"Asked for a refund, freelancer didn't respond"

[71d6e94b]

Hello, 

I hired a freelancer back in November to help me write a paper on two books. For the first milestone, I asked her to please outline some ideas I could use, but she just went to the internet and literally copy-pasted everything from a website. I found that later and asked her to please update the document following my guidelines and not copying anything from the internet. She said she would do so in a few days, but it's been a month and a half already and she has disappeared. She doesn't respond to my messages anymore. Besides, she's already 14 days late for the second milestone.

I requested a refund for that first milestone 7 days ago and she ignored it. Today I have canceled the contract and asked for the refund of the second milestone (escrow), and asked again for the first milestone. I have the feeling that she is neither going to respond nor refund anything. I haven't heard from her since December 24. What can I do? Did I just pay 200$ for someone to copy-paste things from the internet? Can anybody help me? I'd like to hire another freelancer, but I need this money.

I appreciate your help in advance.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[petra_r]

If the freelancer doesn't respond to your request to release the escrow funds, you will get them back in 7 days.

Getting back the money you paid for the first milestone would be harder as you already released it and chances are the freelancer has long since withdrawn and spent it.

Would I be right to think that this is a school assignment the freelancer was completing for you?

[71d6e94b]

Thanks for your response Petra,

Yes, it's a school assignment but I just asked her to help me collect and outline some ideas about it. She said she knew the topic and was willing to help me, but she just copy-pasted everything from the internet, something I could have done on my own, and now she's missing.

Good news about the escrow money, just hope I can get back the other 100$.

Thanks again for your help.

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

re: "She said she knew the topic and was willing to help me, but she just copy-pasted everything from the internet, something I could have done on my own, and now she's missing."

She did what she knows how to do.

There is a whole subculture of freelancers who accomplish everything using copy-and-paste. It isn't possible to ask them to "do better." This freelancer does not actually have the ability to do what you want her to do. But pretty much anything you had asked her to do, she would have claimed to be an expert with the ability to do it.

If you hire another freelancer with the same mindset, you're going to get the same result.

[petra_r]

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Gema S wrote:

Good news about the escrow money, just hope I can get back the other 100$.

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You probably won't. Also, be very, very careful not to hire freelancers to do anything for you that your school would say you should have done yourself. That wouldn't be allowed on Upwork.

If all you wanted was "ideas", it shouldn't matter whether they were copies from the Internet.