Escrow amount showing the milestone but has '(not funded)' written in orange

[faranshahbazkhan]

Hi there, 

  I was reluctant to accept an offer from a client (new on upwork) couple of days back, when I saw her payment method was unverified.However, upon requesting her to verify her payment method, she verified it and sent me a new offer. 

After I accepted the offer, the amount did appear as a milestone, and was written in both 'Budget' category and 'Escrow' (not funded) category. 

I submitted the work and only noticed the '(not funded)' written after my submission automatically rolled into 'In Review' category. 

My queries are as follows:

a) Will I still get paid for it since my client is unresponsive from the past 2 days now and if she stays unresponsive for the rest of the 14 days?

b) If I don't get paid, how long will it still keep showing in the 'In Review' category and how will it come to an end? 

c) Will it have any effect on my 'JSS'? 

d) 

[varungs]

You won't get paid unless the client funds the milestone, regardless of the 14 day auto-approval period. Contracts with no funded milestones will not affect your JSS (unless the contract remains open without any payments for an extended period of time).

For next time, never submit work unless the milestone has been funded.

[faranshahbazkhan]

Thanks Varun,

So that means, if the client is unresponsive, and the contract is open without any funds released, it would technically affect my JSS. How about ending the contract on my own (after 14 days), will it then affect my 'JSS'? If not, will my account have any adverse effect, like 'temporary suspension' etc. . .?

Regards

[petra_r]

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Varun G wrote:

You won't get paid unless the client funds the milestone, regardless of the 14 day auto-approval period.

It i physically impossible to create a contract without a funded milestone. (Except for Enterprise clients. This is not an Enterprise client)

Something else happening there- Faran, how do you know the cliet verified her payment method? 

[faranshahbazkhan]

It's written on the original 'job posting', above her name 'Payment method verified' with a green 'tick' mark before the letters. 

[petra_r]

very odd. 

There have been no warning emails or anything? That the contract is on hold or anything of the sort?

[faranshahbazkhan]

I haven't received any warning emails of any sort honestly, I didn't know there were warning emails until you mentioned it just now. 

- How do we go about it for this problem now? 

- Will my account get affected by, for example, any kinds of 'temporary suspension' etc. . .? 

- Will my 'JSS' have an impact, if I end the contract after 14 days, knowing it won't get funded but still wait for an auto-approval and then end the contract on my own, technically with no earnings?

Can I get any help in this regards, since I am on the track to achieve a 'Top Rated' badge, and I don't want any obstacles in between as of now, and if they do come, will I get provided with solutions to them? 

Thanks petra, I know I ask a lot of questions, sorry for taking your time. 

Regards

[varungs]

What are you waiting 14 days for? That's the wait period for a milestone submission to be automatically approved, but according to Petra, you can't even have that without it being funded. And you said that there are no funds in the contract.

[petra_r]

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Varun G wrote:

What are you waiting 14 days for? That's the wait period for a milestone submission to be automatically approved, but according to Petra, you can't even have that without it being funded. And you said that there are no funds in the contract.

---

He didn't say that. And I didn't say that either.

If there is a contract, and the client has a verified payment method, then the milestone must have been funded. He even said that the money is showing as being in Escrow and the funds have moved to "under review"

Why don't you take a break and have a cup of tea or something, rather than adding to the confusion?

[faranshahbazkhan]

Varun, I nowhere in my query, mentioned that 'there are no funds in the contract', if you clearly read my post again. 

Regards

[petra_r]

Faran, at this stage, the very worst that could happen is that you don't get paid, but don't worry about your JSS yet...

If there were an issue with the client's payment method, you't have been notified.

Wait out the 14 days and see what happens. 

The "not funded" could be some mistake.

[faranshahbazkhan]

Thanks petra, I think I can easily bear the loss of payment in the worst case scenarios (it's not a big amount), but you did mention 'don't worry about your 'JSS' yet'. 

Does that mean, I just don't have to worry about it as of yet until '12' more days (to complete the 14 days tenure), or, I just don't have to worry about it at all? 

Weird part is, the amount is clearly shown in the 'Escrow' category, and I only accepted the offer once the payment method was verified which took almost a day to get it verified by the client. I can wait until the auto approval period is over. 

After the auto approval period is over though, will ending the contract on my own, without any earnings paid, affect me or my profile by any means? (this is definitely my last question now)

Thanks for your precious time Petra, I appreciate your quick responsiveness to our queries and above all the patience it takes to read out and answer them consistently over and over again. 

Regards

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Faran S wrote:

Thanks petra, I think I can easily bear the loss of payment in the worst case scenarios (it's not a big amount), but you did mention 'don't worry about your 'JSS' yet'. 

Does that mean, I just don't have to worry about it as of yet until '12' more days (to complete the 14 days tenure), or, I just don't have to worry about it at all? 

