About three weeks ago, in high spirits, I accepted my first job contract on Upwork after being on the platform for over 3 years and submitting over 80 proposals.
I eagerly began working on this project after accepting the contract. Before I started working on the project, I ensured I read up about the requirements for Upwork Hourly Protection and that I met them and continued to meet them throughout the job contract.
- Have an hourly contract (I PASSED THIS)
- Have an ID Verification Badge (I PASSED THIS)
- Work with a client who is using a verified billing method (THE CLIENT WAS PHONE NUMBER & PAYMENT VERIFIED)
- Use an Upwork account in good standing (MY ACCOUNT WAS IN GOOD STANDING)
- Log your hours with the Upwork Desktop App ( I USED THIS)
- Have contract-related activity in your Work Diary (I HAD THIS)
- Update your Work Diary with memos or activity labels that describe the activity performed (I DID THIS)
- Maintain adequate and fair activity levels (I HAD THIS)
- Stay within the contract's weekly limit (I DID THIS)
Furthermore, in 6.1 of the TOS, the following points were stated:
- Both Client and Freelancer must have agreed to use Work Diaries upon acceptance of the Hourly Contract, as part of the terms.
- Client must have an Account in good standing and a valid and verified Payment Method at the start of the Hourly Contract, and must agree to automatically pay for hours billed by Freelancer through Work Diaries.
- Freelancer's Account must be in good standing at the time of the payment at issue, including, for example, completion of the identity verification process, tax information, and any other similar requests or requirements.
- Freelancer must have enabled and used Work Diaries to document any and all hours covered by the Hourly Payment Protection for Freelancers.
- Prior to any Hourly Invoice being submitted, Freelancer must have annotated the screenshots documented in Work Diaries sufficient to demonstrate the work relates to the Hourly Contract.
- The screenshots documented by Work Diaries must be clearly related to the applicable Hourly Contract requirements or Client instructions.
- The number of hours billed in the Work Diaries must be within the hours authorized in the Hourly Contract for the week.
- Within five days after notification of rejected or unpaid time, Freelancer must submit a Dispute specifically identifying the documented work not otherwise paid for by their Client through the Escrow Services.
I fulfilled all the requirements in 6.1 of the TOS for freelancers. Regarding this (6.1 of TOS), "...and must agree to automatically pay for hours billed by Freelancer through Work Diaries", I believe the client agreed because the client got billed automatically for them.
After about 10 hours on the contract (6 hours + 4 hours of another offer), I got an email that my client's account had been blocked for fraudulent activity. The following is a snippet of the mail Upwork sent to me.:
Unfortunately, we had to block the client you were working with, XXXXXXX, from Upwork due to Terms of Service violations. While we cannot disclose the details for privacy reasons, know that we took this action as part of our efforts to keep the Upwork platform safe
Since a ticket was created for this, I replied to the ticket to inquire about the funds for the hours I already worked and this was Upwork's reply:
Our initial email stated that: "This does not affect your Upwork account, or any time logged while the contract was active."
If your client pays the invoice, you should not worry about the tracked hours. But, if this client won't be paying these invoices, Upwork Payment Protection will review your logged hours.
Also, while this client has pending issues on his account, please stop working with them or sending them any files or work.
This reply implied that if the client pays, I have no issue; Upwork Payment Protection will review my logged hours if the client does not pay. This allayed my fears a bit.
Now, I kept checking my balance and it kept showing the actual balance (after tax) in review. After the required 5 days, the payment status changed to pending. I was expecting to get paid through my payment method on a Wednesday when, strangely and sadly, today, I got these emails from Upwork:
Additionally, your client's unsuccessful payment for the week of 2024-02-25, will not be covered under Upwork's Hourly Payment Protection plan as you do not meet the criteria to be covered. We have returned the following amount to your client:
Contract ID#: XXXXXXXX
Client Name: XXXX XXXXXXXX
Amount Reversed: $ XXX
And the second one:
Additionally, your client's unsuccessful payment for the week of 2024-02-25, will not be covered under Upwork's Hourly Payment Protection plan as you do not meet the criteria to be covered. We have returned the following amount to your client:
Contract ID#: XXXXXXXX
Client Name: XXXX XXXXXXXX
Amount Reversed: $ XXX
Consequently, I got this email from Upwork a few hours after the emails mentioned above:
| | | You refunded $XXX.00 to XX XXXX. | Thanks,
The Upwork Team And the second one: |
|
| You refunded $XXX.00 to XX XXXX. |
Thanks,
The Upwork Team |
First, why is it that the money showed as "in review", and then "pending" (implying that the client already got billed and paid for it); suddenly, Upwork sends an email saying "Your client's unsuccessful payment ..." In that same paragraph, Upwork has this to say: We have returned the following amount to your client: This is contradictory and confusing. If the client did not pay, why say the money is pending and have it shown in my earnings and invoices, etc? If the client did not pay, how come you are initiating a refund on my behalf to the client for that same money?
This is quite sad. All I did was accept a contract from a client that Upwork has made me believe they are legit because they check all the marks: Phone Number verified and Payment verified. Upwork has to review how they vet clients because this has been a prevalent issue and nothing seems to be done by Upwork to protect its freelancers. Even the Upwork Hourly Protection, when you check all the boxes, it is not guaranteed that you get your money. The Upwork Hourly Protection seems to be a scam! Upwork is telling me that I should avoid scam jobs. How will I know that when the job passes all the marks I could see? Upwork should be the one to protect its clients from fraudsters. This was my first experience with Upwork, and it was terrible! This has made me rethink wanting to continue on Upwork because it does little to protect its freelancers. I want to continue to try to earn through Upwork but I may need to recover from this first. Since this incident, I have decided not to send any proposal for the time being!!! |
In their reply to my Support Request, Upwork had this to say:
"""
Reviewing your work diary and contract showed Terms of Use Violation, as your contract with the client is fraudulent. Because of this and the fact that the charges remain unpaid by the client, you are not eligible for payment protection under the Terms of Service.
To clarify, your client is currently restricted for fraudulent activity and non-payment of your contract. There is no issue on your end, however, we cannot cover any of the client's contracts for Payment Protection.
You may ask them for a one-time bonus payment for the refunded invoice once they resolve the payment issue and restriction on their account.
"""
This is funny. How will I ask a blocked client for a one-time bonus payment?
What then is the purpose of the Hourly Payment Protection if Upwork is not going to repay for payments not made by clients.
This is sad and annoying.
I hope Upwork becomes better and treats its freelancers with better protection.
