Getting scammed by a developer

deepakjavalead · ‎05-31-2021

I hired the contractor on a fixed project, we exchanged many messages before signing the contract. After signing the fixed project, Candidate asked me to change the project to hourly basis. Expectation from the beginning was to finish it in 10 hours. I had developed most of the code by myself and just needed small functionality from an experienced React Native developer.

It has been more than 90 days and contractor has not completed it. He has logged more than 20 hours. I am loosing money and time. I think I am being scammed here.

I am not at all happy and would like to get refund.

prestonhunter · ‎05-31-2021

Deepak, it is not Upwork's intention that you receive a refund.

An hourly contract means that you pay for a freelancer's time, not for a specific deliverable.

From your description of your situation, you have no basis for receiving a refund.

In my opinion:

Refund thinking hurts clients.

You would be better off and you would save money if you decided now that you will never ask for a refund, no matter what.

Instead: Proactively review the work being done by each freelancer you hire, especially early on. If any freelancer does not provide great value to your project, then end their contract.

It is simple to pause an hourly contract and review the work to make sure you like it and are getting what you need. It is simple to end a contract at any time. That stops the freelancer from logging any more time that you need to pay for.

Getting money back after you pay a freelancer? That is highly unlikely.

There IS a review period of five days after a work week ends. But you hired this freelancer 90 days ago? That is long past the time during which you could have clicked buttons to dispute time segments.

prestonhunter · ‎05-31-2021

re: "I am loosing money and time."

If you are not satisfied with the work that this particular freelancer is doing, then you simply need to assign the remaining work to other members of your team.

You could do this because this freelancer is not working quickly enough, or because you don't like the quality of his work. In no way are you obligated to rely on just this freelancer to complete the project.

a_lipsey · ‎05-31-2021

Deepak A wrote:
I hired the contractor on a fixed project, we exchanged many messages before signing the contract. After signing the fixed project, Candidate asked me to change the project to hourly basis. Expectation from the beginning was to finish it in 10 hours. I had developed most of the code by myself and just needed small functionality from an experienced React Native developer.
It has been more than 90 days and contractor has not completed it. He has logged more than 20 hours. I am loosing money and time. I think I am being scammed here.

I am not at all happy and would like to get refund.

Pause the contract. When was the last time logged? Was it logged manually or with the time tracker? Any hours logged within the last week manually, you can dispute and likely will win.

But first, pause the contract and discuss immediately with the freelancer. Tell him you cannot continue except on a fixed price basis. Ask him if he will complete the work for a fixed price, and name your price. If he says no, then thank him for his time, close the other contract, and find someone new.

However, I would debate even moving to fixed price with this freelancer considering he's already not finished the 10 hour work he agreed to in 90 days. It may just be best to end his contract and find someone new and make sure it is fixed price so the deliverable is agreed upon and there.