Manual Time Dispute

[sheikhammar854]

I had my first upwork contract and the client asked me to log manual time for the work i did for him. So, all the hours I've logged for him in the past week were manual. We hit a road block at the end where I couldn't fix his problems So, I asked him to hire someone else and he was okay and when it was time for him to confirm my hours, he created a dispute that I have logged excessive hours which I have not. I had 5 hours limit per week first and when i worked 5 hours then he increased the limit to get more work out of me. I have logged 10 hours for him manually and he placed all of them in dispute when it's time for billing and i asked for his approval when i was about to log my hours. How do I settle this dispute? I was reading that upwork doesn't provide protection for manual hours. It should have something that don't let clients misuse this dispute feature. Can I contact Upwork Support so they can look into this matter further? I have a conversation with him on Skype which they can review. How is it fair if he himself increased the weekly limit?

[sjbercot · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately I don't think there is anything you can do about this particular situation. You're right, clients can dispute manual hours and Upwork will refund them because they're not protected. In the future, only work manual hours for clients you trust and have a rapport with. I use them occassionally when necessary (such as the Time tracker bugging), but only with clients that I trust. Never with a new client. You can also refuse to work any manual hours and use only the tracker or fixed contracts. I don't think I've ever had a client request I use manual hours, and if a client did, it would be a red flag for me.

[sheikhammar854]

Yes, you are right. I should have seen that coming. I can't do anything about this now but i can complain about him so upwork knows that he is playing dirty.

[petra_r]

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Ammar S wrote:

 How do I settle this dispute? 

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As Sarah said: There is nothing to settle. Manual time = you lose the dispute. You might as well just concede the dispute. You can not win it.

[m-tionko]

Hi There.  I made a mistake in logging in my hours to another client and now the weekly contract has been sent for review.  How do I correct my error?  

[AndreaG]

Hi Marissa,

You'll need to refund the amount charged to the client incorrectly. Then you can log hours on the correct contract for this week or request that your client send you a bonus for the hours you worked.

[m-tionko]

Thank you Andrea.  Do I still refund even if the escrow account is zero?  My arrangement is per milestone with the other client? 

[martina_plaschka]

If you have a fixed price contract, you can't use the time tracker for that, so it would be impossible to record hours.