No warning of memos while closing the contract - 20 hrs's payment refunded to client !!!!

[suhaipallathodi]

This was first time I do an hourly contract. since the project schedule was very near I didn't get time to research about the hourly contracts. Since I was not knowing the prerequisite of hourly contracts I proceeded as the client told. I installed the Upwork desktop application turned on and off the timer while starting and pausing the work. when I exceeded the weekly limit, I got a warning from the desktop app the client resolved the issue, finally submitted the work with 7hrs tracked time.  since I was unaware of the procedure to end the hourly contract the client told me not to worry everything stays perfect and I will get the payment on Monday. 

Since he was happy with the work he gave me another offer for a new project with an increment in the hourly rate. I completed the second project with 7.64 hrs in week 1 and nearly 2 hrs in week 2. I submitted the work. client closed the contract and he told me the same "all good wait till Monday for the payment".

In both projects, I spend 2 hrs for data collection which was not tracked by the timer and I was not knowing I could have added it as manual time. Anyway, I waited till Monday for the payment, it was showing as pending in the transaction report. then unexpectedly I got a mail from Upwork stating that the client requested a refund and they are refunding the whole 20hrs payment to the client, the reason was "I didn't add memos in the work diary ". and the client closed the chat room so no way to contact him. I am sure that the client won't ask for a refund because he never had any problem with the work.

And If Upwork can show the warning for exceeding the weekly limit then if memos are that much mandatory why it is not showing any warning while submitting the work? 

 Even it is mentioned in the mail to clear any dispute between the client and the freelancer. if they are not giving a chance for this, then how can I discuss? Upwork's decision was to give the project (nearly 200 $ ) for free to the client. 

If you give any importance to the freelancers then please help me with this.

[2a05aa63]

You can politely refuse to give the refund, you are not obligated (that's why it's asking, not removing the earning from your account)

But yeah, they should require the memo for starting the tracker.

Except if the client did a chargeback, and Upwork has to pay out of their pocket. Then they will inspect the memos, screenshot and activity.

[suhaipallathodi]

But I didn't get any refund request. on Wednesday the transaction appeared as pending / review (i don't remember exactly which option was there) and there was a notification icon (red dot) under the dispute tab, but it was showing no active case and no closed case. Then on 24th, I got a mail stating that the payment has been refunded to the client, by clicking on the link displayed in my mail I reached to the dispute centre where my case is being handled, then only I got to know that on 22nd dispute was filed by the client.

Also, it was mentioned that Upwork encourages to resolve the dispute between client and freelancer, but i never got a chance to discuss this with the client.

[sjbercot]

I think this client has taken advantage of the fact that you were new, rushed, and didn't take the time to read the Upwork materials before working. Perhaps this client knew the whole time that without memos you wouldn't be paid, perhaps he found out halfway through that he can dispute and be automatically refunded tracked hours without memos (and manual hours). Maybe he does believe you shouldn't be paid for your work for some reason. I'm not sure, but it seems strange for the client to be aware of the pay schedules, compliment your work, give you  more work, and then summarily block and dispute just before you're paid. If you had no memos, there's not much you can do. Upwork automatically refunds disputed time that was not properly tracked. This is a good lesson for freelancers to learn to protect themselves by being informed about when they're protected by Upwork and when they're not. I'm sorry it happened to you.

[suhaipallathodi]

Hi Sarah,

This is exactly what I am afraid of. I believed him and gave more important for the project and his time so that I could deliver the project within the schedule. And if there was any warning about the memos I would have added it. If the client was cheating then i think an agent can easily understand it by checking our messages and hopefully he might have used that same trick with any other new freelancers. I hope dispute is handled by an agent instead of an algorithm, even if I didn't add "name of the activity"  it is easy to understand the progress of work and details of the activity from the screen captures in my work diary. and once again if there was a warning about the memos I wouldn't have ignored it.

I still believe the client and I hope it might be some accidental dispute filing, and I am always ready to discuss and clear if the client has any objections with the work, but I didn't get any chance for this.

