Solved: Unresponsive Client

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

Hello,
I am a writer and I have a problem with a contract as there is a financial limitation applied on my profile. Consequently, I can't withdraw my funds. 8 days ago I started working on a big project with a client. He wanted to launch a new website and he told me that he needs really good content etc etc and that we have to speed up! Sure, I agreed and started working on this project. I worked almost three days (with only breaks for sleep) and managed to write 10 articles!!! After these three days I asked the client if he would like to add something or if he had any new idea. He didnt respond... And the next day he closed the contract, paid me and gave me a good feedback. I started messaging him what happened, if he is ok, why did he close the contract, where should I send him the writings. I messaged him all the time to ask what happened and he blocked me!!! I contacted Upwork and they just blocked my financial transactions!! Is that fair? I am hard working and I cannot withdraw my funds. I am not responsible for soneone else who maybe changed his mind and wanted to cancel the project. I worked for the project and I expect to be paid for that. Moreover, I noticed yesterday that the client changed his name!? What do you think Upwork community? Any thoughts?

vladag · ‎04-07-2018

Hi Stavros,

I'm sorry to hear about the issue you're having on the contract you mentioned. I see you're actively communicating with our team and would like to ask you to avoid submitting additional support requests and following up only on your original ticket, in order to keep all the information in one place.

Also, note that we can't discuss account or contract-specific information in the Community and our team has already provided all the information we have available on your support ticket.

Finally, I've edited and removed a few posts from this discussion and would like to remind everyone that personal attacks or discussing other users' language proficiency or other personal or profile details is not allowed in the Community. I'm closing this thread for further replies.

~ Vladimir

View solution in original post

wlyonsatl · ‎04-07-2018

Nothing in your post indicates any obvious reason the client or Upwork wouldn't pay you as long as you used Time Tracker or submitted milestone submissions properly, but name changes, sudden project cancellations and client unresponsiveness are big red flags.

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

We had a fixed price milestone and paid me and eventually blocked me. Upwork limited my account.

petra_r · ‎04-07-2018

@Will L wrote:
Nothing in your post indicates any obvious reason the client or Upwork wouldn't pay you

You mean other than the fact that his account has been suspended?

Chances are the problem is on the client's side, for example use of an "unauthorised" payment method or a chargeback or other issue with the client's account.

In that case the funds will indeed be reversed.

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

I opened an issue and they replied that one solution is to reverse the funds, but I dont agree because I worked for this.

petra_r · ‎04-07-2018

@Stavros A wrote:
I opened an issue and they replied that one solution is to reverse the funds, but I dont agree because I worked for this.

Was the client new or relatively new to Upwork?

If the payment was in any way "dodgy" or there was a chargeback or something like that you won't have a say in the matter. The money would (in the above case) go back.

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

No he wasn't new. It is unfair to reverse the funds. Its not my problem if the client changed his mind. I am a professional writer and "time" ia really important for me. I spent many hours to complete this.

petra_r · ‎04-07-2018

@Stavros A wrote:
No he wasn't new. It is unfair to reverse the funds. Its not my problem if the client changed his mind. I am a professional writer and "time" ia really important for me. I spent many hours to complete this.

So *has* the client changed his mind?

Is there a dispute?

I have a feeling there is more to this than you're telling.

When did all of this happen?

1) Either there is a dispute and you omitted that fact.

2) OR there is a serious problem with the client's payment method.

3) OR the client has filed a chargeback.

And, yes, the client is / was new...

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

Things happened exactly as I described please read through my first post. If I wouldn't contact Upwork, I would be able to withdraw my funds. But I am sure that something happened or the client changed his mind so I decided to ask Upwork for help.They didnt help me and also blocked my account?!

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

petra_r · ‎04-07-2018

So when you contacted Upwork why there is a limitation on your account, what did they say?

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

This is their reply

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

tlsanders · ‎04-07-2018

@Stavros A wrote:
No he wasn't new. It is unfair to reverse the funds. Its not my problem if the client changed his mind. I am a professional writer and "time" ia really important for me. I spent many hours to complete this.

But, Stavros, whose problem do you think it is? Are you suggesting that Upwork, which was not a party to the contract, requested no work from you and gained no benefit should gift you money out of its own pocket because it's "not your problem"? Or, if not Upwork, who? Whose problem do you think it should be?

