Payment Security from Upwork

[jitkoo]

I am Top Rated freelancer from Upwork. I finished a work on December 2021 where client required some Online Support for IIS and his website which I performed successfully and I got 5 star feed with client saying that "The Developer fixed issues with IIS, SQL, and Windows Server that no one else could do."  for which I got payment of $75.

Surprisingly, on March 11, after about 3 months of providing successful work I got an email from upwork indicating that the Client filed for chargedback and immediately my account got blocked from withdrawing any amount and all my earned money from other projects got ceased. When I tried to withraw my earned money I got an error "Withdrawal is currently restricted on your account. Please contact Upwork Support."

When I contacted Upwork Support my account immediately got deducted with remarks "Returned Fixed Price (ref 436791721 Reversed)".

Now the question arises is:

1. Where is the security provided by upwork?

2. Can a client claim money after 3 months or any period after approval of work?

3. Who will pay for my works?

4. Should I stop taking fixed pay jobs?

Although this was a small payment task.  Suppose for high cost jobs, you work for months and after finishing work and payment approval, in future, client may claim and take away your hard earned money.

Beware of taking high cost jobs since noone is providing you security for your work and earnings.

[pgiambalvo · Accepted solution]

1. Where is the security provided by upwork?

Only by using the time tracker are you almost totally protected.

2. Can a client claim money after 3 months or any period after approval of work?

That does seem like a long time to have elapsed for them to request and receive a chargeback. But then again, if a client asks for their money back, Upwork almost always gives it to them.

3. Who will pay for my works?

No one, unless you take them to arbitration and win, and even then there's no way to force them to pay. Plus arbitration would cost you more than you made.

4. Should I stop taking fixed pay jobs?

No, but always make sure each milestone is fully funded before submitting your work. That at least is some assurance that you'll get paid by honest clients. But in the end, it comes down to you trusting them, and them trusting you.

Although this was a small payment task.  Suppose for high cost jobs, you work for months and after finishing work and payment approval, in future, client may claim and take away your hard earned money.

Again, that does seem weird to me as it seems there probably is some sort of time limit on when they can do that.

Beware of taking high cost jobs since noone is providing you security for your work and earnings.

Others have disagreed withme about this, but for high-paying jobs that will take me a long time to complete, I usuallask for a portion of the money upfront and explain why to the client. It's because I don;t want to spend a lot of time working on something and then have the client flake on me and I end up with nothing for all that work. Most understand this and agree to do it.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Peter G wrote:

1. Where is the security provided by upwork?

Only by using the time tracker are you almost totally protected.

2. Can a client claim money after 3 months or any period after approval of work?

That does seem like a long time to have elapsed for them to request and receive a chargeback. But then again, if a client asks for their money back, Upwork almost always gives it to them.

Can you please read about how disputes, arbitration and chargebacks work, instead of continuing to spread misinformation?

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Peter G wrote:

Others have disagreed withme about this, but for high-paying jobs that will take me a long time to complete, I usuallask for a portion of the money upfront and explain why to the client. It's because I don;t want to spend a lot of time working on something and then have the client flake on me and I end up with nothing for all that work. Most understand this and agree to do it.

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Again, this shows a lack of understanding about how the process works. Getting a payment up front does absolutely nothing to prevent a client from requesting a refund or filing a chargeback; in fact, they would have solid case for requesting such, since you asked for money before you delivered anything. It will only cause you to lose clients who (understandably) don't want to pay for a service that they haven't received yet. Check the client's forum to see what how often they fall victim to scamming freelancers who request up-front payments and then disappear; apparently, it's NOT that easy to get your money back.

[petra_r]

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Peter G wrote:

But then again, if a client asks for their money back, Upwork almost always gives it to them.t.

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And once again, this is simply not true. I honestly don't understand why you keep repeating this disinformation. When a chargeback happens, Upwork does not "give the client the money back", The cardholder's bank takes the money back from Upwork's account. That is completely different.

If a client "asks for their money back", there are mediation and dispute processes. Upwork never just "gives the money back" just because a client asks for it, let alone "almost always!" - You really need to try and refrain misleading people like that, especially when you had it explained to you before.

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Peter G wrote: I usually ask for a portion of the money upfront and explain why to the client.

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And how would that prevent a chargeback 3 months down the line? (Hint: It won't.)

I've never asked (and never would ask) for money upfront, and have never not been paid. I simply don't give my clients any reason to not want to pay me.

[gilbert-phyllis]

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Peter G wrote:

1. Where is the security provided by upwork?

Only by using the time tracker are you almost totally protected.

2. Can a client claim money after 3 months or any period after approval of work?

That does seem like a long time to have elapsed for them to request and receive a chargeback. But then again, if a client asks for their money back, Upwork almost always gives it to them.

3. Who will pay for my works?

No one, unless you take them to arbitration and win, and even then there's no way to force them to pay. Plus arbitration would cost you more than you made.

4. Should I stop taking fixed pay jobs?

No, but always make sure each milestone is fully funded before submitting your work. That at least is some assurance that you'll get paid by honest clients. But in the end, it comes down to you trusting them, and them trusting you.

Although this was a small payment task.  Suppose for high cost jobs, you work for months and after finishing work and payment approval, in future, client may claim and take away your hard earned money.

Again, that does seem weird to me as it seems there probably is some sort of time limit on when they can do that.

Beware of taking high cost jobs since noone is providing you security for your work and earnings.

Others have disagreed withme about this, but for high-paying jobs that will take me a long time to complete, I usuallask for a portion of the money upfront and explain why to the client. It's because I don;t want to spend a lot of time working on something and then have the client flake on me and I end up with nothing for all that work. Most understand this and agree to do it.

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Chiming in here purely to add emphasis to what Christine and Petra have said. Please stop offering "advice" that conflates chargebacks and refund requests. Both pertain to reversal of payment but otherwise they are entirely different things that happen for different reasons and with different implications for everyone involved.

This has been explained to you before, possibly more than once. If you really don't understand the difference, you should review the Help & Support information again and/or request clarification from those who do understand it. This is in your own best interest as a FL, apart from the matter of spreading incorrect information through forum comments. 

[NikolaS]

Hi Jitendra,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I shared your report with our team and one of our agents will reach out to you as soon as possible via email to assist you further.