Unauthorized refund

[cecilia_marquez]

Hi, I recently finished a contract with a client on upwork. Things went ok, client got what they asked and finished my contract. Today, a week after the contract was closed I receive an email stating “I refunded” the client money. I haven’t authorized such thing, all hours were under the terms of the contract and logged using the time tracker... I have no idea what just happened.

Please do excuse any possible mistakes, I am currently on mobile.

[1dfcc0e4]

Hi Arjay, nobody has responded to my claim. I think you may be looking at my last case where this happened. 

[1dfcc0e4]

Arjay, I'm uploading a screenshot showing that my case still hasn't even been assigned to anyone. I'd appreciate help with this.

[AndreaG]

Hi Nat,

I went ahead and followed up directly with the team handling your support ticket. You should expect a reply soon.

[1dfcc0e4]

Is there a reason hours would be reversed when my client paid for my work? In the past I've had refunds given because the client couldn't pay a portion and the refund description says such. This time, an entire week of work was refunded and no reason or description was given.

[1dfcc0e4]

Still waiting for my case to be assigned to someone 4 days later. Still have the -400 pending charge for worth that I completed and my client paid for.

[muhammadarsal13]

I want to know why Upwork has automatically refunded the amount to the client? I discussed this with the client about this issue and he said that "it appears to me that you refunded the amount to me" and he didn't ask for a refund.

It's an urge to the concerned authorities to please look onto this matter and let me know why this refund is initiated?

(Invoice #: 481937910

Description: (29409987)

**Edited for Community Guidelines** - 25:00 hrs @ description3.00/hr

- 05/23/2022 - 05/29/2022

Amount Refunded: $54.21)

Thanking you in advance

Kind regards

Muhammad

[AndreaG]

Hi Muhammad, unfortunately, when the client fails to pay for hours logged by the freelancer, any hours that aren't covered by Upwork Hourly Protection may be reversed. Please check out this help article for more information.

[muhammadarsal13]

I understand but I checked the work diary as per the dates mentioned, all the hours of that week were logged by the Upwork app. I also delivered all the work of that week and the client didn't have any issues as well. 
Can someone explain it to me?

Thank you for your response

Kind regards

Muhammad

[AndreaG]

Muhammad, when the hours were reversed you received a notification letting you know why they did not qualify for Payment Protection. You can check it here and reply directly there with any further questions you may have.

[zubairshahid12]

Why does every moderator use this kind of **Edited for Community Guidelines** response? I have read all the above queries and everyone gets almost the same response from different moderators.

I also face this type of issue a year ago. my client paid one milestone and get what he wanted. after that, he's not responding back. I have emailed the Upwork team and they do nothing but answer me they can't do anything in this matter. There are many problems freelancers faces in Upwork. And the fun part is this, Upwork team does nothing to help freelancers.

[759e32fa]

Hi Zubair,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Apologies if you find the moderators' responses redundant as the same information has to be relayed for the same concerns.

Can you please share the contract ID number so we can check this for you?

[datafalcon]

Hello, Muhammad! Did Upwork resolve this for you finally and you got all money that you worked for? 

Thank you

[damastro]

It is the second time in less than a month that I have a chargeback. It's actually very easy for Ann from the Upwork Chargeback Department to just send me the notification and make the force refund. 
As this is an automatically refund that I can't do anything about it, what if every client asks the bank for this chargeback?  
I believe freelancers are not covered at all by any Upwork antifraud protection and this is actually very concern.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[ArjayM]

Hi Daniela,

We appreciate you reaching out to us and I'm sorry to hear about this unpleasant experience you had with a client. I can see that you've been exchanging messages with the team handling your case and I highly suggest you continue communicating with them for updates and further assistance. You can also communicate with our team through this support ticket that's been created with your concern. 

[pgiambalvo]

If they ask for a chargeback, they get it. But Upwork can then suspend them if they want to.

[annamaicaortega]

I did not get a refund request but Upwork gave my client a refund while his account is suspended. No explanation whatsoever. How is that possible?

[JoanneP]

Hi Anna Maica,

I've shared your concern about your refunded earnings with the team. One of our agents will reach out and assist you further via a support ticket. 

[penny671]

Have the same issue just today. Client's account was suspended on Friday, suspension is still active to this date, then received a notification stating I refunded x amount of money to my client. All my hours are logged on Upwork's time tracker, no manual time as this was not allowed by my client, and I still received this notification.

Could someone help pls. thanks!

[ArjayM]

Hi Penelope,

I'm sorry to hear about the unexpected refund that's been processed on your account. Please note that when the client fails to pay for hours logged by the freelancer, any hours that aren't covered by Upwork Hourly Protection may be reversed. We highly suggest you communicate with the team through the email you've received so that they can assist you more efficiently. We seek your patience and utmost understanding while we address the issue.

