Having a serious issue because of a chargeback.

[cynthiawill]

One of my Upwork clients collaborated with me on a project. The project was completed successfully, and the client even gave me a 5-star rating. After that, Upwork paid me for the job. A month later, Upwork notified me through an email that the client had filed a chargeback and that the money should be reimbursed.

What did I do wrong here? How is it possible that the client would file a chargeback after the review period and all payments had been made? Why am I paying Upwork a 20% charge? Why don't they impose any client restrictions? Why are there no protections for freelancers in this regard?

I responded to the mail immediately with evidence showing my work with the client. This was supposed to be an easy judge because it was a website and blog content. After waiting for two months the response I got was “the bank did not rule out in Upwork’s favor.”

The day I received the mail. I stumbled on a new website where all the contents that were written for the old website were transferred to the new website, and the website was live. I contacted Upwork again about this new finding, and they gave a harsh response that the bank did not rule in my favor and that there was nothing they could do, so I can’t appeal. I have asked Upwork to provide me with reasons why the bank did not rule in my favor and why can’t I appeal their decision.

[yofazza]

Hi, sorry to hear but it's the credit card chargeback system which is beyond Upwork's power to interfere.

1. Card owner requests a chargeback from their credit card company.
2. The credit card company notifies our merchant bank and withdraws the funds.
3. We place a hold on your funds.
4. We immediately notify you via email.

Was it a fixed price or hourly work? If it was hourly then there's the payment protection.

You might want to report the website to DMCA providing all evidence and they should take concrete action such as making the website gone on Google. 

From what I see, it's one good thing you can get right now (if you're on fixed price) because you won't get any good solution from Upwork:

https://community.upwork.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?q=chargeback&sort_by=-topicPostDate&co...

What was the website btw?

[horblak]

Hello Radial,

Thanks for clarifying that. But what I don't understand is, is Upwork not aware that freelancers are being exploited because of this? Why are we not being protected more?

It means clients can get away without paying for the services they enjoyed by just requesting a chargeback. That is not fair. Upwork should do better.

[cynthiawill]

It was a fixed contract. The name of the website I created was 

**Edited for Community Guidelines** . The client transferred all the contents to this new website 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**. I will appreciate any help thanks. 

[alexandernovikov]

Why Upwork won't try and fix it? I mean, there are plenty of bulletproof billings out there, for which chargebacks simply won't work, or hit a wall because money chain ends up on a crypto mixer.

[roberty1y]

Really? Are these billing methods easy to use? We really need something done about this. It's happening every day now.

[alexandernovikov]

I suspect problem may be in regulatory area. Naturally regulators won't like billing methods that are impossible to charge back.

[horblak]

Hi Adeola,

I'm so sorry about that. It's sad, and the annoying thing about this issue is that Upwork can't do anything about it. Why are freelancers not given more protection in this regard? 

[759e32fa]

Hi Adeola and Olaoluwa,

This is a difficult situation and I understand your frustration. Some reversals (chargebacks) are a result of the client contacting their bank and asking them to reverse the payment.

To give you an idea of what chargebacks are and how they work, they're credit or debit card charge that is forcibly reversed by an issuing bank. A chargeback can occur if a consumer disputes a purchase made using their credit card, claiming that it was fraudulent or made without their knowledge or permission.

In these cases, we look to our Terms of Service (TOS) for guidance and follow it by taking two steps:

1. We seek reimbursement from freelancers/agencies in cases where their client makes a payment, asks their bank to reverse it, and the bank does. (see more detail in sections 6.3-6.5 in our TOS).

2. We review the client’s Upwork account because reversing a payment, in most cases, is against our TOS and can result in us permanently suspending their Upwork account.

Aside from these steps, the Upwork team also helps the freelancer or agency challenge the reversal.

Our team can submit a rebuttal to the client’s bank on the freelancer’s behalf if they provide proof of the work or deliverables. They would need to move quickly, so please provide the requested proof within 48 hours of being notified of the reversal if you’d like us to proceed. Keep in mind that it can take the bank up to 90 days to review and provide their final decision. The client’s bank will have the final say regarding the rebuttal and we have no control over the outcome.

With that being said, I hope you understand that chargebacks are out of Upwork's control but we do our best to help in appealing to the bank.

[ericaandrews]

This is not "all' that Upwork can do.  Because Upwork is not performing the same type of identity verification with clients that it does with freelancers, this behavior is being ALLOWED because it limits Upwork's ability to take real action.  Since these chargebacks are  essentially THEFT of services, Upwork should be referring these so-called 'clients' to local and federal law enforcement authorities in any jurisdiction that it can because in most modernized countries, there are laws against stealing and people make false claims of 'fraud' to financial institutions. Bank fraud is a felony in most of the United States, and I'm guessing most other countries.  If you had the clients real identitiy through an ID verification process like you did for the freelancers there are several things you could do to help put a stop to this behavior.

1. Refer these clients to law enforcement for theft, fraud, and other felonies

2. Mail the client a paper invoice for the freelancer's work/services to the client's verified address you got when you verified the client's ID, and if they fail to pay, send the them over to a COLLECTIONS agency to damage their Credit for the next 7 years, and, possibly, recover the  money  (In this day and age, bad credit is often worse than a criminal record.)

3. Prevent this 'client' from simply creating a new email address and new Upwork account and doing the same scam all over again.

