Need a refund immediately

[7321ff13]

I hired a freelancer, his account was terminated and now I’m left with an unfinished job and no way to contact the freelancer. I want a full refund or I will be contacting the FTC

[michael_skaggs]

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Thomas L wrote:
I hired a freelancer, his account was terminated and now I’m left with an unfinished job and no way to contact the freelancer. I want a full refund or I will be contacting the FTC

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Ease up on the nuclear threats there, Turbo.

If the freelancer was suspended, that means the contract was terminated. Contracts that are terminated with funds in escrow have those funds returned to the client, but it's not an instant process. But they're not going to steal your money, so have some decaf and be a bit more patient & level-headed.

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062088-Request-a-Refund

Just a bit of advice, but people are generally more amenable to helping if you pose your question in a polite manner, rather than immediately screaming that you're going to be reporting them to a federal agency. Also, this is a community forum, not customer support, so if someone is put off by your confrontational opening, there's nobody with any real incentive to assist you.

Of course I see your own profile is no longer available as well, so I'm not holding out any hope for this particular situation to be a learning experience.

[7321ff13]

Michael,

I appreciate your response. I have exhausted every avenue I could find to contact a support specialist directly to absolutely no avail. There was no money available in escrow as the freelancer was being paid in milestones. His account got terminated, and now I'm left with an unfinished project that I can't get another developer to touch, nor do I have the budget to get it rebuilt entirely. I know my threat of getting the FTC involved seemed drastic, but in my experience getting any movement on situations like this, with companies like this, intervention is oftentimes the only prevailing force. 

I also wasn't aware of my account being suspended. Should I have received notice? I am still able to login to my account, post jobs, and pay the other contracts I have open. 

[michael_skaggs]

Not sure about your client account, I just saw that your freelancer profile said "no longer available."

As for the already paid milestones, that's somewhat of a different situation. Per the standard terms that apply to every contract on Upwork, when a milestone is released, that's your signal that what they delivered was as promised, and you have no issues with what they've done. The 14-day period is for the client to ensure that what the freelancer has delivered is exactly what they requested, which is why many of us here strongly discourage paying right away just because a piece of work was delivered. It's always best to take advantage of that 14 day window to make 100% sure you got what you're paying for.

While I know it sucks to be stuck with an unfinished product, the released milestones aren't automatically deemed fraudulent just because the freelancer has their account suspended/terminated. Even though they're only parts of a whole, they're technically completed transactions where you requested a product, the product was delivered as-specified, and you paid for the work done.

I'm honestly not sure how/if you can get your money back in this case, especially not knowing why the freelancer was suspended (which they'll never tell anyone, btw). If they were suspended for something dumb like trying to take someone off platform, that wouldn't invalidate the work they've already done. But if they were fraudulent all around, it would still be hard to prove, especially given that each milestone has 14-days for a client to go through due diligence before releasing payment.

Best I can do is report this thread to get a mod's attention and see if they have any further insights.

[7321ff13]

I appreciate you doing that. I've already submitted a complaint with the FTC, but will be glad to amend the claim if some resolution can be found here. While I understand the need to keep the platform safe, it does not give upwork the right to assume my money, and the freelancer's payment as their own in the event of an account termination. Regardless of ToS and disclaimers, it's unethical and likely criminal to have procedures as such. 

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping this can be resolved. I have had success with the platform thus far aside from this instance.

[prestonhunter]

[This question has nothing to do with the original poster:]

Do we actually see anything else for ANY client without a freelancer profile, if we click to their page?

Anything other than this:

If we see this when we click to a client's "page," it doesn't mean that their account is suspended. It means they are not a freelancer.

How would Michael know that the original poster (or anybody else) had ever had a freelancer profile at all?

[a_lipsey]

They did not assume the money was theirs. If the milestones were met and approved by you, which it sounds like they were, then the freelancer was paid from escrow for that milestone, which is what you agreed to when deciding to use an Upwork fixed-price contract. Tf the freelancer had not been paid, meaning the milestone and not been approved and released, then you would see the funds sitting in escrow and could request them to be refunded. 

[petra_r]

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Thomas L wrote:

 it does not give upwork the right to assume my money, and the freelancer's payment as their own in the event of an account termination

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Where did you get the ludicrous idea from that Upwork would do any such thing?

The funds you released in exchange for completed milestones have either been withdrawn by the freelancer (as payment for work done and approved by yourself) or would have been returned to you if they had not been withdrawn.

Any funds in Excrow would have been returned to you.

No funds would have been assumed by Upwork "as their own" in the event of an account termination"

[AveryO]

Hi Thomas, 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience on the platform. I will go ahead and look into this and get back to you once I have more information about your concern. 

ETA: Hi Thomas, I'm coming back here to let you know that the Customer Support Team has contacted you directly through an email to assist you further.