🐈
» Forums » Freelancers » Re: Client requests refund, but I submitted w...
Page options
marco_heinze
Community Member

Client requests refund, but I submitted work and don't want bad feedback

Hello Upwork community, 

 

I agreed to a fixed price project that was considered to be proceeded into a long term deal. The delivery date was October the 19th, however the client asked me for a 'somewhat ready' version on the 16th, which I delivered. Basically a first draft and I told him to fine tune it until the 19th.

 

It turned out that he had many points of complain (including that he already apllied a color grading- which he told me afterwards). I just mentioned to him that at this point a long term cooperation won't be beneficial for either of us but wanted to finish the project. He declined, cancelled the contract and requested a refund. I already had a conversation withim where I basicall suggested that he'd pay me at least 50% of the agreed price. 

He declined this and claimed after that 3 other freelancers had already done a perfect !trial! job on this. He also asked me to pay me outside of upwork, which I turned down, of course. Unfortunately, I didn't take a screenshot to back this up....lesson learned. 

 

Now I'm thinking about disputing his request, but I also fear a very negative feedback. I'm fairly new to Upwork and this could have a very bad impact on my future here. If I give him a full refund, can he then leave me still a feedback that is visible for future clients, or is the compeleted job without payment just as bad?

 

Thanks for your advice

 

9 REPLIES 9
prianka_sachi
Community Member

For me, whenever a client sends me a message, the entire message is sent to my email even if the client deletes the message after. So, with respect to the message about payment outside of Upwork; it wasn't sent to your email?

He suggested it in a google docx file linked to the drive folder where we exchanged files. 

richard_wein
Community Member

You said that the client has already ended the contract.  That means that he has left feedback already.  (You can't close a contract without leaving feedback.)  So there's nothing to lose by disputing the refund. 

 

If you earn nothing from the contract,  it will hurt your JSS when you get one, but the client's feedback won't appear in your profile. If you dispute and get paid,  the feedback the client has already left will appear in your profile.  But you would still have the ability to refund the payment later if you want to hide the feedback.  So again you lose nothing by disputing. 

Surprisingly, I can only read N/A on his feedback. So I assume that I will just see it as soon I left him a feedback...

prestonhunter
Community Member

Marco, pretty much every you told us indicates that you are dealing with a dishonest, unprofessional, unethical, immoral individual. I am sorry to hear that you are facing this situation.

 

Are you telling us that the entire project was rolled into a single milestone, and he has never released any money to you?

For better context and understanding, how much money is in escrow right now?

Yes, it was a fixed price project, 70$ in escrow now. He claimed that he had 3 other editors doing the job as a free trial and all did well. I, of course don't believe this as nobody would do this just to get a chance on the job. The video he uploaded on YouTube was clearly edited by himself. I filed the dispute Friday, but nothing has happened yet about mediation. 

Marco:
Thank you for providing that information.

 

It was inappropriate for the client to ask for a refund.

 

Hopefully, when faced with actual questions about why he was trying do that, he will be too embarrassed to say anything and back down, letting you receive the money that you are owed for the work you did.

 

He claimed he had 3 other editors working for him for free?
He MAY be telling the truth about that. But that just means that he is violating Upwork ToS. It doesn't "help his case" to claim that he is actively trying to get OTHER people to work for free.

 

What kind of person does that??

Exactly, especially as it was a lot of work to do starting from 100GB download until the final edit, that would take easily 3 days of work. I really have doubts about him honest about it. It just looks like a bluff. I also reminded him that this violates the Upwork guidelines. His only response was that he doesn't want to talk with me anymore. I'm still waiting for the mediator, will he get intouch with me here on Upwork or per email?

Hi Marco,

 

The mediation team will reach out to you via a ticket and also, a copy of the ticket is being sent to your email.

 

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork
Latest Articles
Featured Topics
Learning Paths