The 'limits' Upwork currently has on what it can do to stop this behavior are all rooted in the fact that Upwork does not 'vet' clients as thoroughly as they do freelancers, which allows for this out of control level of fraud. Until you fix the root-cause of the problem, which is Upwork needing to change its CULTURE of how it lets Clients on the platform, you will have no way to stop these types of scams.  The current culture is to favor 'ease of use' of the platform and convenience  for clients so heavily that common sense safety measures are simply thrown out the door, leaving freelancers more vulnerable than they need to be.   Sometimes you have to give up some 'convenience' to improve SAFETY.

These 'chargeback' scams are now the number #1 reason that freelancers don't get paid for their work, but are also, conveniently, one of the situations Upwork has decided to 'exclude' from the Payment Protecton policy.  If Payments are not 'protected' in the most common situations that result in freelancers not being paid, then there isn't much 'protection' for freelancer payments at all.  

This is like a Pool having a Lifeguard that is willing to intervene in almost any life-threatening event, except drownings, which is the #1 risk factor at a Pool:  That's not a very useful lifeguard. 

[jeremiah-brown]

For those reading - do not send the client an invoice attempting to collect.  Upwork has been known to issue sanctions against freelancers who have tried this.  Users have had their accounts suspended for doing this.

[ericaandrews]

You apparently did not READ what I posted.  Nowhere did I say for the FREELANCER to 'send an Invoice'.  Everything I listed were actions I said UPWORK should be taking. Upwork should be issuing the invoice to the client.  Again, please READ my post fully so you don't MISQUOTE what I said and try to 'spin' the suggestions I provided to make them appear malevolent.   There is nothing in my post encouraging freelancers to 'take action' on their own or invoice the client.  Everything in my post is about what UPWORK should be doing and the response I posted was a direct REPLY to an Upwork Moderator after she basically said "there's nothing we can do", so ever use of the word "you" is referring directly to Upwork/the Moderator.  Again, where in my post did I encourage any freelancer to mail out invoices?    Please read what is written, as-is, instead of inserting false information that isn't there and 'spinning' what I wrote.

"This is not "all' that Upwork can do.  Because Upwork is not performing the same type of identity verification with clients that it does with freelancers, this behavior is being ALLOWED because it limits Upwork's ability to take real action.  Since these chargebacks are  essentially THEFT of services, Upwork should be referring these so-called 'clients' to local and federal law enforcement authorities in any jurisdiction that it can because in most modernized countries, there are laws against stealing and people make false claims of 'fraud' to financial institutions. Bank fraud is a felony in most of the United States, and I'm guessing most other countries.  If you had the clients real identitiy through an ID verification process like you did for the freelancers there are several things you could do to help put a stop to this behavior."

[jeremiah-brown]

Perhaps you should read what I wrote.

And I quote:
"For those reading - do not send the client an invoice attempting to collect.  Upwork has been known to issue sanctions against freelancers who have tried this.  Users have had their accounts suspended for doing this."

I wrote this because people have tried this.  While it is a good suggestion for Upwork, it is not a good idea for freelancers to mistakenly think they can try it.  Even the mere mention of this to the Upwork staff can (AND DOES) result in sanctions, suspended accounts, and legal paperwork.  

[konraad2015]

To combat fraudulent chargebacks, many merchants in Europe now require the client to verify payment with an SMS or their bank app. That way it is almost impossible for a client to say they made the payment by mistake, the card was stolen, it's a fraud, etc. Upwork should look into this. 

[yofazza]

I'm not sure how that OTP thing works. I heard it's also obligatory here for internet transactions since around a year ago. I experienced it even when buying some waterpark ticket on-site but through an internet-based ticket booth.

But there are still some sites that don't require OTP, including Google, for the same card. Probably it's just technically not possible to be implemented globally, yet.

[colettelewis]

As the client issued a chargeback, it essentially amounts to not paying you.  Inform the client that you will be asking Google for a takedown (DMCA) and that you also retain full copyright on the work you provided and that you will be using it as a portfolio piece, and (if the content is saleable) that you will use the text to sell to someone else. 

You can also out the client on social media, but if you do this last, be careful what you say. 

I very much hope that Upwork has suspended the "client's" account. 

[roberty1y]

It seems Upwork didn't inform the OP that she could do this. It needs to start taking more action against clients like this. There seems to be at least one of these complaints per day about people getting work done for free with the collusion of their banks. 

[9c8f0515]

This. Take legal action if you must. Upwork WILL NOT support it's freelancers in this situation.

[eb112c7a]

I recently started an Upwork account to earn a second income. Seeing your message, I doubt if it would happen to me also. 

[bobafett999]

Shilpa:  yes.  Always make hourly contract with upwork time tracker on

  If you have activity level and meaningful memos, you might be protected by upwork.  On a fixed price contract you will lose money.  Many scammy buyers will pay you more, ask for refund outside of upwork (LIKE PayPal) and will do a charge back.

[walexutd]

Good day Adeola, please can you explain to me what happens when I sends proposals and no response for every proposals. Is it that my account is de-activated or my profile is not on upwork search platform ?

[walexutd]

Please can anyone explain to me what happens when I sends proposals and no response for every proposals. Is it that my account is de-activated or my profile is not on upwork search platform ?

Note: I have recently delivered a job to a client in july on freelance basic mode(free), but now I subscribed to freelance plus on 14th of august, and even till now I have not gotten any response even after subscription. 

[9c8f0515]

Why are you hijacking this thread? This is a completely different topic. Please start your own thread.