I paid for a service that I never got

[#1]

I had hired a freelancer to develop standard email templates for me that I can then use in the newsletter and Marketing. For private circumstances I had to leave my work for a couple of months. Now I have returned to work and checked if the product had been delivered. Nothing had been delivered and the contract was closed. I checked if the freelancer had sent me messages but nothing. I send her a couple of days ago that I would like to have the templates. Her answer was simply she can't do anything about it. What is the best thing to do in this case? I paid for a service that I never got.

[#2]

re: "What is the best thing to do in this case?"

Put yourself and your project first. Don't focus on underperforming freelancers who don't have the skills you need.

Do not focus on the past. Focus on the future.

Stop working with this original freelancer. Do not hire her again.

Do not waste your time trying to mentor or tutor that freelancer. It is not your job to do so.

Continue working only with the members of your team who provide you with the most value. If you have not hired other freelancers to help you with this, then do so.

[#3]

Did you make any payments to this freelancer?

Was this an hourly or fixed price contract.?

[#4]

And if you did actually pay money... how much did you pay?

Ten dollars is different from $1000.

Our advice may be different depending on the amount and the specific details.

But as a general concept... and possibly to save you some time...

You are talking about a contract you started more than a couple of months ago. And then you paid no attention to it. And when you looked at it again, the contract was already closed.

The most likely scenario is that there is nothing at all that you can "do" about that past contract. The only thing left to do is to hire different people to push your project forward.

[#5]

Hi Mourad,

If you would like to request a refund directly from a freelancer, you can reach out through Upwork within 180 days of the payment.

Please check this help article for more details before requesting your refund. 

[#6]

Here is a helpful quotes from that article (https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062088-Request-a-Refund😞

"If you would like to request a refund directly from a freelancer or agency, you can reach out through Upwork within 180 days of the payment.... Based on your request, your freelancer or agency can then choose to issue a full refund, a partial refund, or no refund at all."