I want to request refund and open a dispute against a freelancer.

[cbc112b8]

Hello Upwork team,

We hired a freelancer who spent 233 hours on the app and we paid the $1,173. Everything was fine in the beginning and it seems like things were working out. When things get complicated and deadlines approached, the freelancer worked relentlessly day and night, didn't accomplish the work - broke the app even more. Later we find out through our communication that the senior developer (his friend) was actually helping him whenever complex tasks came which actually is in breach of NDA we had with him for keeping the project, the code and the idea secret. We at first were okay, let's not do a legal stunt, and we wanted to actually employ that senior along since he already had an insight. But turns out, they messed up the code and the app even more, basic functionalities were misbehaving, app was hardcoded only to look beautiful, which is not want we wanted and what we looked for. We missed two important deadlines and there is nothing we can do anymore.

We ended the contract with that developer and left a feedback but nothing else was given to us as an option. We cannot find anywhere where to file a dispute or report freelancer. Can someone help? Time is money, and we already wasted a pretty amount.

Thank you.

[NikolaS]

Hi there, 

Thank you for reaching out to us. I am sorry to hear about your experience with this user. I encourage you to check this help article for more information on how to dispute an agency or freelancer’s hours. 

[allpurposewriter]

Beyondi,

Upwork has a mitigation process and then, if that doesn't work, they have an arbitration team that steps in that is not a part of Upwork, but a different company. 

My experience with this may be typical or not. The mitigation process was, basically, an almost endless dispute, back and forth, back and forth, as the client had a narcissistic personality that resuses to admit mistakes or defeat. It went to arbitration, which is not free. It is pretty expensive. Maybe for that reason, the arbitrator made his decision after one exchange. If memory serves, there is no appeal to the arbitrator's decision. Good or bad, I finally got paid after almost two months of bickering.

Word to the wise: This process will eat up a ton of time. You should really only do this if there's compensation to be had because personal validation isn't on anyone's agenda but your own.  

You should ask, but my assumption is that going to arbitration is not a lawsuit. If this freelancer is guilty of neglegence, you can pursue a refund, but I can't say how enforceable this might be. I got paid, because there was money in escrow all along. But I don't think the arbitration company has any legal standing to demand money that isn't already on hold somewhere.

Again, double check. But I don't think they can force someone to write you a check. I don't think there's any legal leverage here except to make a decision on Upwork's already existing policies. 

Double check all of that. Call Upwork. Their support system is excellent.

[8d1359cb]

Another sad story of a client who tried to hire a professional developer to work for $5/hr. well dont bother to go in dispute, you will only waste time and energy. 

[crart]

$5 per hour lmao what did you expect 😂

[8d1359cb]

Next Facebook maybe 🤣

[bobafett999]

Beyondi: unfortunately you got what you paid for.  Remember, upwork is not a vending machine where you plop few coins and your drink comes down the chute.  You gambled to save lots of money by going cheap.  You lost.  Don't waste your time.  Move on.  You will get nothing, but aggrevation