Unauthorized refund

[0d4ed13e]

Hi, last week my contract with my client got suspended I told her and she fixed it immediately. The second time, I finished my work for her for 5 hours and got suspended again but this time I got no reply from her. This morning Upwork notified me that I refunded her without my permission. Also, the tasks were done. I feel robbed 😞 Upwork should also protect freelancers from this kind of clients having trouble with their cards etc. and double checking the work before the unauthorized refund. This is so unfair.

[chopaqureshi]

After successfully completing a project for a client on Upwork, the client has requested a full refund of the $100 payment. I am considering refunding the entire amount as per their request. Could you please provide me with information on how this refund would affect the status of the project? Specifically, I am wondering if the project will be marked with a certain status, and if the client will still have the opportunity to leave feedback for this project even after the refund has been processed. Your guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[wlyonsatl]

Once you have a contract with a client that client has the permanent ability to leave public and all-important private feedback for you.

Upwork will remove the client's public feedback if you eventually give the client a full refund. That refund will have no effect on the client's private feedback for you (which is a big factor in calculating your JSS).

Only if you are a Top Rated freelancer can you occasionally remove a client's public AND private feedback for you.

[11f016b7]

Hello User: Art,

Our Trust & Safety team has recently reviewed your account in relation to a contract with a client that we have determined to be fraudulent.

We've placed restrictions on your client's account until we can get this sorted out together.
While restricted, they will not be able to submit proposals, post jobs or start any contracts.

Additionally, your client's unsuccessful payment for the week of 2023-08-13, will not be covered under Upwork's Hourly Payment Protection plan as you do not meet the criteria to be covered. We have returned the following amount to your client:
Contract ID#: ______
Client Name: _______
Amount Reversed: $ ______

Meanwhile previously Upwork has decided the dispute in my favor for same week and all of my hours were logged according to Upwork terms of services. Is there a way I can get it resolved?

[e6853f62]

Hi Support taem,

My client approved the project at 13 august and that payment show in the pending tab and not available for withdraw. But normally payment avaailable in 5 days but now it has been going to more than 10 days. please solve this issue and make that payment available for me. because my client approved that payment in 13 august and show me that i received 822$ already but that is not show in available. i am sharing with you proof of the client approved the project and payment released.Thank you

looking forward to hearing positive response from you.

kind reegards,

safdar ali

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[759e32fa]

Hi Safdar,

I checked your account, and it looks like our team has already reached out to you regarding this issue. Please check your email for a message from our support team and respond to it so our team can further assist you. You may also access your support tickets here.

[b2766371]

Upwork reinstated one of my contracts, after suspension and refund has been given to buyer. How and why is that?

[759e32fa]

Hi Bolu,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Unfortunately, when the client fails to pay for hours logged by the freelancer, any hours not covered by Upwork Hourly Protection may be reversed. Please ask the clients to pay a bonus payment if they agree with the hours you logged.

[911e8540]

My client offered an hourly contract, and the payment for it is currently marked as "returned" or "reversed" as of September 2, 2023 without recieving an email and I ask my Client about it and he says that he didn't request for a refund. I thought hourly contracts were safe on Upwork and all freelancer were safe. Is there still a chance for me to get paid? Can someone help me?

[ArjayM]

Hi Alrin,

I'm sorry to learn about this sudden reversal of your funds. I see that you've raised a support ticket about your concern, and I can also confirm that it's currently being reviewed by the team. Please allow them time to investigate your case thoroughly. Once it is done, you will get an update on your ticket here or in your email. We seek your patience and utmost understanding while sorting this out for you. Thank you!

[flowstan]

Hey guys! I need your help urgently! I've just received a message from Upwork that my client appeared to be a scam and they won't pay my honestly earned money for the hourly work I did because I did not meet the criteria under Upwork's Hourly Payment Protection plan. However I went through it and figured out that I meet all the criteria, including having an hourly contract, ID verification, a client who is using a verified billing method, an Upwork account in good standing, logged hours with the Upwork Desktop App, have contract-related activity in my Work Diary, memos, adequate and fair activity levels, stayed within the contract's weekly limit. You can see the screenshot for the matches. Also for some reason they have refunded the client recently with the amount, however, I'm the victim here and not vice versa and I do not understand that. It now seems that I'm not protected here on Upwork in any way at all and am just being robbed. I completed all the required work successfully, had all the original deliverables, and tracked my time and activity within the week's limit. I have accepted the contract from a client whose payment method was verified which should mean that I should be protected in such cases. I have spent 40 hours working hard on a contract. Please help me out as I'm looking for some justice here and would like to have my honestly earned money for the hard work. I have also attached screenshots for more details. Thanks!

