Payment late, Christmas ruined. Trust lost

[michaelsoorys]

Hello, just another voice here. I'm in EU and in the same boat as many fellow freelancers. Payment from Dec 15th hasn't arrived and today initated another because idk what else to do.

The community has discovered that they started using a UK bank recently over Irish bank (in my case). This was without announcing us to prepare for any DEFINITE delays because UK is outside SEPA.

It seems that a lot of freelancers are withdrawing on Friday, which speaks to the fact that all of us are TRP freelancers or at least get early withdrawals. So either:
A - UpWork somehow managed to screw their most productive users
B - The freelancers that withdraw on Wed have not had enough time to experience the delay


Are there any freelancers with regular withdrawals that experience the same delay?

EDIT: Seems like I'm one of the lucky ones and received the withdrawal, 15 min before banks close 😅.

A big warning to anyone who spots this, there is no currency conversion happening, if you're expecting 90€ you'll get 100€ from 100$, something is up with the conversion. While this is a nice this is nice and all, there are some things to worry about:

- UpWork might deduct this unintended bonus from your account in the future because it screwed their accounting.

- This is an edge case since we're all withdrawing EUR, but I can see the possibility of someone withdrawing Swedish Kronas, and someone expecting 980 SEK might receive 100 SEK

[kekkorainone]

Same issue for payment to Italy Bank account.

[avassallo]

Ciao Francesco! Same boat... What bank? Mine is BPM.

[kekkorainone]

mine is BMED

[avassallo]

Check your account again and again Francesco, it might still come through. 

[kekkorainone]

Arrived today at late evening. hope same for you.

[avassallo]

Yes! Great! I received the funds on Friday, late afternoon.

[7f246dd5]

No payment here in South Africa very "Upset" excuse the pun. 

[5727ec42]

Also in South Africa and still waiting for my payment from the 20th.

[petrameb]

No payment in France (December 15 withdrawal) - I hope you don't mind if we hijack you're thread as a kind of list. Everyone reading it could just leave a note here about their problem and where they are based -  and no comments to other users. It would really help to get an overview over how many are actually affected by this.

[ramzesimus]

Same here. Withdrawal requested on 15th of December and still nothing. EU, Revolut Bank.

[indktr]

As of now December 22 I didn't get my funds, and it's making my life chaotic. And you're right, the ones who noticed it immediately are TRP freelancers. In 10+ years of working with the platform, this never happened. 2 business days maximum has been the norm. Made another withdrawal yesterday with the funds from the previous one being who knows where. This is completely unheard of and a complete lack of respect and consideration for the freelancers.

[vily_far]

Still waiting for my December 15 payment, I'm located in Bulgaria. I got the copy-paste response from Upwork that it takes up to 8 business days, which has never been the case till now. I was forced to make today's withdrawal via PayPal as direct-to-bank has obviously been changed (not to our benefit) and Upwork is being sneaky with providing any details, putting the blame on non-existent bank holidays.

[ziggymarrs]

I'm facing the same problem—I withdrew on the 15th and 17th of December, and up until today, I haven't received any payments. I'm a TRP freelancer with Revolut Bank in Lithuania.

I also initiated a withdrawal today as soon as it became possible, but I have not received a confirmation for the processed payment yet so that payment will be delayed too. Fantastic!

[radiator]

The same, December 15 payment, Lithuania. 

[yllimeholli]

No payment in The Netherlands (Dec 15th withdrawal) 

[b612bf50]

Hello, a payment that was processed on December 15th has not yet appeared in my bank account  and a new payment request was made on December 22nd. --Greece

[fanyak]

Same for me in Greece. I am a Top Rated Plus and qualified for early payouts for the last 2 years

[ivanas]

Same here. I am located in Slovakia. In the 10+ years this NEVER happened. With Friday withdrawal I have the money Tuesday, very rarely Wednesday.  With 8 business days to wait before we can "officialy" complain (i.e. next Friday) I am not sure what to do next. 

Very good timing 😞

[ziggymarrs]

I observed a recent addition of a statement indicating a timeframe of about 5 business days, which was not present before.

Why hasn't Upwork informed us about this?

[noellesophie]

Same here, in Germany! I did a withdrawal on Monday (usually it's in my bank account the next day) and still didn't get anything. Having to wait 8 business days sucks before Christmas as this just stretches that time even further 🙄

[372cad12]

Same issue in Portugal, they say 3 - 5 days and it has been disasterous, waiting longer

[f6a44a92]

Same issue for payment to LCL Bank account from France (December 15 withdrawal)

[piatkins]

Same here. I made a withdrawal on Dec 15th to my Wise account. I always get it on Monday. It's Friday now and still no money. I've contacted Wise and they told me they haven't receive my money yet, so the issue is not on their side. This really sucks for Upwork to do this right before Christmas&New year holidays. I really need my money now! Why should we all wait for so long?

