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mana1994
Community Member

Client approved work verbally but won't release the funds

So this is the situation. I had a job invitation about 5 days ago to which I answered immediately and got assigned a very small translation project. I did the project and submitted it in about half an hour. I got no response from the client for a couple of days, so I asked them if they had had a chance to review the file. He said that he had and everything was fine. However, he still didn't release the funds, and later told me that the funds will be released mid April (without mentioning any reason for that whatsoever), which means over 3 weeks from now. I checked the client's other open jobs, and he has many active jobs starting all the way from June until now. I feel like something fishy is going on here.

 

In all honesty, I don't want to have a 5-dollar project show on my profile indicating that the project took 3 weeks. I think that would look really bad. What should I do? If I end the contract myself while funds are still in escrow, what will happen?

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feed_my_eyes
Community Member

If you end the contract, then the escrow funds will go back to the client. If you have already submitted the work, then you'll automatically get paid after 14 days unless the client requests changes. 

 

You don't have to worry about whether it looked like it took you three weeks to do a $5 project - it's extremely unlikely that anyone will notice or care about that. If you already followed up with the client and he asked for more time (which is not an unreasonable request), then I would just leave it alone if I were you. But if he waits until 14 days are up and THEN requests changes or still seems to be stalling, then come back and ask for further advice.

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feed_my_eyes
Community Member

If you end the contract, then the escrow funds will go back to the client. If you have already submitted the work, then you'll automatically get paid after 14 days unless the client requests changes. 

 

You don't have to worry about whether it looked like it took you three weeks to do a $5 project - it's extremely unlikely that anyone will notice or care about that. If you already followed up with the client and he asked for more time (which is not an unreasonable request), then I would just leave it alone if I were you. But if he waits until 14 days are up and THEN requests changes or still seems to be stalling, then come back and ask for further advice.

Thank you for the information and advice Christine. He didn't exactly ask for more time, he already even said that the work was fine. It was a very small project, it wouldn't take a lot of time to review. He is just not releasing the funds for some unknown reason. In any case, I will wait for the 14-day period to be over, and if he is still unresponsive, I will make a new topic here and ask for further advice.

petra_r
Community Member


Mana E wrote:

I will wait for the 14-day period to be over, and if he is still unresponsive, I will make a new topic here and ask for further advice.


If the client is still unresponsive after you have received the funds, just close the contract yourself.


Mana E wrote:

Thank you for the information and advice Christine. He didn't exactly ask for more time, he already even said that the work was fine. It was a very small project, it wouldn't take a lot of time to review. He is just not releasing the funds for some unknown reason.


It's possible that he's a farmer (somebody who accepts jobs from clients, then hands them off to cheaper freelancers and pockets the difference), and in that case, he could be waiting until his own client approves the work and releases funds to him. It's pretty pathetic behaviour over $5, though - obviously he should just pay you, but the 14-day review period applies regardless of the size of the project.

Mana, you probably realized already but it is a very small chance of those $5 projects working out for you.

You already have better projects in your work history, so why torpedo your own profile with tiny gigs? The only things you get are headaches, risk of getting a bad review (or just blank), and a miserable-looking work in your work history that will stay there forever.

You don't lose anything, but you risk everything.

Next time, just skip. 👍
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