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[d4c04fc9]

Hello Stanislav,

Sorry to hear that, I have the same problem as you unfortunately, despite meeting all the criterias for the work. I was robbed for my hard working money and I would like Upwork to explain the situation to us.

Having financial problems with my bank right now, I would like Upwork to come up with a solution instead of refunding the amount from the victim to the person.

Wish you best of luck.

[spectralua]

Forgot. In my case money was taken off.

[ArjayM]

Hi Stanislav and Younes,

I'm sorry to learn about your unpleasant and disappointing experience with your clients. We understand your frustration with the reversal of the payment. Please remember that when the client fails to pay for hours logged by the freelancer, any hours Upwork Hourly Protection doesn't cover may be reversed.

However, I see that you've been coordinating with the team via email, and a ticket has been set up with it. Please update your ticket on this page if you have questions or need further assistance; the team will surely assist you accordingly. We seek your patience and utmost understanding while we sort this out for you.

[d4c04fc9]

Hello Arjay,

Thank you for your answer, I opened a case about my situation but it was closed as "resolved" 30 minutes after without an answer. I wanted also to know that I didn't get any answer from another case that was opened for this problem.

I hope you understand our situation and that Upwork team find a solution for us.

Thank you,

Younes.

[makengejohn]

Hi,

Today I was so saddened to be notified via email that all the money that I had worked for the  project, **Edited for Community Guidelines** had been refunded back to the client.  I really worked hard for this project overnight and I used the time tracker to take screenshots. I fail to understand why I was told that I don't meet the hourly payment protection and yet this is not the first hourly contract that I have worked on **Edited for Community Guidelines**. His payment method was verified which gave me confidence that he was a legit client. I fail to understand when I was told that the client is fraudulent. If the client was a fraudulent, why would I not be notified immediately while I was working on the project and up to now the contract has not been paused by Upwork. I did not violate any of TOS during the contract and all the communications were conducted within Upwork message center. If later on this client was determined to be fraudulent, then why would I be punished for this and submitting the work? Actually the payment was to reflect in my account today , instead I received disappointments.

Please kindly help me how to get back the money ($500) that I worked for. I submitted the work within the agreed time and the client was even satisfied with the work. Please mediators, I seek your help. Kindly assist to get me paid back for the work done kindly as per the agreement. I would really appreciate your sincere consideration for my request. Please find the screenshot below for your review. I look forward to hearing from you.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Thank you.

Best regards,

Makenge John.

[fcd2a020]

This is absolutely ridiculous 🙄 and needs to be looked into! Who protects freelancers if we can not trust in the platform to protect us.

@upwork  @upwork support 

[ivyww]

Upwork you need to do better! Better for all the freelancers who trust your platform. If a client is fraudulent why would you verify them in the first place?

The freelancer above has already delivered the job who should you be refunding? Is it not the freelancer? It's you and the client who should be penalized for allowing this to happen.

[7ecaa442]

Hi Makenge,

Thank you for reaching out. 

I understand that you have concerns about your reversed payment. Upon review, I could see that you already have an open ticket for this particular issue. Our support agent will get back to you as soon as possible with an update. You can check for a response here.

Regards,

[makengejohn]

Hi Johnabi,

Thank you for replying back. I will update you once they reply back to the ticket.

[makengejohn]

Dear Johnabi,

I can see the ticket has been solved but nothing has been done to attend to my issue. So does this mean there is no hope of getting the payment? 

Thank you.

Regards,

Makenge John.

[makengejohn]

Hi,

Dear Upwork moderators, please why would this consistently happen to me? Last week $500 was refunded to a client and now again another $400 has been refunded to another client just because the clients were determined to be fraudulent. All these events happen after I worked on the projects and submitted the work. I can even provide screenshots of the work done at your request. Please help me  get back the money. Loosing $900 in a row in less than a month is really frustrating. I think this should entirely be your fault instead of punishing me. Kindly intervene to refund the money back to me. I would greatly appreciate your sincere consideration.

Thank you.

Best,

Makenge John.

[3c320cb5]

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to report an issue regarding a refund of amount that was processed for a client, despite me not initiating or authorizing this refund.

Upon receiving notification of this refund, I conducted a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding it. To my surprise, it appears that this refund occurred despite work being performed on our hourly work contract, and no manual time entries were made during the period in question. This situation contradicts the standard procedures and policies governing Upwork contracts.

