Advice needed for ending Contract

[heather_fugate]

Hi Everyone, 

I have been here on upwork for maybe a little over a month and I have learned a lot with trial and error however I think I just made a big error. I did a contract and the client release all the funds to me and everything was approved $300. I went to end my open contracts as they had no more work for me however I think it refunded the client all the money back because it is not showing in my overview anymore. It was pass the time limit to be able to close the contract. I do not see why this would happen. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

- Heather

[lysis10]

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Heather F wrote:

Hi Everyone, 

I have been here on upwork for maybe a little over a month and I have learned a lot with trial and error however I think I just made a big error. I did a contract and the client release all the funds to me and everything was approved $300. I went to end my open contracts as they had no more work for me however I think it refunded the client all the money back because it is not showing in my overview anymore. It was pass the time limit to be able to close the contract. I do not see why this would happen. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

- Heather

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yeah, if you end a contract and the client hasn't released funds, then you refund escrow. You can ask the client to send you a bonus. They might not want to until they see the credit on their end. You have to wait for the client to release funds or wait until i'ts auto-released after 14 days when you submit to the milestone.

[heather_fugate]

So this may be a stupid question... He accepted the milestones and he accidenly made one that we didn't need so like there wasn't any count down and it's been two weeks. I had messaged him and I think he's completly ghosting me. I have ended contracts before with diffrent clients and normally it's dummy proof and it will give you warnings if it's going to refund the client. 

[lysis10]

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Heather F wrote:

So this may be a stupid question... He accepted the milestones and he accidenly made one that we didn't need so like there wasn't any count down and it's been two weeks. I had messaged him and I think he's completly ghosting me. I have ended contracts before with diffrent clients and normally it's dummy proof and it will give you warnings if it's going to refund the client. 

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When you submit to the milestone, there is a 14-day countdown. Either the client manually releases escrow (accepting the milestone) or Upwork auto-releases it after 14 after you submit work to the milestone. If you close before any of these events happen, then you issue a refund. It sounds like there was no funded milestone if there was no refund. You should only do work on funded milestones or stuff like this is a risk.

[heather_fugate]

I took screenshots from my email and job. 

[lysis10 · Accepted solution]

ok, so it looks like the client paid you and released the milestone. I'm not sure I understand what it is that you are asking. 

eta: also, that first milestone release would have already been auto withdrawn to your bank if you have it set to the default threshold, which I believe is $100 and weekly.

[heather_fugate]

I was just showing you what I saw because I have not had this happened... Like they paid me however when you go to your overview and you see the funds going through the process I literally have nothing from the client so I am almost wondering now if the client can reverse the funds? I might need to reach out to CS tomorrow. I appreciate all your help!

[heather_fugate]

Jennifer you are right I was paid for half a while back the other half is MIA. 🙂

[lysis10]

Oh I see, yeah that's really weird then. I would definitely reach out then but also CS people from Upwork are here so they will see it too. Chargebacks are always an issue with escrow and it sucks 😞

I hate to jinx myself but I have not had a chargeback yet so I don't know if you would get notification from Upwork.

[AveryO]

Hi Heather, 

I checked your transaction history, and the only refund I see is the refund you processed for another client last 20-October, in the amount of $25. I also checked your account and do not see any chargebacks. Could you please share the Contract ID you are referring to so that I can look into this for you?

[heather_fugate]

Hi Avery, That would be wounderful if you could do that for me. The contract ID is 

23046099. 

[AveryO]

Hi Heather, 

I would like to confirm that the payment for the first and second milestone are intact, and is showing on your transaction history. You can go to your Transaction History to check the payments that were made on this contract. If you are referring to the third milestone, it looks like the milestone was created, but never funded. If you were meant to be paid for this milestone, you can contact your client directly to discuss a bonus payment.