Client suddenly ended contract without paying for work done

[meganw93]

Hi all,

I'm new to Upwork and my first client has just suddenly ended the contract. I've logged 8 hours of work. He was supposed to pay me 0.35c per blurb and I wrote 164 on a short deadline. We were supposed to go through edits but he's just suddenly ended the contract.

I honestly feel that I've been scammed and thought working through this site would protect me from that. What is the way forward?

Many thanks.

[petra_r]

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Megan W wrote:

Hi all,

I'm new to Upwork and my first client has just suddenly ended the contract. I've logged 8 hours of work. He was supposed to pay me 0.35c per blurb and I wrote 164 on a short deadline. We were supposed to go through edits but he's just suddenly ended the contract.

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You will get paid automatically for the 8 hours of work if you tracked or logged them correctly. You are protected if you use the system as it is intended. If you don't, (promised extra money for blurbs are not protected) then you can lose out.

[abinadab-agbo]

Working through this site will protect you.

If you watch your back.

Did you submit work before you made sure you had billed the full amount due him?

[tlbp]

If you used the time tracker, make sure that you have included a memo describing the work in the section provided for that purpose in your work diary. 

[prestonhunter]

Megan, clients may end contracts at any time. This is fine. A client who ends a contract without notifying us is not breaking any rules.

More importantly, this does not prevent us from being paid.

If I hire a freelancer using an hourly contract, I can end the contract at any time and the freelancer will be paid AUTOMATICALLY for all of the time that she logged.

If I hire a freelancer using a fixed-price contract, and then I end the contract without notifying her, then I must release all of the money in escrow will to her, or else ASK for her to refund some or all of the money. There is no way for me, as a client, to simply close the contract unilaterally without paying her.

[sikhashresth]

I used the time tracker,logged hours and written memos...

My client ended the contract after work is done.

I also ended the contract.

But I found that all money was not transfered.

will i get paid?

[prestonhunter]

re: "will i get paid?"

Yes.

You will get paid. Your screenshots show that everything is normal. It looks like your pay is on track. Money needs to go though "Work in progress", "In review", "Pending" stages, before the becomes "Available."

[6f1ca139]

The job was that I have to purchase btc in my account and have to send him. He agreed that he will give me comission on it. I added manual time of 30 minutes which is almost 75 dollars and he accepted it. After that I sent him btc. When He received it we agreed on fixed price contract. He finished the hourly contract and blocked me.

Now I don't know that I will get my money back or not. Because the work is in progress which is showing in my upwork reports. Can you please guide me in it. I realise that I did mistake but now I think we have to solve it.

Thank You

[prestonhunter]

re: "I realise that I did mistake but now I think we have to solve it."

This can't be "solved."

You made mistakes. You can't get any money out of this.

 Next time, don't participate in btc scams.

You simply need to learn from your mistakes and move on.

[colettelewis]

Hi Megan, 

If you scroll down this thread, you will see almost exactly the same question was asked in 2020.  This is the answer given by Petra, another very experienced freelancer, July 2, 2020. 

"You will get paid automatically for the 8 hours of work if you tracked or logged them correctly. You are protected if you [have] use[d] the system as it is intended. If you don't, (promised extra money for blurbs are not protected) then you can lose out."

Have a look at these articles: 

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211068288-Hourly-Payment-Protection 

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063698-Weekly-Billing-Cycle

If the client doesn't pay you then you could dispute it, (or he could dispute your hours), If he does not commit to payment, then I think Upwork will intervene and you will probably have to dispute for non-payment of those hours. But make sure you meet the criteria for payment protection.