I kindly request your assistance in resolving this matter promptly. Could you please provide guidance on the necessary steps to retrieve the refund amount.

Thank you

[cheapizarras]

I have this issue as well. But in my case, my client asked me to perform a duty that will require me out and about to buy the plants used for our herbal product in my locality for a product shoot. It is within the scope of my contract. 

I hope Upwork resolves this as well.

[ArjayM]

Hi Ash,

I'm sorry to learn about the unexpected refund processed on your account. Please remember that anytime a client's payment is not completed, Upwork will review the Work Diary and reverse any billed time that does not meet Upwork's Hourly Protection criteria. 

I can see that the appropriate has reached out with more information and instructions on resolving the issue via email. Feel free to coordinate with the team by responding to that email, and they'll surely assist you accordingly. Thank you!

[630b4897]

Hello, I'm a freelancer on Upwork. I was invited to a test on a streaming site on the Upwork platform. Where customers are verified. I accepted the work for an hour, in which I was asked to make a payment from Binance in USDT to buy a $36 package where I received login data for testing. This payment for one hour also includes the amount I paid for the $36 package. For an hour paid on Upwork, I should have received a total of $130. After this hour, the client's account was suspended, and I stopped working for other hours. But in Upwork, that hour was guaranteed to be paid. And on 12.09 I receive an email that I have returned the amount of $130 to the client. Actually, Upwork saying that the client did not pay. It seems to me a scam from the client as well, but from the Upwork platform. If someone can help me somehow. Thank you

[elisa_b]

Nothing can be done for people who do not follow the rules. Namely: payments outside of Upwork are never, ever allowed. 

In addition to that, clients pay freelancers - not the other way around. Didn't this thought cross your mind?

Upwork has many faults for allowing scammers to do whatever they want, but the platform did not scam you. 

Forget about the money you lost. The only thing you can do is getting familiar with the Terms of Service (that you already accepted when you signed up, by the way) and learning how to protect yourself from scammers: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Community-Blog/Top-Red-Flags-for-Scams-From-Community-Member-Wes-C/b...

[ArjayM]

Hi Daniela,

Thank you for reaching out and reporting this. I'm sorry to learn about your disappointing experience with a client and the unexpected refund that's been processed on your account. Please know that when the client fails to pay for hours logged by the freelancer, any hours Upwork Hourly Protection doesn't cover may be reversed.

However, the team has responded to your ticket here with more information and further instructions for resolving the issue. Please don't hesitate to coordinate with the team through the email linked to your case, and they'll surely assist you accordingly.

[alizulfiqar92]

Dear Upwork Support Team,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to address a concerning issue regarding a recent payment I was supposed to receive from a client on Upwork.

I recently completed a project for a client on an hourly basis, and I was anticipating a payment of $200 from the client. However, upon checking my email today, I received a notification stating that the amount had been refunded to the client.

I want to emphasize that I followed all the proper Upwork hourly protection protocols by installing the desktop application and ensuring regular screenshots were taken to monitor my work progress. Despite this, it appears that the payment was refunded to the client.

I kindly request your assistance in investigating this matter further and rectifying the situation. Please advise on the steps I should take to resolve this issue and ensure I receive the payment for the work I have completed. Your prompt attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance.

Best regards,

Zulfiqar Ali

[spectralua]

Check tour ticket. Reason should be there. https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/requests

[ArjayM]

Hi Zulfiqar,

I'm sorry to hear about the unexpected refund processed on your account. Please know that when the client fails to pay for hours logged by the freelancer, any hours Upwork Hourly Protection doesn't cover may be reversed.

I can also see that several support tickets have been raised with the same concern. Please continue coordinating through a single ticket or the email the team sent so they can assist you accordingly and more efficiently. You may access your tickets on this page for updates.

[sfalkens]

My long term contract got suspended last week without explanation. Yesterday I received a notification stating that I had issued a refund to my client! Looking into community help, I get a blurb stating that I do not qualify for payment protection and Upwork suggests that I ask my client for a bonus! Furthermore, Upwork suggests that I need to verify my identify to qualify for payment protection. Finally, it marks this issue as 'resolved'!

Please explain how this issue can be considered 'resolved' (ticket 621484521)

And please explain why I would not qualify for payment protection.

And please explain why I would need to re-identify myself, after being on this site for three years and having clearly been identified from the beginning. 

