Need a refund immediately else it will be too late if I wait for dispute.

[littlepawan]

I paid $300 to a freelancer upfront on 12 Jan 2020. Yes, that was the stupid thing in the world to do. 

Afterward, he looked suspicious to me, therefore immediately on the same day I send a refund request. 

This has not approved yet. The next day I opened a dispute, no one came back to me yet. They told me to wait until 5 days. I am worried If I waited too long the money which is on a 5-day mandatory hold on his account will be delivered to him. I don't know how else I urge the dispute team to take action immediately. 

Question is if I opened a dispute on some money, will that be on hold till the time dispute ends?

Another is if they are going to take a long time for action which can risk of losing money, will it be appropriate If I ask for a chargeback from my credit card company?

[wlyonsatl]

If you resort to a chargeback claim your Upwork account will very likely be closed by Upwork. And Upwork will likely contest the chargeback because Upwork made a payment you clearly instructed it to make, so any loss to you is due to your bad decision.

Wait for Upwork to tell you what, if anything, they recommend you do. 

[littlepawan]

I do not want to do such step. I know how harsh it is and  I know its not good for me or other. But I am complaining not too late. I am just claiming that some disputes are very time restricted and upwork service should handle it immediately before it get too late. 

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Pawandeep,

I understand your frustration with this. 
I checked your ticket and can confirm that it is escalated to our dispute team. I will also escalate your concern to our team. One of our team members will update your ticket as soon as possible and assist you further. Thank you.

[littlepawan]

Thanks, I hope it is before Friday else I will loose the money 😞

[tta192]

Did the freelancer inform you of the advance payment condition before or after you creating the contract?

If he was upfront about it you had no reason to ask for the refund so it was quite a serious breach on your part. The freelancer may have already planned the time for working on your project so he's right not to agree to the refund. But maybe a partial refund would still be possible.

[prestonhunter]

Speaking generally, and not about any particular situation:

When a client releases an upfront payment to a freelancer as part of a fixed-price contract...

Then it is not Upwork's intention that the client ever get that money back.

That is why so many regular Forum participants routinely advise clients to not give upfront payments to freelancers.

Upwork intends for clients to use the escrow system, which gives them the opportunity to review the work submitted by freelancers BEFORE releasing any money.