Contract On Hold

[h_parashar]

I am new to Upwork. Just two hours after I got offered this contract it's being put on hold.
I wanted to knw whether client has paused the contract or it's because clients account is suspended. I can see suspended written in contract page. Not sure if that means suspended client or suspended contract.

Thanks and Regards

[jirehpopo]

He has already paid 2 weeks worth of my work with receipts upwork sent to his email. He's been contacting support and is getting frustrated with the lack of response. Our contract is still paused please help. 

[d296d3aa]

Hello, 

The Company owner Pause my  contract . does the contract pause means the end of the job ? 

[759e32fa]

Hi Nanuka,

Thank you for reaching out. Clients can pause contracts any time they want to put work on hold and this does not necessarily mean that the contract has ended. The clients have an option to do that but they opted to pause yours. They may need to do this for many reasons. This pause prevents you from logging time on the contract until the client is ready to start again. In most cases, they’ll message you to explain why they paused the contract and when they plan to restart it. If you don’t hear from the client, you can contact them to ask why they paused the contract and when they plan to restart.

[rkm95]

Hello Upwork community, I started working with a client 2 weeks ago on an hourly rate contract.

It was my first contract, my client had this urgent work that he had to deliver every day for like 3 weeks. We worked for 4 consecutive days, and then on the 5th day the contract was suspended by Upwork, I didn't knew at the begining, apparently it was a credit card problem.
I talked to him by pointing out the problem, he answers me that indeed, "I exceeded my weekly budget and I have to wait until Monday morning to fund the account since it was a weekend".

He kindly asks me to trust him and continue the work as it was urgent. Naively, I accepted thinking that I must keep and satisfy my client, it was a risk that I had taken professionally to save my client and help him deliver before his deadline. I tried to build the trust with him by taking this first risky step.

I've been waiting for him since Friday, reminding him every time that the contract is still suspended, and that hes has to fix that so that I can catch up on my hours.
He tells me everytime he's going to pay me as a bonus in upwork but still always delaying the payment and refusing new contracts. Always giving me excuses.

We spoke this morning. He's trying to force a 30% discount, and refuses to pay me or stop the contract.

Now that I understand he's an escrow, i'm 90% sure that he's not going to pay me.

The thing that I'm afraid of is the Back Feedback.

In case he scams me and things end badly. I understand that it is not possible to get paid on an untracked work, but I wonder if Upwork could understand the situation and help remove this client's feedback ?! 

[martina_plaschka]

1. You don't even know the feedback yet.

2. Upwork does not examine each and every case and remove feedback. They would be doing nothing else. To be clear: upwork never removes feedback (unless you are top-rated).

3. I don't know if this can be salvaged, but you need to stand firm. When upwork tells you to not work because a contract is suspended, you do what upwork tells you, and not what the client tells you.  

If a contract is suspended, I don't talk to the client (to be fair, I never had this problem mid-work). I don't remind them, I do absolutely nothing. It's the client's problem, not my problem. I can't solve it. 

Maybe the client finds another credit card that is valid, maybe not. Stop talking to them until this is resolved. "Dear John, I'll wait until this issue is resolved and upwork reactivates the contract. See you then!" or something like that. 

[mwiggenhorn]

Martina is right - stop talking to the client and do NOT do any work until/ unless the payment issue is resolved.

[1d829fb1]

Hello everybody,

I have a few question here is. Why my contract with a client are suspended. He is a new client on Upwork. We worked about tasks related to Database development and IT. I think the contract is legal. We always have a call via zoom on Upwork message.

Please tell me why

That you

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[53cedf69]

The contract was paused by Upwork. I have contacted my client to check his account. He said the card issue has been fixed, but my contract still shows paused. Can someone take a look at it?

Thanks!

[LuiggiR]

Hi Helen,

I'm afraid that we can't share the status of another user's account for privacy reasons. If the contract with your client is still paused it means there's still an issue with their account that they must resolve.

