Freelancer filed a dispute on refund request and Hiring Manager can't view the dispute

[adeoluwole1]

I'm a freelancer but a hiring manager for my client. We hired a freelancer for a graphics design/ad creator role. His work is painful and stressful to review. Most especially for me cos I have to manage him. He just doesn't seem to be getting what the brand stands for even after extreme guidance and handholding. Unfortunately, the second milestone was already activated but he missed his deadline by 3 days only for him to send in a repeat job as the first one not even relating to the 2nd milestone. We decided to end the contract since it was clear he had no clue about the role or he was occupied and lazily sent in something just to placate us. He filed a dispute and when asked why? he more or less said he deliberately did so because we left a negative feedback. Which wasn't to be honest. We left a constructive feedback. 

The issue now is that the client and I (hiring manager) are trying to view the dispute but it keeps saying "no open case found" on the dispute page. At first, I thought I couldn't see it because I'm not the owner of the page and I'm just a freelancer. But my client is getting the same message and can't view the dispute. So we can't even attend to the dispute. Any thoughts?

[g_vasilevski · Accepted solution]

Hi Ade,

If the dispute was opened recently from the freelancer end, please keep in mind that it can up to 3 business days for the dispute to be created on your client end.
Our dispute team will need to review the details and then will reach out to the freelancer and the client where the dispute agent will assist them further. 
To learn more about our dispute process, check out our resources Here. Thank you.

[adeoluwole1]

But will I be able to view and respond to the dispute as well (as a freelancer/hiring manager)? The client would like me to deal with the situation.

[lysis10]

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Ade O wrote:

But will I be able to view and respond to the dispute as well (as a freelancer/hiring manager)? The client would like me to deal with the situation.

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I don't think so. I think only the client can see the dispute. I've been the freelancer in this situation and there was someone else in the mix. I don't think she could see us going back and forth because she never said anything.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Ade,

Once the dispute is available to your client they can confirm with the dispute agent to have you added to the dispute as well. Thank you.

[lysis10]

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Goran V wrote:

Hi Ade,

Once the dispute is available to your client they can confirm with the dispute agent to have you added to the dispute as well. Thank you.

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welp, you learn something new every day. I wonder if the girl in my situation just stayed silent. But I guess they can indeed be added. Good to know.

[prestonhunter]

Ade, this makes no sense.

If you are the client and you closed a contract while asking for a refund, then of course the freelancer can file a dispute. That is how the user interface works.

Why didn't you simply close the contract and stop working with this freelancer?

It makes no sense to request a refund. If there was money in escrow, just release the money and be done with that underperforming freelancer.

Why are you so interested in that freelancer?

[petra_r]

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Preston H wrote:

Why are you so interested in that freelancer?

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Because her client, whose money it is, does not want to pay for the same thing twice and is paying her to "be interested"?

[prestonhunter]

Her client wants to pay her to spend time on this?

She should have stopped working with this freelancer sooner rather than funding additional milestones for him.

Once you fund a milestone, it is always the intended use of the system for that escrow money to go to the freelancer. There should be no surprise if a freelancer expects to collect that money.

The original poster could have saved time by not continuing to work with a freelancer who clearly wasn't a good fit for the project, or by simply releasing all the escrow money. Or by at least talking with the freelancer before requesting a refund and asking him to agree with a refund. Or by negotiating a compromise that he would agree to.

How much money was in escrow? How much money is this project manager getting paid to deal with this refund?

[lysis10]

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Preston H wrote:

Her client wants to pay her to spend time on this?

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lol yes, people actually have money out there where they pay someone to take away their headaches. It's a thing. lol

[petra_r]

Preston H wrote:

Her client wants to pay her to spend time on this?

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Please, for all that is holy, stop pretending you don't know that in real life clients don't want to pay for stuff that is all wrong. 

[adeoluwole1]

Hey Preston, thanks for your opinion but you have to read to understand. We are done with the freelancer but there is money stuck in the escrow which he should have just refunded but he opened a dispute just to spite the client. I unfortunately now have to deal with the dispute process. He delivered a repeat job and wants to get paid for it? That's what doesn't make sense!

[feed_my_eyes]

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Ade O wrote:

Hey Preston, thanks for your opinion but you have to read to understand. We are done with the freelancer but there is money stuck in the escrow which he should have just refunded but he opened a dispute just to spite the client. I unfortunately now have to deal with the dispute process. He delivered a repeat job and wants to get paid for it? That's what doesn't make sense!

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Ignore Preston - of course you should get your money back if you ended up with a lazy, incompetent freelancer. Plus it sounds like your freelancer is holding your money hostage in the hopes of forcing you to change your review. You're doing other clients a favour by being honest about your experiences, so that it'll be harder for this freelancer to trick someone else into hiring them.

[adeoluwole1]

Update:

Writing this update in case anyone has a similar issue. I started the question because there was no previous experience shared on this community.

Thank you all (Even Preston)! To my initial question, the answer is... I as a freelancer/hiring manager could not view the dispute. Only the client could. Like Goran mentioned I would only have been able to view the proceedings if the client requested for me to be added to it.

Also there was no need for that eventually cos Upwork did a very surprising thing compared to all the horror stories I read about "bad freelancer/good client situations". the case has been resolved within a day. Upwork will return the escrow amount to clients account and give the dodgy freelancer credit value/connects of what he should have earned for the milestone. I guess the stress of this particular mediation process wouldn't have been worth it (I think the normal process would still apply in other situations). I really wish he didn't get anything though for being so horrid but hey ho.... At least all we lost is time and not money as well. Very impressed with the quick results and no extra unnecessary hassle. Haha!

Even though I might not like dealing with unpleasant situations like this, it is what I am paid to do and the client doesn't want to do it either so they'd rather outsource it to people like me. 

[feed_my_eyes]

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Preston H wrote:

It makes no sense to request a refund. If there was money in escrow, just release the money and be done with that underperforming freelancer.

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This freelancer doesn't deserve to be paid for delivering shoddy work; therefore it makes perfect sense (to everyone except you) that the client should get a refund.