Ghosted by client halfway through the project.

[#1]

Hey, So I'm new to Upwork. I received my first order, the client was a designer and was looking for some other designers to work for him. His payment method was verified and he looked legit. I sent a proposal and got in. He gave me a project (I had to design a brand book for his company) and the price was set at a fixed rate of 300 USD. As I was new to Upwork I didn't know that you have to get the milestone funded before you start working. So the first milestone was funded and I got paid for that (100 USD). The client said he wanted 2 versions of the same concepts in 2 different colors. I sent him the first version and he kept asking me for the source file and the fonts I used so I sent that to him too (which I shouldn’t have.) I thought I would send him the 2nd version on the next milestone, but I forgot that he was a designer himself and could change the colors easily. Now the client hasn’t gotten back to me and he’s ghosted me. My question is, should I file a dispute? Is there any point for me to sound valid and get my payment? Or will the Upwork team dismiss my dispute because of my stupidity?

[#2]

Hi you cannot disupute money that are not in escrow.

I don't quite get it but if the $100 is still in escrow then you should be able to get it by clicking the submit button NOW and it'll be released to you after 14 days unless the client is back and click another button on their side.

Only work as much as the fund in milestone. Budget is irrelevant.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

Hi Khushbakht,

Thank you for reaching out to us. It looks like the $100.00 was released to you and would be available for withdrawal on the 24th. As for the $200.00, the second milestone was not funded hence there's no amount in escrow that is up for dispute. 

We highly encourage that you still try to communicate with the client and resolve it amicably but if you need help in contacting the client on your behalf, you can get assistance from our support team. You may check this article to know how to get in touch with support.

[#4]

In future beware of working for someone who can do what you are doing.

You can:

1. Always work on hourly contract.  They can have their files whenever they want.

2. Put in contract that the files will be delivered only after final milestone is paid for.

3. Set up the milestone such that milestones reflect the amount of work you will be doing for each of them.

[#5]

Khushbakht:

I am sorry if you are disappointed by what happened.

But based on what you said, the client has not broken any Upwork rules.

A client may end a contract at any time.

It appears that the freelancer may have used the Upwork platform unwisely, or without fully understanding how fixed-price contracts work.

[#6]

Yes legally they have not broken any rules. However, it was unethical of them to steal the work without fully paying for it

[#7]

The good news here is that what happened here is the freelancer's fault.

This means that the freelancer has the POWER.

She can change her behavior in the future in order to achieve different results.