Will each payment take so long each time?

It's not clear when will I get my money. They are feeding me the story about 8 business days, and only if my money don't arrive by that time, then they will do something. There's no clear answer how long will it take to receive the money I've worked hard for.

[kadade]

Same over here, also from Germany. Withdraw made on 15 Dec. - nothing arrived yet. Serious situation. Unbelivable.

[kadade]

Does anyone knows of anyone (who doesn't have their bank account in the US) who actually has received their money in their bank account yet?

Just curious to know if it affects all upwork members in certain areas....

[michaelsoorys]

Someone above received money in Lithuania via Revolut recently. A Dec 15th withdrawal 

[calado-marco]

From what i gather so far, reading the posts and checking the freelancers profiles,  this is mostly an EU issue, only noticed so far one freelancer from Australia in the same situation. Didn't find any from North or South America, Africa or Asian markets.

Also the majority of the complains seen to have started after the 15h this month.

[ajozsef]

No payment in Hungary (December 15 withdrawal).

[petrameb]

Any news from Hungary?

[patriciablush]

Hi everyone, 

I'm in total shock, I've been with Upwork for more than 10 years, and I've never had a delay like this... The same thing is happening to me. I'm a Top Rater freelancer and I set the withdrawal on December 15th, last Friday and I don't see funds on my bank account. Money always arrives on Tuesday (if there are no bank holidays in Ireland). 

I contacted Upwork bot and the only answer I got is that they're experiencing a delay and they're working on this. Tbh, this is completely unacceptable in any way but considering that it's Christmas and all the banks will be closed next week anyway - this is crazy. When are we then going to get our money? I already have more funds to withdraw because it's Friday, and I have earnings available early but then what? I won't be doing that because I'm now afraid that money will simply stuck "somewhere" for how long nobody knows. 

[oljanajbolja]

EU based. Payment was processed on Friday, 15th of Dec. and still waiting. As a Top Rated Plus freelancer I started to question how reliable this service is. 

[aminchok2000]

Might be unrelated but my latest wire transfer to Armenia still hasnt arrived

[petrameb]

Hello Amin! Any news from Armenia?

[LuiggiR]

Hello everyone,

We've taken note of your reports and are forwarding them to the team, thank you for sharing. We know how important it is to get your withdrawals when you expect them, and we are sorry to hear you're still awaiting your funds. Please know there are a variety of reasons that may delay your funds from what you're used to seeing on most of your transactions. That said, the reports we have received are still within the timeframe communicated in this help article. If 8 business days have passed and you still haven't received your funds, please feel free to reach out to us and we'll help you initiate a trace.

[vily_far]

Oh for goodness' sake - please stop insulting everyone's intelligence with the cookie cutter responses.

Obviously there's something wrong and it has nothing to do with bank delays. At least be transparent enough to acknowledge the fact when people have been sounding the alarm for more than a week now.

[ziggymarrs]

Luiggi, appreciate that you personally forwarded these reports to the team. I sincerely hope the support team takes action on this matter, as it is unacceptable to experience early payment processing within the same timeframe as the regular payment method. What is the purpose of offering early payment if there is no discernible advantage? Additionally, there was no communication with us, the freelancers, regarding this processing time.

[avassallo]

Sorry Luiggi but 8 business days starting from December 15th is way past Christmas day and bank holidays so... as a Moderator, please thank Upwork for us, we will all definitely spend a lovely Christmas with disappointment in our hearts yet determination as far as what our future as self-employed talents holds. I know you're doing your job, I'm ot upset at you, but this is unacceptable.

[fanyak]

Having to deal with this during the holidays is really unacceptable. I was expecting to receive my money as usual.  I haven't received my payment which I withdrew on the 15th of December. I am Top Ratef Plus in EU ( Greece). Early payouts have worked for the past 2 years. This is the 1st time my funds have been delayed

[a13d3d50]

I haven't received payment since withdrawing on the 3rd of Jan. I contacted "support" a week ago, which said I will get a ticket via email. Nothing to this day has reached my inbox. I contacted support again today, still no emails from upwork team to help me. This is a problem with direct to bank payment, and I live in South Africa, what is the issue? Can I please be helped by an actual human?