I hope Upwork will handle this case well because I believe they are not supporting any fraud activity or free service in this platform  

[petra_r]

---

Suhail P wrote:

I hope Upwork will handle this case well b

---

Upwork will handle it like they handle every hourly contract dispute.

Any hours that were tracked with the tracker and have good activity levels, meaningful work memos and no non-work related screenshots will be paid.

Any hours where one or more of the above don't apply, will not be paid.

That's all there is to an hourly dispute.

[suhaipallathodi]

Hi Petra,

Thanks for the clarification.

[wlyonsatl]

Suhail P.,

If the client didn't object to your hours booked I don't know why Upwork would claim otherwise. Upwork wants its fees and as long as the client is happy paying you, it wouldn't be in your or Upwork's interest to not get you paid.

The assurance of getting paid is much better using hourly contracts (using TimeTracker with good memos, NOT using any manual hours) than with fixed price contracts, so now that you understand how TimeTracker must be used, you won't see this sort of client fraud successfully take away your hard-earned income again.

You're right - Upwork could easily add a warning when TimeTracker is tracking but no memo has been entered. Considering that Upwork could use every penny of fees possible, it is odd there is no such warning. But now you know.

By the way, if you were using your computer for data collection, you should have also used TimeTracker to track that work time. DO NOT use manual hours with clients you don't know well and trust completely. Even if a client "allows " manual time, Upwork has no means of getting you paid if a client later decides they don't want to pay for manual time.

Good luck!

[suhaipallathodi]

Hi Will,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I used my computer for the work and hence the time tracker for tracking the time ( as suggested by the client ) and I turned on and off the timer while starting and pausing the work. since I was doing a design project some times I may have to stay idle for thinking the next step, I turned off the timer at these occasions even I was "working" on the project.

And there is no chance for the client to have any objection on the work because

- since he was happy with the first project he gave another offer for the second project with an increment in the hourly rate

- I even worked after closing the contract to do some modifications in the design

- we discussed some concepts even after closing the contract 

- he gave me a 5-star rating for both projects

But at the end payment of both the projects got refunded to the client ( it is showing pending in refund status - so I still hope they will revert the payment to me) and payment of the second week of the second project is not appearing under any tabs ( as per my understanding this second-week payment will appear in my transaction after this  Monday (if it is also not refunding to the client))

i hope for the best

[JoanneP]

Hi Suhail,

I checked your account, and I can see that our team is already assisting you regarding this issue. One of our agents will update your ticket to assist you further. Please feel free to post any questions there, and the agent will be happy to assist you further. Thank you. 

[suhaipallathodi]

Hi Joanne,

Thanks for the response. Yes, I posted my questions there, and I am waiting for a reply from the agent. I hope Upwork will take action in favour of me since the client had no objection about the work. and if he has any objections I am always ready to discuss and clear it with the client, but I never got a chance for that.

[AleksandarD]

Hi Suhail,

I'm sorry to hear about what happened. The team will continue assisting you via the open ticket to resolve the situation.

Thank you.

[suhaipallathodi]

Hi Alexander,

Thank you for the response. I will be waiting for their response in the open ticket.

[wlyonsatl]

Suhail P.,

Another quirk of the TimeTracker app is that Upwork will notify you to stop work on a project when Upwork sees a problem with that the client's previously-approved payment method, but TimeTracker will also allow you to begin using TimeTracker before a client's payment method is initially approved. All work time tracked by using TimeTracker before a client's payment method is initially approved is NOT covered by Upwork's payment assurance program.

Pretty strange, eh?

So, whether you have a fixed price or an hourly contract with a new client, ALWAYS check that the client's payment method has been marked as "approved" by Upwork before you begin working for that client.

[suhaipallathodi]

Will L,

The client is not new in Upwork. His work history shows that he has done nearly 20 hourly contracts. That's why I followed all the steps exactly as he told.

 I am sure Upwork team will solve all my requests. 

[jason-warner]

I'm curious what happened in the end? Did upwork refund the client his money after he recieved the completed work from you and after he communicated that the work was satisfactory simply because of the memo loophole?