re: "I can clearly see this is a templated message to dissuade clients from asking for refunds and not pursue complaints."
I can assure you that this is not a templated message.
I don't represent Upwork officially.
I don't use templated message.
Everything I wrote here was written specifically in response to your post.
My intention is NOT to dissuade clients from asking for refunds and pursuing complaints.
My intention is to help you.
re: "Considering your examples do not apply to my case, I don’t have a team to assign tasks to, the freelancer I hired is not called Jack and I do want to stop working with him."
Of course the freelancer you hired is not named Jack.
This is name I picked at random to help explain and illustrate these principles.
You should disregard those aspects of my examples and explanations which do not apply to you. You are welcome to learn from what I have written inasmuch as it applies to you and helps you.
re: "So, I would appreciate not being spoken to in such a patronizing manner and unless you belong to the customer support team, you should not even be replying to my topic."
You have not been spoken to in a patronizing manner.
You have been provided with helpful, useful information.
I can assure you that I am not a member of the customer support team.
You did not post your message in the Upwork Customer Support Forum.
You posted your message in the Community Forum. It is true that sometimes Upwork personnel post messages here. But MOST of what is written in the this Forum is written by members of the Upwork community, mainly freelancers and clients. That why it is called the "Community Forum."
re: "I don’t see where a freelancer leaving a job half done and stop communicating is acceptable. As a small business owner, I relied heavily on this designer who left me hanging and I have lost a client because of it."
Who here has said that it is acceptable?
I didn't.
I did, however, provide you with accurate information about how Upwork works. I informed you that when a freelancer leaves a job half done and stops communicating with you, this is not the basis for getting any money back. Also, this is not a valid basis for "filing a complaint."
You are welcome to think whatever you want about how the Upwork system lacks functionality that you would like to see it have. You can even post messages here in the Forum advocating for changes to the Upwork system. For example, you could post a message in which you say that, as a client, you would like to see some process or tool that lets a client post a complaint about a freelancer who leaves a job half done. Or you could say that you would like to see some provision within Upwork's policies that allows a client to get money back if a freelancer leaves a job half done.
But there currently are no such tools, policies or provisions.
By providing you with information about how Upwork actually works right now, and what your options are, I have provided with you with information and power. This is more helpful than if I had tried to mislead you, or if I had implied that contacting Upwork Customer Support will somehow fix your problems for you.
One of the best things you could do right now is to understand that you will be better off if you fix things yourself rather than try to contact Upwork Customer Support about matters that they can do nothing to help you with.
re: "I don’t have a team to assign tasks to"
Whose fault is that?
This is your responsibility.
If you hired one freelancer to do some tasks, and they stopped working on those tasks, then the obvious question is:
Why didn't you assign somebody else to work on those tasks?
If you want to succeed as a client who commissions complex projects from freelancers, then it is important to understand that if you hire a freelance developer to work on a development project, it is not that freelancer's responsibility to complete the project. And it is not Upwork's responsibility. It is the project manager's responsibility to see the project through to completion.
