No pay after 14 days of ending contract

[hifytech]

Client and I had a good start. I did everything asked from me, but the client sopped responding midway through the contract. I sent mutliple messages and kept on submitting the work through the period, because the work was more like a daily submission of content. After over 2 weeks of no more response from client, I compiled and submitted every work done on Upwork to request for payment (I was submiting on client's Slack server and Drive before).

I informed them I was going to end the contract since it seemed they didn't need the work anymore. I submitted after the due date on Upwork and ended the contract a day after this submission. It has been over 20 days now, I still haven't gotten any pay. I read somewhere that I am to get paid after 14 days if the client doesn't file a dispute. I didn't see any sign of client filing dispute. Will I ever get paid?

[AndreaG]

Hi Ife,

It sounds like you ended the contract before the funds were released. Funds are released automatically after 14 days if the client takes no action on the milestone. That said, for fixed-price contracts, funds in escrow will be automatically released back to the client if you end the contract. 

[hifytech]

Too bad I read on an article here that if I end a contract after submission, then I'll get the money after 14 days. Didn't know it was not applicable for fixed contract. What a terrible experience I had, lost money meeting the clients requirement, waited and all these gone because of their personal issue 😞  I guess I have to move on now.

Here is the article. Reading this is actually very misleading. https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211068308-Unresponsive-Clients

[AveryO · Accepted solution]

Hi Ife, 

I'm sorry to learn about your experience. Could you please cite which section of the article was confusing? I wanted to know so that I can share the feedback with the team. 

I can see this noted in the article - 
"On a fixed-price contract, if you end the contract, you forfeit any funds that remain in escrow. Instead, we recommend that you complete your last milestone and submit the work for payment before you end the contract. If your client fails to respond to your submission, we will automatically release the funds after 14 days. If they respond but refuse the work and you believe that you have completed the work according to the agreed terms, you have the option to file a dispute."

When you request payment on a milestone, the client has 14-days to review the work. The client may request revisions or release the money in escrow before the review period ends. If you don't hear back from the client, the money in escrow is automatically processed to your account after 14-days. The contract should remain open until the funds in escrow are processed. Otherwise, it will be refunded back to your client. 

I would recommend reaching out to the client to request a bonus payment to sort this out. I hope they respond to you soon. 

[hifytech]

"we recommend that you complete your last milestone and submit the work for payment before you end the contract."

This was the confusing part. I interpreted it as, "don't close the contract, but submit first and then close the contract." Your explanations here have made it clear the way a beginner would not misinterprete it. Basically, I was never meant to end the contract and I would have probably gotten the funds.

I will prefer to never message the client again. I will just let this one go and move on. I know they will not reply, no point in letting my hopes up and letting them affect my current jobs. I really appreciate your explanation. Thank you

[AveryO]

Ah! I see how that may not be very clear for some. Let me share that feedback with the team; hopefully, they will make some changes to the article. 

I seem to have forgotten to add the article on how to get paid on fixed-price contracts. I'm linking it here if you want to read further about it.

Don't hesitate to post again here in the Community if you need help with anything or to interact with other freelancers and clients on Upwork. I'm also glad to know you found my reply helpful. 

Have a great day!

[martina_plaschka]

That wording is really bad and confusing. 

Maybe the client is glad he got the work for free, maybe he is willing to pay a bonus. It can't hurt to ask once. 

[martina_plaschka]

The client can pay a bonus on the closed contract. Ask ONE TIME and don't keep harrassing them with constant messages, that can seriously annoy a client.

There is absolutely no reason why you should hastily end a contract, even after you received the payment. There is nothing wrong with having a job in progress for a few weeks, no harm done.