Help Disputing Hours

[0382c5c9]

Hi,  I have hired someone on upwork for the first time to help with a bubble.io app design and set up.  Over 2 weeks he has claimed to have works 100 hours, however the only thing that has been completed is the input of an airtable api information, and he drew out 1 form (very poorly done).  I have continued to ask him for a break down of his hours and he just keep sending me a list of things he has accomplished.

When I ask him for more information on where these accomplishments have been done he won't give me any information, and from my end there is no work showing to have been done.  It is becoming more and more obvious that he has no clue how to use the bubble.io platform.

I need a refund and the "get help" button is not showing on, it's my first time using upwork and it seems they basically don't want you to be able to get in touch with them.

[prestonhunter]

Jessica:
Thank you for sharing your description of your recent experiences hiring on Upwork.

With regards to your CURRENT situation:

When you hire a freelancer using an hourly contract, you have FIVE DAYS during which you may dispute time logged.

Five days after the work week ends. The work week ends at midnight GMT on Sunday.

During that five-day period, you may dispute individual time segments if those time segments do not meet the criteria for Upwork Payment Protection. Basically: If time segments were recorded MANUALLY, Upwork will automatically remove those time segments from the time that you need to pay for.

Or if the time segments do NOT have memos, or have very low mouse/keyboard activity, or have screenshots that show the freelancer wasn't working on the client's project, then Upwork personnel will automatically remove those from what you need to pay for (if you dispute those time segments).

But you need to do this within the review period.

You said this work was done over the past 2 weeks?

You can still dispute last week's time segments. But you can't dispute time logged from the week before.

Read more here:

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062158-Dispute-an-Agency-or-Freelancer-s-Hours

[prestonhunter]

You have clearly made a lot of mistakes.

First of all: You should understand that it is not Upwork's intention that clients receive "refunds."

That is not their business model. The way Upwork works is this: Clients pay money to freelancers. Upwork retains a portion of that money. The freelancers keep that money.

In my opinion: Refund thinking hurts clients.

You are definitely gambling with your money if you pay money to a freelancer and then think you will get money back from a freelancer. Usually that doesn't happen.

What should you have done differently?
You will save money and time if you decide right now that you will never try to get a refund, no matter what.

If you do this, it will help you to hire freelancers and manage your projects in a safer, more effective way.

For example:

Instead of letting a freelancer who you have never worked with before log 100 hours of time, you should have set the maximum number of hours per week to 2 hours.

Then review the work done after two hours.

If you were impressed by the work, and saw that it provides you with value, then increase the number of hours and allow more work, more logging time, more billing.

Hire three or four different freelancers to do the work, and compare the work that they do for you.

Close the contracts on any underperforming freelancers. Continue working only with the freelances who provide you with the most value.

In your post, you described many problems with this freelancer and his work. But you never explained why you continued to pay this freelancer money even though you have such a low opinion of his work. It almost seems like you don't realize that you can fire a freelancer whenever you want.

When you hire multiple freelancers to do the same work, and compare them to each other, it makes it even easier to make decisions about who to fire and who to continue working with.

re: "I have continued to ask him for a break down of his hours and he just keep sending me a list of things he has accomplished."

You do not need to ask a freelancer to break down their hours.

All you need to do is view the work diary, and look at the memos which describe what the freelancer is doing during each time period. You will also see the screenshots that illustrate what the freelancer is doing.

This is a powerful tool, and it is updated in near realtime. Typically there is a lag of thirty minutes or less.

[0382c5c9]

I understand better now how the logging hours works, but I did not understand that when I was setting up my first contract with him.  I didn't realize that "allow manual time logging" was automatically selected.  He logged 50 hours a week for 2 weeks in a row. 

I had a death in the family and was out for some time and am just now getting around to reviewing his "work"  - except there seems to have been nothing done. The last week of work he submitted was on 5/24.  I have asked him for screenshots or a video of him demistrating the work and have gotten nothing in return.

My intention in hiring a freelancer was not to just assume I can get a refund, as I would much rather have the work done!  It just seems as though he logged 50 hours a week and didn't actually do anything.  I have put in a refund request but he has not responded to me with anything except for a list of what he completed ( to which there is no evidence on the app itself)

**Edited for community guidelines**

[0382c5c9]

all 100 hours were logged manually, so I have no evidence of what he worked on during any of that time.  Both weeks he added 50 hours at the end of the week and did not log daily.  To me, that feels like a scam.

[a_lipsey]

---

Jessica R wrote:

all 100 hours were logged manually, so I have no evidence of what he worked on during any of that time.  Both weeks he added 50 hours at the end of the week and did not log daily.  To me, that feels like a scam.

---

You should still be within the timeframe to dispute the hours that ended in the week that closed this past Sunday. I hope you have also paused the contract so he cannot add anymore hours. 

[prestonhunter]

I do not blame you for feeling disappointed and frustrated by all this.

I can answer questions about how Upwork works. But I am simply a user of the platform like yourself. I have no control over what happens next.

The time has now passed for you to dispute time segments. Had you disputed manually-logged time segments, you would not be on the hook for those hours. Upwork automatically removes those time segments of a client disputes them.

Based on my understanding of the Upwork system, there is no button that you can click that will result in you getting any money back. The user interface element you used to "request a refund" simply sent an informal request to the freelancer - a request which is free to ignore.

I can't imagine that any of the information I am providing you with well be welcomed as "good news." But these are basic facts about how the system works.

You are welcome to try to appeal to the freelancer's better nature (if he has one) by explaining your situation and asking him to issue a refund. It will not cost you any money to do that.

Aside from the only thing I can think of would be to try to talk to Customer Support and see if there is anything they can do for you. I really dislike the idea of involving Customer Support in my contracts. I don't need to because I know how to hire freelancers effectively and safely. But I understand that you are facing an extraordinary situation here.

[0382c5c9]

I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me here.  I have been trying to locate a place to contact customer support regarding the issue, however the "get help" button that is referred to several times is nowhere to be found.  Is there a place I can open a ticket otherwise?

I really like the upwork platform better than other's I have used in the past and I would love to continue using it for my business, but being out $4,500 is very disappointing and I'm hoping they will be understanding to help me fix the issue.

[prestonhunter]

To contact Upwork Customer Support:

Click on the green circle question mark in the bottom of any Community Forum page.

This activates the chat bot.

if you don't immediately see buttons to click on to indicate whether you are a freelancer or client, trying typing in a question.

Your goal is not to get chatbot to actually answer a question, but to use it to contact live chat support.

If you see buttons or indicating who you are, click on "Client."

Type in "contact support".

This should connect you with live chat support, if resources are available.

If that doesn't work, try typing in a question, and then when you see "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" icons, click on "thumbs down." This should activate live chat support.

[BojanS]

Hi Jessica,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. We’ll have one of our agents reach out to you via a support ticket to look into your request and assist you with further steps. 

Thank you for reaching out to us.