Client wants refund after ending contract for more than 2 months

[mikedechelsea]

Hi,

I had a dispute with a client sometime in November last year (2019), and after 2 weeks of dispute resolution with Upwork support team, we both agreed to part way with half of the stipulated amount. It was a two mile-stones contract and he approved the first after reviewing and some editing. He later rejected the second part and requested for a refund. At first, he requested for a full refund, but after discussing with him and the Upwork dispute assistant, we both agreed that in the interest of peace that each party should share the cost. Upwork ended the contract on our behalf, and I returned the remaining funds in the escrow.

I was surprised when he contacted about a month later, that Upwork has still not returned the refund I approved to him. He begged me to ask Upwork on his behalf to return the funds to him, but since I did not know how to go about it, I ignored his messages. He made a formal "refund request" yesterday, after ending the contract since November 2019. I don't want to ignore the "request", but I also don't know what to do about it.

[petra_r]

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Mike A wrote:

Upwork ended the contract on our behalf, and I returned the remaining funds in the escrow.

I was surprised when he contacted about a month later, that Upwork has still not returned the refund I approved to him. He begged me to ask Upwork on his behalf to return the funds to him, but since I did not know how to go about it, I ignored his messages. He made a formal "refund request" yesterday, after ending the contract since November 2019

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You want to tell the client to contact Upwork about the matter.

[mikedechelsea]

I did. Should I just ignore his request then?

[petra_r]

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Mike A wrote:
I did. Should I just ignore his request then?

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No, ignoring a client is always a bad idea. Send a friendly but firm message telling the client that the only people who can help him are Upwork, so he should please get in touch with them directly to resolve the situation.