I haven't received the full payment from a client

[aleonarduzzi]

I haven't been paid in full. Only the amount in escrow. There is no customer support email in the entire website. How can I get assistance!?

If I have to get through this every time that there is a payment issue...I might as well look at other platforms.

Thanks

[sjbercot]

It sounds like you have a fixed rate contract. With those, you only work on milestones that the client has funded/escrowed money for. If you did work without a funded milestone in place, there's not much that Upwork can do to get you paid.

[JoanneP]

Hi Alessio,

I checked your account, and it looks like your client has already released the payment for the first milestone. You may discuss with your client if any further work is needed.

[petra_r]

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Alessio L wrote:

I haven't been paid in full. Only the amount in escrow.

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The whole point of escrow is that you only (!!!) do the work covered by the funded milestone. No more. Because there is no way to force a client to pay any more.

In other words, if you agreed on $ 30 for the 2158 words (which in itself beggars belief) and $ 8 was funded, you translate the equivalent of $ 8 worth of words and submit it, then wait until the next milestone is funded.

In other words, there is no point contacting support, because there is no dispute mechanism that could get you money that was never funded.

I also fail to understand why anyone would cut a miniscule job into several miletones, or why any translator would consider working at rates such as what the client offered in the first place, let alone a freelancer based in the USA.

[kinector]

Alessio, the key question is have you done work that you and client agreed upon that is NOT a funded milestone?

If yes, you should have gotten the milestone funded first. There's nothing you can do if the client just walks away with the results.

If no, you're probably getting mixed up about how milestones and budgets differ. The project budget could be whatever but the amount in escrow is just for the first milestone.

There is no problem at all if the client doesn't want to proceed with more work than the first milestone. There could be a million reasons and none of them about your service.

[aleonarduzzi]

Ok but how come that the customer budgeted 18$ and only paid 8$ in escrow?
In other words, for future projects I have to be careful and consider that
a customer may pay only the amount in escrow? And if he doesn't pay the
budget that was agreed, like in this case, there is no way to appeal to
that?
Thanks

[prestonhunter]

The budget is irrelevent.

The only thing that matters is money that is in escrow.

re: "In other words, for future projects I have to be careful and consider that a customer may pay only the amount in escrow?"

Yes.

re: "And if he doesn't pay the budget that was agreed, like in this case, there is no way to appeal to that?

That is correct.

If you have received the money that was in escrow, then you have been paid in full. There is nothing to dispute. Nothing to appeal.

[aleonarduzzi]

Thanks. I wish I had known that before...

[prestonhunter]

Don't be too hard on yourself. LOTS of freelancers make the same mistake when they are starting out.