NOT ABLE TO ACTIVATE AND FUND NEXT MILESTONE

[#1]

I am a client from India. I am new to Upwork. I have a Fixed Contract with a freelancer based in Canada. I have already made the payment for the first milestone. The money has gone through. But now whenever I try to activate and fund the second and final milestone, my Visa debit card is being declined. This is the message I am getting “Milestone activation failed. Please contact customer support.” I have tried reaching out to customer support but to no avail. I couldn’t find any link.  This is the very same card that I used to fund the first milestone. There is sufficient amount in it. I even updated the payment method again and again.  Still it’s not working.

Please help. My project is getting delayed.

[#2]

Hi Sagun,

We’ll have one of our agents reach out to you via a support ticket to assist you with this issue.

Thank you!

[#3]

I am forced once again to put out my grievance over here. As per the instructions given by the Upwork support I went to my bank and apprised them of my situation. After going through the details they couldn’t find any serious fault from their side. All international transactions have been enabled. If it was in the contrary I couldn’t have funded the first milestone. Later I tried multiple times funding the milestone but it is getting declined on each occasion.

Then I opened a PayPal account and set it as my primary billing method. Surprisingly that too has failed. I am getting the same message “milestone activation failed”. Then I removed my debit card and reentered it again as the primary billing method. Shockingly Upwork is no longer accepting my debit card. This is the message I am getting   “We are unable to authorize your card. Please add another billing method or contact your issuing bank.” I don’t have another international payment card. I will have to wait for a very long time to get another sanctioned.

This is really distressing. I had sent a message yesterday under my ticket but I have not received a reply till now. What does this mean? What about the money I have paid till now?

[#4]

Hello, I am facing the same problem. My account is this  KathiawarTech (45463616). Can you please look into it ASAP as I need to pay urgently to one freelancer? Thank you.

[#5]

Hi Qaidjohar,

Someone from our team will reach out to you via support ticket in order to assist you further.

[#6]

Hi Sagun,

One of our team members will reach out to you via ticket as soon as possible and will assist you further with your milestone. Thank you.

[#7]

I am a client from India. For the last few days I have been going through hell. My contract job is in limbo. I have already paid for the first milestone. Now only the second (and the last one) milestone remains. But I am unable to activate and fund it because Upwork has declined to accept my Visa debit card as well as my bank account. Even my PayPal account is not being accepted. I am not getting a definite reason as to why my transaction has been declined. I am not at all happy with this experience. Since I am unable to fund the next milestone I have told the freelancer to stop the work for now. I thought of applying for another card but the bank officials advised me not to, since Upwork has already blocked my account. I even thought of opening an account in another bank. But what is the guarantee that my milestone payment will go through? I understand that there are certain Indian financial regulations in place for making payments to foreign ecommerce sites, mainly regarding recurring payments and automatic payments.

Now I am in a dilemma. I cannot abandon the project that I am working on and I have already paid the first installment for it. I am now considering opening a US bank account to use it as the billing method, to fund the milestone and get the job completed. I am not a US citizen. I am thinking of opening the account in Mercury Bank or something similar. I think connecting a US bank account might free me from these hassles. I had funded the first milestone with my Indian debit card. Will there be any issue if I use a US bank account to fund the remaining?  I welcome any knowledgeable insights on this topic.

[#8]

Hi George,

It looks like our team has already reached out to you via support ticket in order to assist you with your contract. Please continue to communicate with the team here as they are the ones who can best assist you.

[#9]

I have the same issue

Iam at the end of my wits now.

minus 540$ in account and project has stalled.

Upwork support has not responded for the last 3 days 

what do I do ?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[#10]

Hi Gurdeepak,

We’re currently experiencing an unusually high volume of inquiries, causing delays in our response time. Nevertheless, we want you to know that your concerns and questions remain our top priority. We’re working hard to get back to you as soon as possible.

To help us provide the best possible service, we kindly ask that you refrain from creating multiple tickets or posts about the same issue. This will enable our team to assist you more efficiently and get you the best possible outcome faster. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.

[#11]

Hi Annie,

I appreciate the high volume on your end.

However its now 13 DEC. 

My projects stalled on the 8th.

I have been able to pay for 1 milestone in the meanwhile.

Now I want to pay for just 1 milestone more please........

[#12]

NO SUPPORT SINCE FRIDAY ON YOUR ESCALATION LINE ? I NEED HELP  with milestones. The projects have stalled......

Anna Liza M

Friday at 15:41

Hi Gurdeepak,
 
Thank you for contacting Upwork Support.
 
I want to let you know I will look into this starting right now. You'll hear back from me, or someone else who can help, as soon as possible.
 
Thanks in advance for your patience.
 
Best Regards,
 
Anna Liza

[#13]

I understand your frustration with activating the next milestone. Here's what I suggest:

Possible Causes:

• Temporary issue: Retry activating the milestone.
• Card Information: Double-check your card details.
• Insufficient Funds: Ensure enough funds are available.
• Card Restrictions: Contact your bank for any restrictions.
• Upwork System Issue: Contact Upwork support for assistance.

Recommended Steps:

1. Retry funding the milestone.
2. Contact Upwork support via live chat or ticket system.
3. Update your payment method on Upwork.
4. Consider adding an alternative payment method (e.g., credit card, PayPal).

[#14]

Hello guys, i am also trying to pay someone but funding the project is declining my Visa, and it is a valid visa + it contains the money, what can i do for it

[#15]

Hi Walid,

Thank you for your message. I checked the transaction you are referring to and it appears that it was declined due to insufficient funds/over credit limit. Please reach out to your card issuing bank to check the limit and try again after the issue is resolved.

- Pradeep

[#16]

Hi. I'm facing the same issue and I tried adding another credit card, which didn't work as well. I have sufficient funds and I payed for the first milestone with the same card. I don't know what's the problem. 

[#17]

Hi Lana,

We’ve escalated your community post to a support ticket. One of our agents will be in touch with you soon to assist.

[#18]

I wish Upwork was as quick with solving this kind of issues as they are with blocking client accounts. My project ends in 2 days and it's time I payed for the 3rd milestone meanwhile I'm stuck in the second one. In case you want to send one, I've already got a support ticket and I patiently wait for a reply.