Thanks.

[berg_shari]

This happened to me last month. The client didn't request a refund, nor did they cancel the contract. They were in the process of uploading a new credit card for payment and Upwork interpreted that as them ending the contract. Thankfully, the client gave me a bonus in the amount Upwork automatically refunded them without consulting either of us, but I fear that's not always the case when that happens here. 

And they also told me I didn't qualify for payment protection. Although, they gave me 4 separate reasons why, none of which made sense. 

[ArjayM]

Hi Sandra,

I'm sorry to hear about the unexpected refund processed on your account. Please note that when the client fails to pay for hours logged by the freelancer, any hours Upwork Hourly Protection doesn't cover may be reversed.

The hold on the contract indicates that we cannot continue to bill the client until the issue on their account has been resolved. You may contact the client for updates on when they can resume the contract. You may coordinate with the team through the email sent if you have questions or need clarification. The team will surely look into your case and assist you accordingly. 

You may also check this page for the ticket linked to your case.

[56d0c64e]

Hi!

The client hired me...

I submitted my job.

And now, Upwork notice me that the client are contacting their bank and asking them to reverse the payment for the contract.

Can you tell me why it's happening?

Thanks for your help!!

Han

[759e32fa]

Hi Han,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. This action is a result of the client filing a dispute with their financial institution.

To try to resolve this issue, you may wish to speak to your client about why they filed the chargeback, or ask them to contact the Upwork support team to discuss the matter.

The Upwork team can try to help too by submitting a rebuttal to your client’s bank on your behalf. If you’d like us to do that, timing is critical. If you haven’t already, please reply to the email you received from our Chargeback team within 48 hours and attach proof of the work or deliverables you completed for the client.

Keep in mind that the client’s bank will have the final say and we have no control over the outcome. The team will update you via the support ticket once they hear from your client’s bank. If they agree with our rebuttal, the payment that was reversed will be reapplied to your account.

[ollietinsley]

The client should be resolving the payment through the proper channels i.e. Upwork not their bank. If they authorized a transaction and that transaction completed then they have no recourse to then retroactively go back and reverse the transaction. My question is why would upwork contact you about this. It seems the payment was made in good terms with your contract. Something is fishy here.

[012818052219]

Similar to Nguyen Ngoc P's concern: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/A-Refund-Transaction-create-without-my-permission/m-p/10...

I have a suspended contract by Upwork due to insufficient funds of the client. I made progress and completed the tasks for the client on my working hours, and I also used the timetracker with screenshots. Then yesterday, I received an Upwork notification that the payment that I have received has been refunded to the client. Why did this happen?

There was never a Refund Request. I was never notified or asked about this beforehand. I never even approved this refund transaction. There wasn't even an explanation as to why I was refunded. Can you please look into this? It's my money earned. See attached files for your reference.

[tlsanders]

If your contract was suspended because the client had insufficient funds, there never was a payment and so there was no refund. The money was never paid. It's confusing because Upwork can't be bothered to invest 6 minutes in writing a separate email template that explains what really happened, so people are always getting upset about "refunds" that never happened.

[PradeepH]

Hi Katherine,

I am sorry to hear about the action taken on your contract.  I checked the job you are referring to and we are investigation your client's account due to failed payment. I can see that one of our team members has already reached you via a support ticket for the same concern. You can access your support tickets here.

Please don't hesitate to follow up with them on the same support ticket if you have additional questions regarding your concern. Note that support requests are responded to in the order they are received. Kindly allow 24-48 hours for the team to follow up with you and assist you further.

- Pradeep

[pamela-martinez]

This is the second time this has happened to me. 

I open an hourly contract, log in the hours using the app, memo, everything is done as it is supposed to be. The clients accept the work and are happy with it. Then all of a sudden, when I already forgot about that contract and I am waiting for my funds to be released, I get an email saying my client's contract is paused because of an issue with their payment method, then I get another one saying I issued a refund, and funds are deducted from my account!! 

I contacted Upwork both times, and they said it was because my hours didn't qualify for hourly protection because when they reviewed them, I had low activity. 

They don't even care when I tell them that I often do proofreading! And that means I sometimes don't even type anything. 

They just send the same replies over and over and then say I should ask the client to issue a bonus payment for the refunded amount!!

Like... they got their money back for a job that has already been done... they closed the contract... 90% chances they don't ever reply again! And they don't!! Because their payment method failed!!!

I am SO mad!!! And I don't know what to do. Should I just stop taking hourly contracts?