Your client should've also received a message from the relevant team indicating what steps they need to take to resolve their issue and they can follow up with the team as well in case they still need assistance with their account. Please, be sure to not resume working with the client until the hold is lifted from the contract.  You can check this help article to learn more.

[5f5470b6]

Can Any Upwork Team Member check If I End The Contract With **Edited for Community Guidelines**  It will impact mt JS?

[759e32fa]

Hi Shamima,

Thank you for reaching out. I checked the contract you are referring to and it looks like it's currently paused, not ended. Generally, if there is an issue with your client’s Upwork account, your contract with them will be paused and you will not be able to continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, though we cannot share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns.

Regarding the impact on your JSS, only when a client leaves public and/or private feedback will your JSS be impacted. 

[5f5470b6]

so If the buyer didn't do anything it will not impact my JSS?

[kitodard]

Hi Upwork Community/Support, 

Lately I had this message on top of one of my contracts/clients contract. I've made the contract the last week. 

It's a client with which I've been working before but we had to make a new contract. 

There is a yellow circle with exclamation mark within. And the text it's "Suspended". 

It's like that for about a week now. 

I wonder do I need to do something myself or

there are some bugs into the upwork system and I have to wait for their fixing? 

I hope that my clients are aware too about this problem. 

Thank you for your time and help,

Dimitar T.

[796a95d8]

I had a client who I did proofreading for. Everything went fine, he disappeared for a week without paying me but eventually accepted the milestone and apologized because he had family issues. No problem on my end. But now Upwork messaged me saying that my contract with the client is temporarily suspended. Does this affect the payment I received from escrow? What could cause this contract suspension? 

[spectralua]

Client have some payment issue. Don't do other jobs for him until resolved.

[PradeepH]

Hi Alison,

Thank you for your message. I checked the job you are referring to and noticed that the Client's account was suspended due to issues with their payment method. That said, your payment will be released as soon as the Client resolves the issue.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[796a95d8]

So they just get to keep the edited document and not pay for it? That is so unfair. 

[wlyonsatl]

As long as the contract remains suspended by Upwork you will receive no payment for your work.

Suspension may last as long as it takes for the client to fix his payment method which may never happen.

Move on to other projects and give this client and his project no more thought unless Upwork tells you the project is unsuspended.

[796a95d8]

Very disappointing. Thank you Will.

[fdynasty]

A contract was paused by upwork, due to a payment issue of the client.

But it's still showing in my job as a pending contract, so should I end the contract? will it affect my job score or can support help me with this thanks

[AndreaG]

Hi Azam,

If there is an issue with your client's account, your contracts with them will be paused automatically and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns. We recommend you communicate with the client directly to resolve the situation.

[fdynasty]

This is not what I am asking, its been 2 or 3 months and the client never came online after the contract was paused.

I want to remove the contract from my job is that possible?

[AndreaG]

Hi Azam, 

Yes, you're free to end any contract at any time. 

[ArjayM]

Hi Kashmala Rehman,

Can you please share with us the Contract ID for the job you're referring to so that we can assist you accordingly? You can get the Contract ID by going to All Contracts> Select the contract in question> It should be under the Details page here. Looking forward to your response.

[4b04043b]

Hey Arjay

Thank you so much for contacting me.

This is the contract ID

31808122

[759e32fa]

Hi Kashmala,

Thank you for reaching out to us. It looks like your client's account had a problem and the contract is paused. Please know that if there is an issue with your client's account, your contracts with them will be paused automatically and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns. We recommend you communicate with the client directly to resolve the situation.

[mehmood_baig]

HI everyone. I need your help . I have contract and I complete the job and submit the work and buyer also happy with it and approve my work and send me feedback but he's feedback its not showing on my profile and buyer account also suspend now what I do ? did I get my honest work feedback and payment ? or I end the contract to get them both feedback and payment ?

Thank you 🙂

[ArjayM]

Hi Mehmood Baig,

I'm afraid that we can't share the status of another user's account for privacy reasons. If the contract with your client is still paused it means there's still an issue with their account that they must resolve.

