Refund for completed fixed-price projects by Upwork

[2141ee21]

Hi, I hope everyone is doing good. Well, I am not feeling any good at the moment.
Upwork has refunded the payment for my 3 recently completed fixed-price projects without any prior notice. All 3 projects were completed successfully and the clients have approved the work with no complaint. I have got 5-star reviews for 2 projects as well.

The contract for the third project was suspended on Saturday and I got a notification asking me not to resume the work with this client. The notification did not mention anything about the completed milestone and I was able to withdraw the amount earned from this project on Sunday.
However, the situation took a chaotic turn lately and Upwork has sent the refund to clients. I even don't know what is the reason for this refund and am suddenly in debt to Upwork. Ridiculous!

I look forward to hearing from the experts on this matter. Meanwhile, I am also trying to reach out to the concerned clients and find out if they know something about this.

[tagrendy]

That sounds like a chargeback. Happens when clients use stolen credit cards to pay, or ask their bank to issue a chargeback.

[1632ba11]

very correct 

[martina_plaschka]

Yeah it's bad that upwork caught the scam only after you withdrew the money, that should have gone much faster before it becomes available. 

What was the job? Buying crypto?

[2141ee21]

The jobs were for content writing. It seems weird to me that Upwork can send a refund even after the review period.

[sofia2008]

It is just weird that the same client hired an other freelancer (that is not even a content writer) for the same job on "content blog on filming" for the same amount, and some project management with what I suspect to be an other account, again for the same amount.

[roberty1y]

It is strange that he hired a $10-an-hour social media writer for "tips on writing action movies" for $900. This client has been on the site for 18 days. Phenomenal longevity - in scammer terms, that's practically forever. 

[pgiambalvo]

Hey, be fair -- 18 days isn't that long. And it's not like they could be removed in a matter of minutes if Upwork were alerted to it.

[petra_r]

---

Amir M wrote:

The jobs were for content writing.

---

Yeah... of course it was...

Not,

[2141ee21]

So, is there any chance I can get out of this debt to Upwork?

[martina_plaschka]

Can you return the money that you withdrew or do you have some other payment method?

[2141ee21]

There could be multiple ways to settle the debt but that means I will be unpaid for my time and effort.

[martina_plaschka]

Yes that is the consequence. But there's nothing you or upwork can do then the client is a scammer using a fraudulent credit card. 

These two contracts look like the typical scams - too much money for an obscure task, conveniently high amounts. We see these often with the crypto-scam. 

It's probably not the worst thing when they disappear from your profile because they do nothing for your credibility. 

[2141ee21]

Yup, I also hope this will not affect my profile credibility.

[NikolaS]

Hi Amir,

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

[2141ee21]

Thanks Nikola 

I look forward to hearing from the Upwork support team.

[1632ba11]

so sad...