Refund thinking hurts clients.
If you hire a freelancer, you should plan on never getting any money back. No matter what happens. If you plan ahead to never get money back, this will save you money.
If this potential freelancer quotes a budget that is too high, then don't hire him.
Your stated budget is irrelevant.
What matters is how much money you fund in escrow.
re: "I need to hire a freelancer on a fixed price basis, he asks for more than my budget"
So don't hire him.
re: "I'm afraid If he couldn't finish the work."
So don't hire him.
re: "Can I just refuse the work?"
No.
re: "what will happen for my money in escrow?"
The money you find in escrow will go to the freelancer.
If you want to get that money back - for any reason - you must request a refund from the freelancer. The freelancer may choose to agree to a refund, or he might say no.
There is no button for a client to unilaterally get escrow money back.
re: "can I reject freelancer work without pay, If the freelancer didn't finish the task?"
You can REQUEST a refund. The freelancer might say yes. He might say no.
If you request a refund and he says no, you might get nothing. But there are possible steps beyond that: dispute/mediation, arbitration.
My advice:
Dont plan on wasting your time and effort and money with all that. Just plan right now to never ask for money back. Instead, monitor a freelancer's work proactively and the contract immediately on any freelancer who does not provide great value to you. Use only hourly contracts, which don't tie up any money in escrow. Or use small fixed-price milestones to start out with, to test the freelancer and verify his work is good enough.
