ARBITRATION!

Tayyab I · ‎02-09-2022

Hi, I need help. I completed a project on January 16 including two milestones. And now the client is asking for a refund. Mediation didn't work. And he wants to go for the arbitration. I wanted to know a few things. If I don't go for the arbitration. What will happen? Will Upwork charge me and give the refund to him? Does that apply to the milestones paid more than 30 days ago? The first milestone was paid on January 9. And the second one was paid on January 16. I don't want to go for the arbitration because it is not worth the project cost.

Thank you.

Avery O · ‎02-09-2022

Hi Tayyab,

I'm sorry to learn that you are in an ongoing dispute with a previous client.

To answer your first question - on a Fixed Price job where there are no funds currently held in Escrow, but the client releases funds to a Freelancer, the client can request Mediation Assistance as long as the payment was released within the past 30 calendar days.

Also, if a case proceeds to arbitration, both parties must pay their portion of the fee within the allotted time. If one party pays for arbitration and the other does not, the dispute is found in favor of the party who paid their fee. In that case, any funds held in Escrow will be released to the paying party, and the arbitration fees will be returned.

You may read more about disputes here and here. As another team is already handling this, I highly recommend that you refrain from discussing details of the dispute here in the Community to avoid misrepresenting the case.

I hope you and your client can resolve this soon.

~ Avery

Petra R · ‎02-09-2022

Tayyab I wrote:
If I don't go for the arbitration. What will happen? Will Upwork charge me and give the refund to him?

The funds in escrow are returned to the client. If the dispute includes money that has already been released to you, you'll have to either go to arbitration or refund the client. If you do neither, your account may be suspended until you do.

Tayyab I wrote:
Does that apply to the milestones paid more than 30 days ago? The first milestone was paid on January 9. And the second one was paid on January 16.

Yes, as long as the last milestone was paid less than 30 days ago the whole contract is subject to the dispute.

Tayyab I wrote:
I don't want to go for the arbitration because it is not worth the project cost.

In that case, chances are that the client is bluffing. If the value of the contract is less than the arbitration fee, the client can't win anything either...

How much money is involved? You might be able to call the client's bluff