Charge back process, lack of communication and questions

[#1]

Editing because Upwork doesn't support removing.

[#2]

Nice profile!

Upwork is the middle-man, if your client has initiated a charge-back with his bank, you really need to take it up with him. If it is feasible for you to take legal action, you probably should pursue that. Generally speaking, upwork will zap his profile since charge-backs are not allowed. He clawed back money that went through upwork to you, and now the reverse action takes place. 

I have not heard of a successful charge-back defense yet. 

[#3]

Editing because Upwork doesn't support removing.

[#4]

No, you can't take it up with the bank that the client instructed to do a chargeback, because upwork was the recipient, not you. What I mean is that you can take legal action against the client directly, if feasible. 

Since manual time is not protected, and the amount much higher than the cap of $2500, it does not look good for you, sorry. 

If anybody has heard of a positive outcome, this is your chance to report it!!

[#5]

Editing because Upwork doesn't support removing.

[#6]

---

Upwork is the middle-man, if your client has initiated a charge-back with his bank, you really need to take it up with him.

Wouldn't that be the purpose of the payment protection?

[#7]

Yes, but you have to use upwork correctly for that to be effective. 

[#8]

Editing because Upwork doesn't support removing.

[#9]

Editing because Upwork doesn't support removing.

[#10]

Upwork shouldn't refer to any "payment protection" on fixed price projects.

Unlike hourly projects, where, within certain limits, the freelancer is paid for billable hours regardless of clients' actions.

But the culprit in your case is a fraudulent client, not Upwork or the bank. The bank delivered payment on request of its client. If the client insists the product it paid for via debit or credit card was not delivered, etc. and a chargeback should be issued, the bank does what the client wants done. It isn't the bank's or Upwork's job to confirm what the client expected, what the client received, etc. (Upwork very clearly explains this in its Terms of Service.)

If freelancers are going to deliver high-priced projects Upwork needs to find additional ways for clients to pay those freelancers, ways that are not as easily reversed as payment via credit or debit card. The choices are many; no one outside Upwork knows why none have been implemented on the Upwork platform.

[#11]

Editing because Upwork doesn't support removing.

[#12]

Upwork's business model is highly algorithm driven. The only reference I've seen on this board by an Upwork employee is that Upwork will forward information from freelancer to the relevant bank when a chargeback comes through. I would not expect Upwork to follow through, so your prior experience in dealing directly with the bank may be your only option.

Upwork offeriing more reliable/harder to reverse client payment methods is the only real solution. Upwork is never going to commit the human resources to track individual responses to fraudulent client chargebacks.

Even if a project has a total value of a few thousand dollars, the cost of human interaction would often (usually?) be higher than the fees Upwork would recover if the chargeback is reversed by the client's bank. The only solution is legal proceedings by the freelancer against the client, which geography and national borders make uneconomic in many cases.

Upwork's basic freelancer services just aren't the ideal platform for freelancers to undertake high value projects. 

[#13]

Editing because Upwork doesn't support removing.

[#14]

This is the freelancer's nightmare and I'm sick at my stomach for you! Unfortunately, there is no way for UW or any platform to risk-proof freelancing. I joined UW after being cheated out of thousands of dollars by a client I'd been working with almost exclusively for more than six months. It's worked out well for me but it's not without risk nor can it ever be. The trade-off is prompt payment. Clients I contract with directly are usually unwilling to accept payment terms faster than 30 days and then they are slow to pay and only after prodding. But once they pay, they'd have to take me to court to get their money back. (I rarely accept credit card payments directly, usually only with international clients I really like and trust.) On UW, I get paid in 19 days at the most, but the possibility of a chargeback is always there. Our only defense is thorough vetting of clients and quick response when one shows signs of going off the rails.

Really sorry you are contending with this! 

[#15]

Editing because Upwork doesn't support removing.