I am having problems with my hire, please help

[ee0ead02]

I am new to upwork and had hired a guy to improve my app and fix one important function on my app as well as some other things so it could get approved on ios as it is already approved on android.  Now the guy is acting really shady and i don't want to lose my money.  He doesnt seem to want to listen and is just doing pretty much what he wants without actually doing what I really need.  He agreed to fix the problem in the beginning but now is acting like we didnt even talk about it.  

We had a fixed price of $300 and made two milestone kickoff and finished product, I already released kickoff, would it be possible to get all my money back if we have problems in the end?  Was this the wrong way to do it?  

You can see in the first pic of chat he agrees to everything and now is acting like we never discussed any of this.  I had talked to him thru phone call about everything.  He just on his own decided to re create whole app for no reason really and didnt even fix the problem.  I just dont want to lose my money.  

**Edited for community guidelines**

[tarpindersingh]

Making freelancer to refund you money may land you in a dispute with him if he does not approve your refund request.

If the dispute is also not solved then it goes to arbitration.  You can read more about it in help articles.

[ee0ead02]

Do you think I would probably win the arbitration since he agreed to everything I wanted but now seems like he doesnt want to fix the problem?

[ee0ead02]

I heard you have to pay for arbitration?

[BojanS]

Hi Rayan,

I'm sorry about your experience with this freelancer. Our team will reach out to you directly to assist you with achieving a mutual agreement with this freelancer and advise on further steps. 

Thank you for reaching out to us!

[ee0ead02]

Thanks, yes that would be much appreciated, because he has decided to stop replying to his messages.  

[prestonhunter]

As a client, if I hire a freelancer to do a fixed-price contract, and he stops replying... Then it is possible for me to close the contract and request 100% of the money back.

If the freelancer does not respond to the message Upwork automatically sends to him, then the refund request is automatically approved and processed after 7 days. And that money automatically returns to my account.

As a client, I always want to reach an agreement with a freelancer and discuss things before asking for any kind of refund. But if a freelancer has simply disappeared completely, there IS an automatic way for me to get the money in esrow returned to me.

[ee0ead02]

I will give him a full day and after that I will close the contract and request a full refund.  

[jr-translation]

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Rayan V wrote:

I will give him a full day and after that I will close the contract and request a full refund.  

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Did the freelancer requested the upfront payment? That would be a violation of the ToS.

[ee0ead02]

Well yea technically he did by initiating the kickoff milestone and making me pay off the start. Isn’t that correct?

[kfarnell]

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Jennifer R wrote:

Did the freelancer requested the upfront payment? That would be a violation of the ToS.

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Not unless something has changed very recently.  Can you please point to this?

[jr-translation]

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Kim F wrote:

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Jennifer R wrote:

Did the freelancer requested the upfront payment? That would be a violation of the ToS.

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Not unless something has changed very recently.  Can you please point to this?

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There is no reason to request upfront payment and I would consider it "fraudulently billing" as in the PROHIBITED SITE USES.

[prestonhunter]

I always recommend that clients NOT release any payments upfront. That is not how Upwork's escrow system is intended to be used.

I always recommend that freelancers NOT ask for upfront payments.

As a freelancer, I have been offered up-front payments many times. I always decline.

It is not a violation of Upwork ToS for a freelancer to ask for up-front payments.

It is not a violation of Upwork ToS for a client to pay an up-front payment.

[ee0ead02]

Thanks for everyones help, but I am in contact with Upwork customer service staff now

[kfarnell]

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Jennifer R wrote:

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Kim F wrote:

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Jennifer R wrote:

Did the freelancer requested the upfront payment? That would be a violation of the ToS.

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Not unless something has changed very recently.  Can you please point to this?

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There is no reason to request upfront payment and I would consider it "fraudulently billing" as in the PROHIBITED SITE USES.

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That refers to hourly contracts and manipulating the hours. It isn't (unless something has changed very recently) prohibited to require an upfront payment.  Sometimes, when assets need to bought, for example, it would be more than sensible.  

[jr-translation]

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Kim F wrote:

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Jennifer R wrote:

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Kim F wrote:

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Jennifer R wrote:

Did the freelancer requested the upfront payment? That would be a violation of the ToS.

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Not unless something has changed very recently.  Can you please point to this?

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There is no reason to request upfront payment and I would consider it "fraudulently billing" as in the PROHIBITED SITE USES.

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That refers to hourly contracts and manipulating the hours. It isn't (unless something has changed very recently) prohibited to require an upfront payment.  Sometimes, when assets need to bought, for example, it would be more than sensible.  

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I stand corrected. 

Yet, a violation of the ToS is "misrepresenting your experience, skills, or information, including by representing another person’s profile, or parts of another person’s profile, as your own;"

So, if a freelancer claims to have knowledge to fix the clients problem and then just decides to do something he was not hired for, it does violate the ToS.

Making or demanding bribes or other payments without the intention of providing services in exchange for the payment;
Right now the freelancer does not show any intention to do the work he was hired for.