[pgiambalvo]

It's possible because Upwork does not notify or explain to you beforehand, or ask or need your permission to do that. Just like you are doing now, it's up to you to try to figure out what happened afterwards.

[djessica730]

This happened to me too. Started the contract, submitted hours and work, and today I received a notice that I refunded the client money that I never received, for work I did, but looks like I will not be paid for...

[pgiambalvo]

If you used the time tracker 100% correctly, Upwork should pay you themselves. If you logged hours manually, or if it was fixed price, you will never get paid for the work you did.

[arifulsunny07]

I'm a top-rated plus freelancer. I faced a weird issue today.

From my last project, I got a sudden refund notification. But I didn't approve or got any refund requests. It is strange and weird at the same time. Can you please solve this issue or help me out?

Thanks

[pgiambalvo]

The term "refund" is misleading and Upwork needs to fix that and be more clear about what happened. They most likey were unable to charge the client for some reason. And unless you used the time tracker, you will probably never get paid.

[ArjayM]

Hi Ariful,

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

The team will also be reaching out to you directly via email with more information on how to proceed. We seek your patience and utmost understanding while we address this incident.

[gfuntusov]

I got an interesting take on this apparently common scam. I got $300k+ earnings with 7k logged hours, but this is the first time this happened to me.

Client hires me and says he needs the job done within a week (I guess that should have been a warning sign). I completed the work, which included state-of-the-art research. Then on Tuesday after says that there's an issue with payment.

Then, before the day of the payment, I receive an email from Upwork accusing me of using keyboard manager software. I reply that I did not use such software. Then, on the day of the payment - support says that they're not convinced, but they're keeping my account for this time and I get the client refund letter. 

I asked to escalate and review (I'm on Mac and pretty sure there's no malware installed. The work diary looks fine).

In any case, it looks like doing progressive charges (like on FB/Google ad platforms) on new client's hourly contracts would solve all those issues, and help limit Upwork's hourly protection liability.

[pgiambalvo]

That is interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[gfuntusov]

What's even more interesting is that it turned out Upwork is willing to directly lie about the reason they don't honour their payment protection. They were adamant in that I used a key logger "and it can't be escalated to a review". And next week (there were 8 hours logged on the second week) the reason was "low activity". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, the client found a new freelancer on upwork (also top rated with thousands of hours logged). I viewed it in github and contacted to let him know of the pattern. But there will be many more such examples, I guess, without changing the process on the clients side.

[eeb179a1]

haha that is so upwork

[shellmo707]

My client's account was suspended and is currently been investigated.

Upwork suspended their account on Friday just passed and today refunded my client for hours that I worked 3 weeks ago without my consent. My client did not dispute or request the refund and is as baffled as me.

What's the process here?

[pgiambalvo]

They don't have to ask for your permission or get it. They didn't "refund" it although they use that word. They probably tried to charge the client's card and it didn't go through. Unless you used the time tracker, you will not get the money.

[ArjayM]

Hi Michelle,

I'm really sorry to hear about this unpleasant experience. Please note that on hourly contracts when a client fails to pay for the hours logged by the freelancer and those hours don’t meet the requirements for Hourly Protection, the payment may be reversed.

Our team will be reaching out to you via email with updates and more information. We seek your patience and utmost understanding.

[610e1b64]

Hello,

I'm a newbie here. I completed my first job for a client. It was a fixed price job. I was notified that payment was made last week Tuesday and it was pending. 

Today, I was notified that a refund has been made to the client, something I did not initiate. 

What could be the problem? 

I need help.

[kalaani]

For the second time withing 5 months i have to returned my hard earned money back to client . 

Is this chain of scam , How TO PREVENT THIS in the future or what should i look about clients . 

Totally Disappointing and don't know what to do . UpWork need to address this . Every time pain is for freelancers . Believe you can change the ToS to address this .

**Edited for community guidelines**

[JoanneP]

Hi Kalaani,

I checked your account and it looks like one of our agents has reached out to you already regarding the reversed payment. One of our agents will update your ticket to assist you further. 

[65912f79]

Hello there,

I have found and my client was refunded money by upwork for the work I have already done for my client !

I did not made this refund .So how is it possible?

Now I want my money back to my upwork account.

Can anyone give me a suggestion please.

Thanks,

Adnan

[pgiambalvo]

This happens all the time. You will not get your money. The client's payment didn't go through because the card was probably stolen and Upwork does not verify that it wasn't when they first charge the card. That is only discovered by the bank or actual card holder when they notice the charge sometime later.

[frazersymone]

I did all the work the client requested. I requested for the client to end the contract after I was treated unfairly. Now I am seeing that I processed a refund to the client which I did not.

Please help!

[christopherbudde]

Was this job in addition to the 2 jobs you have completed? Or is it one of those? 

[pgiambalvo]

You don't have to give permission for that to happen. Upwork probably was unable to charge thir card. You won't get any money from either them or Upwork.