---

Let's look at all the facts and how they affect things:

1. The money shows as being in Escrow
2. The client's payment method is showing as verified
3. You haven't received any emails alerting you that anything is amiss.
4. It is impossible for the client to send an offer without funding the first milestone

So, in a best case scenario, the money will be released by the client and the contract concluded as per normal. (it has only been 2 days. Patience!!)

If there is an issue with the client's payment method or account, you might (!) end up not being paid, but then the client's account would be suspended, which would lead to any contracts with them being excluded from your JSS calculation anyway. 

There is little point getting worried about any of it at this point.

[faranshahbazkhan]

Thanks petra, I checked it again and the money in 'Escrow' still has the orange coloured text written besides it in lower case as 'not funded'. 

Thanks again though. Will definitely try to get back after 12 days with what was the outcome. 

Regards

[faranshahbazkhan]

Hi Petra, The milestone has been rejected as expected, but the amount has gone back to 'Work In Progress' category and it doesn't seem like client's account has been suspended? 

I am still confused on what to do, since this way it will only keep rejecting my milestones after every 14 days if I keep resubmitting the work, and closing the contract with no earnings will hurt my 'JSS' real bad. 

Is there any kind of support I could get in this regards?

[petra_r]

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Faran S wrote:

Is there any kind of support I could get in this regards?

---

Can you resubmit? The whole thing is super odd.

[faranshahbazkhan]

The client is unresponsive. The milestone has been rejected due to "Insufficient Funds/Unverified Payment Method". The original job posting still has the green tick mark before "Payment Method Verified"

[petra_r]

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Faran S wrote:

The milestone has been rejected due to "Insufficient Funds/Unverified Payment Method". 

---

OHHHH! 

Get in touch with Support immediately! But that does not sound good.

Make sure you let us know how pans out.

[faranshahbazkhan]

Yes, could you guide me on how to get in touch with the support in this regards? 

[petra_r]

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Faran S wrote:

Yes, could you guide me on how to get in touch with the support in this regards? 

---

I'll flag your post so a moderator can get someone from Support to get in touch with you.

[AveryO]

Hi Faran, 

Please allow me to make some clarifications on this as I'm a little confused. Are you referring to Contract ID# 23576080? I checked and it looks like the client rejected the milestone submission, and requested changes to the work. 

As for the notification that you see that the milestone is not yet funded, I'll go look into it further. 

ETA: I would recommend that you stop doing additional work on the contract until this has been resolved.

[faranshahbazkhan]

Hi Avery, 

Thanks for reaching out. I got an email stating "The milestone has been rejected because of an issue with the client's paying method or insufficient funds"

Where as, kindly note that, the client's "payment method" is verified as shown in the original job posting till date.

Regards

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[faranshahbazkhan]

Yes I am referring to that particular contract ID

[AveryO]

Thanks for confirming, Faran. The team has reached out to the client to assist them with this. 

Please know that while a billing method may be verified at the beginning of a contract, any issues with the client's billing method (such as expired card, insufficient balance, etc.) may cause the billing method to be unverified. 

[faranshahbazkhan]

Thanks Avery,

It's pretty understandable issues do arise, I will wait for the response since I don't want to wait too long before my contract counts as "inactive" affecting my JSS eventually, that's what slightly worries me though. 

[petra_r]

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Faran S wrote:

It's pretty understandable issues do arise, I will wait for the response since I don't want to wait too long before my contract counts as "inactive" affecting my JSS eventually, that's what slightly worries me though. 

---

Contracts with suspended clients are excluded from the JSS calculation anyway, so don't worry about that.

[faranshahbazkhan]

Also how long before the "Upwork support team" realise that client is unresponsive, and will I still get paid for the job or would it result in cancellation/suspension of any sort? 

[faranshahbazkhan]

Hi Avery, 

I haven't had any updates yet, and the client is unresponsive. I don't know when ever will the client reply but please note that the reason behind the rejected milestone was "Billing Verification/insufficient funds" and not "Client asked for changes". 

I would appreciate if my issue gets resolved regardless of the transaction being made or not, I would want the contract to be ended on a good note and not me ending it affecting my own score. Is that somehow possible avery? If not, what is the other best solution to this particular problem only?

Regards

[AveryO]

Hi Faran, 

As this is an issue with another user's account, please know that we will not be able to come back here, or contact you directly to give you an update on another user's account as this is against our privacy policy. Please know that the team has reached out to the client to assist them with resolving the issue with their account. 

Until the client's payment method is verified, I highly recommend that you refrain from working on the project. 

[branaljosiah]

Hello, Petra.

Can I just ask. I have a job right now where there are three milestones. Only the first milestone has the word (funded) in it. Following your comment, are all my milestones funded? Thank you so much.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Josiah,

Please keep in mind that this is by design. Once you have completed your work for the first milestone and you have been paid, the client will be able to activate the second one. Thank you.