Your client should've also received a message from the relevant team indicating what steps they need to take to resolve their issue and they can follow up with the team as well in case they still need assistance with their account. Please, be sure to not resume working with the client until the hold is lifted from the contract.  You can check this help article to learn more.

[muhammadusman08]

Hello everyone!

My profile has been inactive for a while now. Since last week I started refining my profiles with new description and portfolio. Yesterday, I submitted my first proposal after being inactive and got the reply which resulted in started a contract with them. Now, my contract with this new client is suspended and I can't start working on their project. 

Please, let me know the solution and reason for this.

Thanks!

Contract paused 

[759e32fa]

Hi Muhammad,

Thank you for reaching out. I checked your account and can confirm that there are no suspensions on your end. The contract was paused by Upwork as it looks like your client's account had a problem. Please know that if there is an issue with your client's account, your contracts with them will be paused automatically and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns. We recommend you communicate with the client directly to resolve the situation.

[muhammadusman08]

Thank you for your response AJ, 

Before the contract suspension, the client sent me the amount for buying their website's domain. While the amount was pending on Upwork, I have bought the domain from my own end and provided the client with the screenshot of the purchase. 

The contract got suspended the next day, and now for some reason the amount that was pending got automatically refunded to the client. Please, shed some light on this and provide a solution. 

Thanks,

M. Usman.

[PradeepH]

Hi Muhammad,

Thank you for your message. I can see that our team has already notified you about this action via a support ticket. You can access your support tickets here. Please don't hesitate to follow up with them on the same support ticket if you have additional questions regarding your concern. Note that support requests are responded to in the order they are received. Kindly allow 24-48 hours for the team to follow up with you and assist you further.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[cc27fd6e]

Hello!

I have an active contract with my client since September and just last Friday, October 28, it was paused by Upwork due to some client issue. I immediately contacted my client and after few hours, he informed me that it has been already resolved and should wait until system updates.

However, as of writing, it's been 5 days already and the contract is still paused. When can I expect it to resume when it has been resolved as per client.

Hope you can help.

[wlyonsatl]

There is no assurance the contract will ever be unpaused by Upwork. Don't start working again until Upwork, not the client, tells you that you can work again.

[a78d9a4d]

So my client's contract is suspended and he says have been trying to contact support to no success. The work is done and pending payment.

He says he needs to have support so as to release the funds, when it gets here what do freelancer do. 

Can upwork please reach out to the client and get to help get paid for the project since the client is not declining paying but account problems.

[ArjayM]

Hi Duncan,

Thank you for reaching out to us. If there is a problem with your client’s Upwork account, your contracts with them will be paused and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns.

It's recommended that you stop working on the contract immediately and get in touch with your client to see when you can resume working, once they've resolved the issue with their account. Please note that any work completed up until the contract was paused is covered by Payment Protection. 

Feel free to update the ticket that's been set up with your concern if you have questions. Note that support requests are responded to in the order they are received. Kindly allow 24-48 hours for the team to follow up with you and assist you further.

[450bac6a]

Hello there,

I would like to know when the problem that the contract is suspended between me and the client will be resolved He asked him for his passport a week ago and until now he has not opened his account

[ArjayM]

Hi Jannat,

Thank you for reaching out to us. If there is a problem with your client’s Upwork account, your contracts with them will be paused and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns.

It's recommended that you stop working on the contract immediately and get in touch with your client to see when you can resume working, once they've resolved the issue with their account. Feel free to check out this help article to learn more.

[douglaschoate]

My client had temporarily frozen their card because of a random fraudulent transaction. This caused the Upwork billing to not go through for 1-2 weeks.

This was about a month ago, they have since cleared the balance and are trying to move forward with our contract. We have a live website that needs maintenance and updates ASAP but at odds with what to do. "Company is suspended" everytime I try to log time. What resources are there that I can point my client to? They said there was no support staff to get in touch with.