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413939e4
Community Member

I paid all milestones but they dont send me the full source code

I have hired a freelancer back in August 2017. I have paid all milestones, have paid the full amount, cause I thought we had some type of understanding and in good faith (foolishly and naively 😞 )I have paid off even though still the application is not ready. 

I have paid the final milestone 13 days ago. For the past week he was saying he was working on some final issues we have discovered. All week he was saying "tomorrow it will be ready". We reached Sunday, he said he hadnt worked on the changes all week and he would have them ready by today, Monday December 4th. I contacted him today, he said he would upload tonight. No sign of him though. I tried calling him on skype, on mobile. No response. 

What should I do? How does upwork protect me in case he doesn't intend to provide me the full source code? Have i just thrown out 1500$ out the window?  Please can someone shed some light on this? 

5 REPLIES 5
petra_r
Community Member


@Dim P wrote:

 

How does upwork protect me in case he doesn't intend to provide me the full source code?


 It does not and can not. The money has long been withdrawn. Upwork can suspend the freelancer's account but I would bet all the money has been withdrawn by now.

 

Escrow is there to protect you, so the freelancer does not get the money until you have the deliverables and checked them carefully.

 

You chose (!) not to use the protection that was in place for you.

Is the freelancer one with a long and excellent history on Upwork? The more history he has the less likely he will be to want to risk his account.

 

413939e4
Community Member

Thank you for your reply. Indeed I made a huge mistake in putting my trust on people I don't know in person 😞 

 

Yes, the freelancer has long history on his profile and success rate 100%. So the only downside for him is to have his account suspended? 

petra_r
Community Member


@Dim P wrote:

Thank you for your reply. Indeed I made a huge mistake in putting my trust on people I don't know in person 😞 

 

Yes, the freelancer has long history on his profile and success rate 100%. So the only downside for him is to have his account suspended? 


 That is not an "only downside"

 

I earn my living on Upwork. I would not risk my Upwork account for what is, in the overall scheme of things, a small sum. I made more than that last week alone. I'd be exceptionally stupid if I risked my account for the sake of $ 1500...

 

I am hopeful that your freelancer does not wish to risk their account either and will re-appear, but in future please please please don't release milestones without having something to show for that.

@Dim P:

 

Yes if the freelancer has withdrawn the money you are out of luck.  I generally, don't sympathize with clients but in your case I feel for you.

 

Unfortunately, coding work is a strange beast.  It is very hard to come up with meanigful and verifyable milestones.  In future try to stick with bit known quantity - it may cost you some more.  I am echoing Petra's view here that a freelancer with a history on the platform would risk being suspended for $1,500.  In one installment it is not a pocket change, but over long period of time it is not significant.

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Dim,

 

I see you've already reached out to our team and they are helping you with getting a hold of the freelancer. As others already suggested on this thread, in the future please make sure you only release funds from Escrow once you received the work from the freelancer.

~ Valeria
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