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toddtks
Community Member

Client nonpayment

Hi Upwork community,

 

I'm new to Upwork and had a question. Recently my co-worker (the owner of an agency) had a contract with an individual who needed RFP/proposal writing services. We were apparently manually logging their hours into Upwork and getting paid two weeks after for all time logged. Well, eventually one of their payments got re-funded because their payment method failed. We've reached out to them multiple times to rectify the issue, but they've completely ghosted us. 

I'm an attorney, and I've called, emailed, most recently sent demand letters, and we've received no response (even though the owner is very active on social media and appears to be viewing our emails). I would normally proceed to filing suit, but since the contract was through Upwork I'm not sure how that would work with regards to proper venue, etc. I'm new to Upwork and the process confuses me a bit (additionally, I wasn't involved in the initial process of this person hiring my co-worker). Apparently our hours didn't qualify for payment protection, so what are my options here? I've attached a couple of screenshots for reference. 

Thanks!

 

**Edited for community guidelines**

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Todd, 

 

We checked this for you and a notification about this reversal was sent to the Agency owner. If they have any questions, they can refer and reply to it!

 

Also please refer to Escrow Instructions here.

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork

View solution in original post

6 REPLIES 6
hoyle_editing
Community Member

I have no clue from a legal standpoint.

 

However as far as Upwork terms go, you have no protection and as such have no options that i am aware of, at all.

 

- ALWAYS use the time tracker and log suitable notes for the work being completed.

prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "Apparently our hours didn't qualify for payment protection, so what are my options here?"

 

Learn from your mistakes, and move on.


Don't make those same mistakes again in the future.

 

It is NOT difficult to qualify for payment protection. Personally, I make sure that when I work through Upwork, I use correct practices so that I qualify.

 

Then, if the client doesn't pay, Upwork pays me. It's a VERY NICE arrangement. How many other places offer you the same thing?

petra_r
Community Member

You are free to take legal action against the client outside Upwork.

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Todd, 

 

We checked this for you and a notification about this reversal was sent to the Agency owner. If they have any questions, they can refer and reply to it!

 

Also please refer to Escrow Instructions here.

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork
joansands
Community Member

Todd - Why would you manually log your hours instead of using the Time Tracker? If you had used the Time Tracker, Upwork would have protected you but they don't do that with manually logged hours.

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for your assistance so far! To be clear, I didn't set up this arrangement. Simply reaching out on behalf of a co-worker who works with the same company. Thanks for your help!

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