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adamomarianna
Community Member

Probelm with a payment

Hi there!

I have a problem with a client

I started my contract at the beginning of this month, I delivered the work and I tried to request payment two times.
She didn't pay me. She requested changes...but there weren't changes to do! She said me that she pay me, at the end of the month. She requested changes to take time.
Now she wrote me asking another new work. I answered that I'm waiting for the payment of my first work with her. She said me that even if I don't request payment, she will pay me! But she didn't close my contract

Is it possible to pay a freelncer if the contract isn't closed?

Is there something that I don't Know with the proces of payment on Upwork?
Please, let me know!

Thank you

Marianna

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
wlyonsatl
Community Member

It sounds like this client doesn't have the money to pay you on time and in full. She might know that the funds showing in escrow are not actually available on her credit card, so she needs time to increase the available balance on that card. If she releases payment now it might get kicked back as unpayable by her credit card bank, which would not please you or Upwork.

 

I would tell the client payment for prior work must be released by her before you would begin work on another project. That is just the way Upwork works - no smart freelancer keeps working on a client's new milestones before payment has been released on all the client's prior milestones.

 

Good luck!

 

 

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bilal1983
Community Member

If it is a fixed price contract, you should just press on the submit work for payment button, which is basically an official request for payment. The client can accept the request and if there was money in escrow, it will be released to you.

 

If client does not accept the request, and if there is money in escrow, it will be released automatically after 14 days.

 

If it is an hourly contract, you're doing something wrong, because for hourly contracts you track time and then get paid automatically.

Hi Bilal
Thank you for your feedback
Yes, I know this proces
It's a fixed price contract and I requested the payment when I finished.
But the client didn't accept my request. She requested changes....but there weren't changes to do. She took time to pay me at the end of the month. It isn't a dedution, she said me so!
So my work now isn't in "review" but in "work in progress. My contract is open. Even if I wait 14 days, I'll not have the payment.

 

I asked if there is a way to pay the freelance even if the work is still in progress. The client said me that even if I don't request the payment, she will pay me
Is it possible?

Looks to me that this client is trying to take advantage of the system. I would politely explain that you are able to proceed with the next work segment / milestone only when the previous one has been paid. After securing that, I would politely move away from such client. Looks like they have no budget but still want to work to be done. 

wlyonsatl
Community Member

It sounds like this client doesn't have the money to pay you on time and in full. She might know that the funds showing in escrow are not actually available on her credit card, so she needs time to increase the available balance on that card. If she releases payment now it might get kicked back as unpayable by her credit card bank, which would not please you or Upwork.

 

I would tell the client payment for prior work must be released by her before you would begin work on another project. That is just the way Upwork works - no smart freelancer keeps working on a client's new milestones before payment has been released on all the client's prior milestones.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Thank you Will
Naturally, I don't start the new work, if she dont't pay me.
Do you Know how can I do if I don't receive my payment?

Thank you

Unfortunately, Marianna, there is no enforceable payment protection for fixed price jobs on Upwork.

 

An Upwork mediator will try to find a resolution both you and your client are willing to accept, but if your client pays Upwork nothing you might receive nothing for your work. The best you can do is follow the Upwork mediator's instructions and hope for the best.

 

Please come back to the board to tell how this has eventually been resolved for you.

Will, Upwork has Fixed Price Protection so that Marianna will receive the funds even if her client cannot afford to pay. But to qualify for that, she needs to resubmit.

No, Jonathan.

 

Payment protection on hourly protection is very different than payment "protection" on fixed price projects. Stick around on this message board for any length of time and you'll see posts by many freelancers who lose money due to client fraud (such as via chargebacks by actual credit card owners or fraudulent use of other people's credit cards).

 

 

Will, I just came across that very topic today. One of the mods, Nikola, posted a response about what Upwork can do in those cases. Thread here.

Thank you for your comment

That is not correct.

Hi Will

Thank you very much for your comments.
I read all the opinions and I'm searching a solution
I'll Let you Know when I resolve the problem

Thank you for your attention

Marianna, to qualify for protection, you need to resubmit your work. I also recommend that, in your submission summary, state that if your client wishes to deny for further changes then they must specify exactly the changes to be made. If they again request revisions without saying what the revisions need to be, then file a dispute. More information on that process at here. 

Thanks Jonathan. I was thinking about asking Marianna to resubmit work for payment, but wasn't sure if this would work. 

 

It makes sense that freelancer should be paid even if the client does not have the money to pay. But shouldn't the escrow mean that money is already deducted from client initially and will be either released to freelancer or back to client in case milestone is cancelled?

 

Also, what if the client just requests revisions again, and uses this loophole to keep delaying payment?


Bilal M wrote:

 

But shouldn't the escrow mean that money is already deducted from client initially and will be either released to freelancer or back to client in case milestone is cancelled?

 


This was my understanding as well. I thought the money is already deducted from client's credit card and funded into escrow for a milestone. 

Zohaib Ali K.,

 

The actual owner of a credit card used to fund escrow can come back long after the freelancer thinks the work has been done and request a chargeback on the payment to Upwork and Upwork has no choice but to return the money to the bank. This is true whether the actual owner of the card authorized the original payment to Upwork or the card was used by an unauthorized person acting as the freelancer's "client."

 

Upwork will then submit to the bank proof, which must be quickly provided by the freelancer, that the work was actually done and delivered to the "client," so the bank knows there is no valid reason for the "client" to contest the payment (if the cardholder was the client, but not in the case of fraudulent use of the card by someone else),

 

But we have seen no posts on this board that any bank has ever actually reversed a chargeback so the freelancer could get paid by Upwork (again). That doesn't mean it's never happened, but I'd expect it is very, very rare, assuming it has ever happened at all.

 

 

Hi Bilial
I'll let you Know when I resolve the problem

Thank you

Thank you Will and everyone
I resolved the problem speaking with my client
But I think that I have to be careful with the clients before starting the contract.
Some clients are not trustworthy

fsafner
Community Member

AMy dear, after many years working as a freelancer I understood that sometimes we could trip over some toxic client. I had have some bad experiences, not a lot but quite disgusting. Some people (clients) think that if they are paying a X amount of money this is converting you into their slaves or butler. A work relationship is based on mutual trust and respect. If one part fails this is driving the work to a mess. It's very important to set conditions from the beggining, the 50% deposit, immediate payment and release when the job was approved etc. When you end the job just send the final version as an image sample, never the master, editable file. If he/she approves this then ask if he/she is ready for the payment and receive the main files. If you have the work approval you have a support and this could help you for an eventual demand if the payment isn't done. 

Take care, not all the clients are angels. Now and then you could have problems. Before bidding see his/her client history, feedback, average pprices paid etc. It's better to avoid a toxic person than pass to a bad moment.

Dear, thank you for your comment
I'll  let you Know when I resolve the problem


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