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heymaxxx
Community Member

Trouble with a freelancer who stops responding - important

Hey. We've worked with a UX/UI designer last year. She was supposed to provide all the files she created for us months ago BUT she immediately stopped responding! We did whatever we can to reach her but she just disappeared. We asked the Upwork talent specialist for help but he couldn't find her as well.

 

We already paid over 3000USD for the task (hourly contract) and how are we supposed to get a refund? Will Upwork be able to provide more details of the freelancer for us to sue her?

 

Thanks.

8 REPLIES 8
prestonhunter
Community Member

Max:

When you hire freelancers to work on a project, you are supposed to receive the work files that they produce for your project. You (or ideally: your project manager) should receive, evaluate and archive the files.

 

If a freelancer is not providing you with the work product that you need, then you close the contract and work only with freelancers who provide you with great value. Using best practice, a client will not lose more than about $100 even in the worst case scenario of a freelancer going awol.

 

re: "We already paid over 3000USD for the task (hourly contract) and how are we supposed to get a refund?"

 

it is not Upwork's intention that you receive a refund. An hourly contract means that you pay a freelancer for her time, not for a specific deliverable. If you have a dispute about the freelancer's time, then you may dispute work hours during the previous week. You may do so for five days following the previous week. Your time to dispute this freelancer's work hours has now passed.


What country does the freelancer live in? Why did you pay a freelancer $3000 without receiving any files?

Hi. Thanks for your reply.

 

The freelancer located in Romania. The thing is that she had been communicating with our product manager and provided drafts for the logo designs, animations, etc. However, we wouldn't be able to use any of her designs as we need the final version from her. When we requested the final works, she suddenly disappeared. Thus, we couldn't ask for a refund as she's already been paid for the logged hours. - Just imagine that you are a designer and you spent 100 hours on the drafts and are supposed to provide the final version. According to the payment system of the hourly contracts, you will receive payment on a regular basis (probably weekly) and we wouldn't be able to file any refund request as it doesn't make any sense for us to ask for the refund for the past week (she stopped logging time months ago). What we want to do is to ask for a refund for the whole project. Since Upwork isn't able to help us do so, our only solution is to sue her I guess?

 

We waited patiently for the past few months and thought maybe she didn't respond to us because of the covid virus but unfortunately, we just couldn't wait for her anymore.

Maybe the freelancer is dead.

 

It really does not matter if Upwork provides you with additional contact information or not. You are not going to be able to sue this freelancer or get money from her.

 

You own all of the work that you have already paid for. You may share all of those files with the other members of your team and/or the new people you hire to continue the work.


If you feel that your product manager or project manager failed to obtain and archive usable files during the course of that freelancer's work, then that is something you should take up with them. You may need a course correction with regards to how you work with freelancers and work files.

 

If a freelancer is doing work, then it is possible to obtain those work files DURING the course of their work. If you hire any freelancer using an hourly contract, then ALL WORK PRODUCT - all files produced - belong to the paying client.

 

As a freelancer, the first thing I do - whether it is an hourly or fixed-price contract - is create an online shared space where I do all of my work. I provide the full credentials to the server to the client immediately. That way the client has complete access to all the work, all the time. You can insist that the freelancers you work with do the same, or at least provide the latest version of all files on a daily basis.

 

There should never be any such thing as "not being able to use any of a freelancer's work until the final version."

 

I really do want you to succeed in your endeavors. I hope you will not hesitate to ask if you have additional questions.

 

Maybe you need to take a closer look at the work you have already received. You hired a freelancer and paid money to her for an extended period of time because you liked her work. She was sending you initial versions of design that fit your vision of the project, which is why you continued to pay her as she logged over 100 hours of time. I understand that you wanted further revisions, but you can use the latest version that you have. And if you want further changes, other professionals can carry on the work that the original freelancer started.

 

As a project owner or project manager... turnover of key personnel isn't what we want to see happen. But sometimes it does happen. It doesn't mean that the project is doomed to fail. You have probably seen The Wizard of Oz (1939). One of the all-time classic movies. It had FOUR different sucessive directors: Richard Thorpe, George Cukor, Victor Fleming, and King Vidor!

 

I think your project can succeed to, but only if you make your project your top priority, ahead of any individual freelancer.

JoanneP
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Max,

 

I've escalated your concern to our team. One of our team members will reach out and assist you directly via a support ticket. You can access the ticket when you log in to your Upwork account and going here.

~ Joanne
Upwork
heymaxxx
Community Member

Thanks, I'll wait for the ticket. By the way, I'll also try to reach the freelancer via Skype this afternoon - found her number on her website. Let's work together to fix it. 🙂

Hey Max. I hope you get this sorted. This is so worrying. Please let us know the result. I know that upwork is not the best platform for this type of thing, it is a bit risky. All the best

Thanks, Sarah. Sadly we still haven't been able to reach her. 

re: "we still haven't been able to reach her."

 

I hope that you are able to reach this freelancer... whose continued involvement in your project you appear to desire... but I hope you don't elevate the importance of ANY freelancer or project team member above the importance of the projects itself.

 

A client or project owner should put his project first.

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