i'm a new client but I have a terrible experience with a freelancer

[1c291a93]

Hello, 

I'm a new client here. I've been so far having a great experiences with a few freelancers but there was a freelancer (contract ID 25546647) that didin't deliver the job properly and lied about getting the job done in time. Unfortunately being a new client, I thought I cancel the job and gave her $20 bonus but I've just realised I was charged $143.33 on top of that and now she doesn't want to refund any of the amount. 

This experience has left me afraid that this could happen again and left me with a bad vibe on the jobs. 

I'm waiting for Upwork to follow up the case and get back to me. I hope it can resolve ASAP as I"m having chat with other freelancers about other jobs and I"m not feeling secured to use this app. 

Any advice on how people feel about similar situations?

Thanks

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Roberto,

I`m sorry to hear about the bad experience you`ve had. Our team will reach out to you via ticket with additional information and will assist you further directly on your ticket. Thank you.

[1c291a93]

Thank you very much for getting back to me.

I'm looking forward to have a good outcome and use this platform with trust
in the future.

Regards,

Roberto Meza

[petra_r]

---

Roberto M wrote:

I thought I cancel the job and gave her $20 bonus but I've just realised I was charged $143.33 on top of that and now she doesn't want to refund any of the amount. 

---

Was this an hourly contract?

Hourly contracts are paid according for the time spent working, not any specific deliverable. If the freelancer used the tracker correctly, she will win a dispute.

[1c291a93]

Thank you for your response.

Please understand my situation. I’m a new client. The job meant to be done
in 4 hours. I don’t know how I added 7 hours by mistake then i thought i
canceled the job and paid $20 bonus for a mockup the freelancer did for me.

The amount paid has been $163.33. That’s a big amount of money for me at
the moment.

Can someone please help me? Otherwise I’ll cancel my profile as I’m not
getting a good service.

[petra_r]

---

Roberto M wrote:
 I don’t know how I added 7 hours by mistake.

---

You didn't "add 7 hours" - the freelancer worked and tracked their time, so you were charged for the time the freelancer tracked. That is how it works and what you agreed to when you hired the freelancer on an hourly contract.

It is how hourly contracts work. 

If the freelancer tracked their time correctly, they did what you hired them to do and you will not be able to win a dispute, because hourly contracts are purely about the time spent actively working on the client's project. Whether you "like" the resulting product or not, does not matter.

The only way you could win a dispute in this case is if the freelancer:

• used manual time (not tracked with the destop app)
• didn't have fair activity levels for the tracked time
• didn't have appropriate work memos on the screen shots of their work
• have screenshots which show them working on something other than your project.

[1c291a93]

Do you work for Upwork?

I didn’t receive the job after the 7 hours. Nothing was done. How can i get
money back? I didn’t get anything from here.

Please read the emails between us and you’ll see she didn’t finalise the
job.

I can’t believe the freelancer can get away by getting paid and me not
getting any money back when she didn’t do her job. I don’t understand.

[1c291a93]

I find this app so terrible when it comes to deal with an issue.

I need to speak to someone to resolve a dispute.

A freelancer wants me to change her rating and feedback so she can refund me. I did and now she’s not replying.

What can i do?

Can someone message a number or email to deal with this situation?

[AleksandarD]

Hi Roberto,

I checked and it seems that you already disputed the contract. Currently, our Dispute specialist is reviewing the case and will be following up with you. Please note that we will not be able to discuss the details here because it’s a public Community. 

In the meantime, feel free to check out this help article and this Community thread for more information about disputes.

Thank you.

[1c291a93]

Hi Aleksander, thank you for getting back to me.

This is the last conversation I had with the freelancer and she’s not getting back to me.

I didn’t get anything for the job and ended up paying her $163.33 by mistake as I’m a new client. This situation creates too much stress and lack of trust as i haven’t been able to speak to someone. I hope you can understand.

I'm attaching the image of my last conversation with the freelancer.

I hope i can get refund asap.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[AleksandarD]

Hi Roberto,

I do understand your frustration, but as shared previously, we will not be able to discuss the details here because it’s a public Community. 

Our dispute specialist will review and evaluate the contract Work Diary using the criteria stated in the Upwork Hourly Protection. Please allow more time for that to happen and once it does, someone will reach out to you.

Thank you.

[1c291a93]

I click on "Get Help" and it doesn't workI click on "Pay Work" and it doesn't allow me to go into DISPUTE, it jumps back into this page.

[AndreaG]

Hi Roberto,

I checked and it looks like one of our agents has reached out to you via support ticket in order to assist you with your dispute. 

The button 'Get Help' should work for you. After you click the button, a popup should open on the right side of the page. Have you tried clearing your cache and cookies or using a different browser? If that doesn't work, you can click on the question mark button on the bottom right as shown in this screenshot and start chatting with our bot where you can contact support as well. I would suggest posting here in the Community if you need any help so that we can help you.

Thanks!

[petra_r]

As has been pointed out to you previously, you can only get a refund if the freelancer did not log their time correctly.

I would also suggest that you change the feedback back again (you have 2 weeks to do so). Trading feedback for a refund is a violation of Upwork's terms of service.