is certainly possible for a client to send a message asking a freelancer for a refund. But that doesn't guarantee that the freelancer will send the client money. And it doesn't guarantee that Upwork will be able to help the client. As a practical matter, Upwork no longer has that money. They money was already sent to the freelancer, who has already withdrawn it from his Upwork account.
So... For future reference: It is highly unlikely that any Upwork freelancer will log time fraudulently or allow himself to receive money for work that isn't being done. But it technically IS possible for this to happen and on rare occasions this can happen. But it doesn't happen for long, because clients immediately put a stop to it. In fact, a client CAN GET THEIR MONEY BACK by disputing inappropriately-logged manual time within the first five days after any week ends.
So the tools ARE in place to prevent fraudulent billing. Clients have a responsibility to use those tools. (Speaking generally, of course. This is NOT a reference to any specific situation or client.)
Remember that it is always to NOT pay a freelancer money in the first place, than to pay a freelancer money and then try to get it back later. That's kind of a universal rule for everything.
