Client account suspended - contract completed but payment on hold?

[hbbabiar]

I completed a fixed-price project last week and the client approved the last milestone on Wednesday. The project was fully funded from the start, something I always insist upon. The funds are under escrow protection, as far as I understand how things work here, and are scheduled to be released to me this coming Monday.

Today I received  a message that this contract is on hold, since Upwork is looking into some issues with the client. 

Does the fact that the client's account has been suspended have any implications on the funds in escrow? The contract has not been closed, but the project was completed, the client approved my submission, and then after all that the client account was suspended. 

I contacted the help desk but the response I received did not answer whether the funds will now not be released until the suspension of the client account is resolved.

Thank you,

Bruno

[petra_r]

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@HB B wrote:

Does the fact that the client's account has been suspended have any implications on the funds in escrow? The contract has not been closed, but the project was completed, the client approved my submission, and then after all that the client account was suspended. 

I contacted the help desk but the response I received did not answer whether the funds will now not be released until the suspension of the client account is resolved.

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 It depends on the reason for the suspension.

If there is some issue with the client's current payments to another freelancer, or them owing Upwork money for an hourly contract, or has done something "naughty," you are fine.

There is a very small chance (in case of a chargeback of the Escrow Funds, or a fraudulent use of the credit card that funded the milestone) that it could not turnout well...

Edited to say: I just re-read what you said for proper comprehension... When you say the client has already approved the milestone, that means that the funds are now already under "pending" - right?

In that case it doesn't seem likely that you have anything to worry about.

In the very unlikely case that there was a serious problem with those funds you'd have had them frozen. So chances are they will be clearing and moving into your available balance Monday as anticipated.

Sorry if my rushed initial response alarmed you!!!!

[hbbabiar]

Thanks Petra. The funds are showing up under pending. This project turned out to be more complicated than I initially expected. I spent twice as much time on it as I had planned, so I was concerned that the payment would be held up due to the client's account getting suspended. But it sounds like I shouldn't worry about that.

[petra_r]

It doesn't sound like there is cause for concern, no. If there was going to be a problem with the money he already paid you you'd know about it by now as the funds would have been frozen...

The only potential issue I see is the client leaving you feedback if he is having an issue with Upwork. The suspension *may* hinder him from closing the contract (but then again it may not) - in case that's the case you may want to communicate with them, and see what the chances are of it getting resolved, and maybe offer to close the contract for them so all they have to do is leave feedback.

However, I wouldn't worry just yet ....

My grandmother always said that worrying about things that "could" happen really works, because 95% of all things we worry about never actually DO happen 😉

[4b57dcb5]

Hey Petra,

Need your guidelines.

Recently I complete a fixed price contract and submitted my work but after 2 days of  submitting work  I received email from Upwork about contract holding. I had waited for 14 days after submition because client is unresponsive after submition. And when 14 days passed Upwork reject my milestone while UW needs to release the payment according to policy of automatic release of amount of 14 days of submission.

Please guide me it's a something scam on Upwork. 

Can I get my payment 

Thank you

[crhysconsulting]

I had this happen, too. It worked out fine...it doesn't necessarily mean the client has done something to deserve being suspended. 

We had gone through the entire process, and when it was time to release my payment, they suspended her account until she sent documents verifying her ID. We both agreed it should have been something demanded of her BEFORE she was allowed to post a job. But they had no problem taking her money for the project and the fees and holding onto it, though. (She paid 100% to escrow.)

It was rather unfortunate because she was new to UW and the whole experience completely turned her off. She was a great client but I'm not sure she'll be back because of how UW handled her account.