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639b64b1
Community Member

Bonus still pending after 4 days.

Client sent me a bonus payment for expenses and hours during a job after 4 days the payment is still pending. I can see that their payment method is verified and on their profle that they've done a job with another client where they were paid hourly. My concern is that they told me they would pay me through bonuses but all the bonuses they sent the date still says pending. My understanding is we are supposed to use bonus payments to pay for things like expenses and it should be safe when the client has a verified payment method?  Should I be concerned that the bonuses are still pending?

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ericburabod
Community Member

Toby, base on my experience, I am being paid by my clients both hourly and bonus for many years now.

If it is still showing as "Pending" after more than 24 hours, then the client's payment method has probably declined the charge for the bonus. The 5 day security period starts once the payment has been charged successfully, and that is when the date shows.

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deardipu
Community Member

Toby,

Bonus requires 5 calendar days to be available. So you are supposed to get it available tomorrow. 

Should i be concerned that the date says pending on the bonuses? Or does the date usually stay as pending until the 5 days go by?

On the Pending tab, you should see the date is will be available.

 

What kind of expenses did you pay for him?

$1000+ worth of cryptocurrency as I was teaching them to trade crypto as I do it professionally. Under the pending tab the date says pending. 

Upwork is trying to charge the client's payment method and they did not succeed. Buying crypto for a client is a violation of Upwork's Terms of Service. Sorry to say htis, but you most likely have been scammed, and will not be paid by the client.

This bonus thing is obviously such a work-around for scammers. What do you think about Upwork handling bonuses the same way they handle fixed-price contracts? They would have to be placed in escrow, meaning their card would have had to been successfully charged. 

Escrow doesn't actually provide any protection unless the sum at issue is large enough that you can pay ~$290 for arbitration and still come out ahead. 

 

Perhaps it would at least ensure that the client had the funds available, and might cut down on repeat scamming since repeated requests for refund of escrow would red flag the client. But that would only work for reimbursement-type payments or for using bonus payments instead of one of the intended methods (which should generally not be happening). A true bonus is usually inspired by the working relationship/quality of product.

639b64b1
Community Member

I spent 3 hours on zoom with a client and they told me I would be automatically paid without logging it in my timesheet. Is this accurate?


Toby D wrote:

I spent 3 hours on zoom with a client and they told me I would be automatically paid without logging it in my timesheet. Is this accurate?


Did they set a milestone or also paid by bonus?

It was an hourly contract. I don't see any pay for these hours in my transactions but the hours show up on my profile. 

Did you add the hours manually?

I did not manually add the hours. Is it required to manually add hours if they were spent using the upwork zoom call feature?

If you did not use the time tracker, the payment of hours is not garanteed.

 

Also, buying crypto currencies is a violation of Terms of Service as all translactions have to be done on Upwork. 

pgiambalvo
Community Member

Sorry, but I think this is a scam. Using bonuses as a peyment method is the common way crypto scammers pay. I hope you didn't spend any of your own money. And payment verified means nothing when it comes to whether they are legit or not or whether they can really pay. I'm sure someone from Upwork will come along and advise you further.

ericburabod
Community Member

Toby, base on my experience, I am being paid by my clients both hourly and bonus for many years now.

If it is still showing as "Pending" after more than 24 hours, then the client's payment method has probably declined the charge for the bonus. The 5 day security period starts once the payment has been charged successfully, and that is when the date shows.

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