The mediation process does not support clients, charging me $260 because the freelancer was useless

[b2e917a0]

I have had an AWFUL experience with a freelancer.  I refused to release the funds in escrow due to terrible nature of work done and slow timeframes.  He has disputed this.  

An UpWork moderator was appointed who was absolutly useless and refused to intervene, she just said "you two sort it out yourselves".  No assistance whatsoever. 

Now the moderator says that because there has been no agreement reached between the client and the freelancer, we must proceed to legal arbitration, and I must pay $260 to do so!  I repeat: I must pay $260 to proceed to an arbitration because the freelancer I hired was useful and disappear for days during the job. 

Clearly UpWork will always take the side of the freelancer and will not do anything to investigate disputes.  It is such a shame because prior to this I have had good expereicnes with freelancers on UpWork, but if the platform does nothing to support clients when problems arise, I will not be able to use the platform again.  It is just too big a risk for me to use. 

[lysis10]

I love reading these because freelancers always complain that the mediators favor clients. Mediators are on nobody's side but Upwork's. The sooner people realize these things, the sooner you can manipulate the situation.

[tomaslondon]

This is really disgraceful. I don't feel safe transacting on Upwork anymore if this is how clients get treated 😞 Sorry to hear this has happened to you..

[prestonhunter]

Refund thinking hurts clients.

The original poster's situation is a good example of this.

He would have been better off if he had proactively decided that he will never request a refund, no matter what. That is the best way to save time and money.

re: "and I must pay $260 to do so"

This is very peculiar. I think you mis-read the number, or were misinformed. The cost is $291.

re: "I must pay $260 to proceed to an arbitration because the freelancer I hired was useful and disappear for days during the job."

You do not need to pay anything at all for arbitration. You may decide to NOT go to arbitration. The simplest option is to release the escrow money to the freelancer. If you don't like the freelancer's work, then stop working with them.

In my opinion:

Successful, effective clients proactively plan to never use arbitration. They hire thoughtfully and they use small milestones when starting out with an unfamiliar freelancer. So if a freelancer turns in poor-quality work or is too slow in submitting work, there is little money invested. The client can simply end the contract and work with other, better freelancers.

[lysis10]

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James B wrote:

This is really disgraceful. I don't feel safe transacting on Upwork anymore if this is how clients get treated 😞 Sorry to hear this has happened to you..

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It's mediation. It's not unique to Upwork. It's part of what happens when people's relationships fall apart and then contractual obligations come into play. If things were always roses and rainbows, there would be no reason to have contracts.

[BojanS]

Hi Justin,

Our apologies for the delayed response and for the inconvenience with this case. I have escalated your issue to our executive escalations team. They will reach out to you as soon as possible to look into this case and further assist you.

Thanks so much for your patience!

[prestonhunter]

Upwork's mediation process is not "pro-freelancer." It is intended to be neutral.

I have personally hired over 120 freelancers on Upwork.

As a client, I do not want the mediation process to "support" me.

I don't want to be involved in the mediation process at all.

I have goals. I have money. I pay money to freelancers to help me achieve my goals.

It's not that complicated.

If a freelancer is going to help me achieve my goals, that's great. If a freelancer isn't going to help me achieve my goals, then the sooner I can forget about him the better.

I don't need an Upwork employee to manage any of that. All of the tools I need are already provided within the Upwork user interface.

If a client is having trouble with a freelancer, he should come to the Forum and ask for advice in how to improve his project management and freelancer management skills.