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

Tiffany please read through my first post. I worked for this project.

tlsanders · ‎04-07-2018

Yes, Stavros, I read your first post, and I read the entire thread.

My question is this: You said, "It's not my problem." Whose problem do you think it is?

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

The client is the problem. He disappeared without an explanation.

tlsanders · ‎04-07-2018

@Stavros A wrote:
The client is the problem. He disappeared without an explanation.

The client IS the problem, yes.

You are the person he cheated.

How can you possibly characterize that as "not your problem"?

Do you think that the person whose credit card the client stole is responsible for paying you?

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

Are you sure that someone stole my clients credit card?

tlsanders · ‎04-07-2018

It's just one possibility, Stavros, used to illustrate the issue.

Upwork has not and apparently cannot get money from the client who should have paid you.

It's VERY wrong that the client did that to you. But, since it happened, who is it that you think should be reaching into their own pocket to give you money to make up for it?

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

The client of course.

tlsanders · ‎04-07-2018

@Stavros A wrote:
The client of course.

Exactly.

But, contrary to the conclusory statement you just made,we have no reason to believe that Upwork has the funds from the client. The most common explanations for what you have described here involve the client's credit card having been invalid, stolen, a chargeback issued, etc. If Upwork has confirmed for you that none of those things happened and that the client made payment and they just decided not to give it to you, then you're entirely in the right. But, nothing in the first several pages of this thread suggested that.

wlyonsatl · ‎04-07-2018

I think any native English speaker would recognize he intended to say, "It's not my fault" rather than taking "It's not my problem" as his literal meaning.

An intelligent English-speaking person would know that if the writer thought it really wasn't his problem, he wouldn't be here complaining about it in the first place.

Such is life in the multilingual world of Upwork, I suppose.

tlsanders · ‎04-07-2018

Will, your interpretation runs counter to dozens of previous discussions on this same issue, in which freelancers who haven't been paid make it clear (as Stavros seems to be doing) that it was wrong for Upwork not to pay them just because they were unable to collect any money on his behalf.

They demand to get paid, but when asked who it is that they think is responsible for the payment (beyond the vanished client), they rarely have an answer.

Sure, it would be fair for Stavros to get paid. That is not in question. What I am questioning is whose responsibility he thinks it is to make that happen, since no funds are available from the person he contracted with.

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

Tiffany the funds are available from the person I contracted with. In replies to your question "Who is responsible" I think that you are not able to understand the answer

jcullinan · ‎04-07-2018

Stavros A wrote:

Hello,
I am a writer and I have a problem with a contract as there is a financial limitation applied on my profile. Consequently, I can't withdraw my funds. 8 days ago I started working on a big project with a client. He wanted to launch a new website and he told me that he needs really good content etc etc and that we have to speed up! Sure, I agreed and started working on this project. I worked almost three days (with only breaks for sleep) and managed to write 10 articles!!! After these three days I asked the client if he would like to add something or if he had any new idea. He didnt respond... And the next day he closed the contract, paid me and gave me a good feedback.

That means the project was over, as far as the client was concerned. It doesn't matter why - you got paid, plus positive feedback. Can't ask for much more.

I started messaging him what happened, if he is ok, why did he close the contract, where should I send him the writings. I messaged him all the time to ask what happened and he blocked me!!!

You harassed the client. He may have complained to Upwork. If there were other issues going on with his payment, etc, that's beside the point - your behavior was harassing.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

petra_r · ‎04-07-2018

The email you received means my first guess was right.

The client was either found to be using a dodgy payment method or did a chargeback.

In that case you will not see that money.

I also have to agree with Jess. Quite strongly.

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

The client knew exactly what he needs for his new website, assigned a new milestone and ended the contract a few days later (maybe he got fired or changed his mind). There's no excuse

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

I am a professional writer, not a police officer. Obviously there is a problem. I am being paid for my writings not for investigating credit card fauds

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

My language and grammar skills are excellent. I am typing my messages here really fast because I have to work. Yes I am a native speaker. If you get annoyed by my grammar mistakes you should better consult a**Edited for Community Guidelines**

prestonhunter · ‎04-07-2018

In the future, if a client closes the contract, pays you everything he owes you, and leave positive feedback, then take the win and move on. Don't pester them.

If this client was using a stolen credit card or otherwise dodgy, then nothing you did would have mattered... The money would be clawed back probably.

If the money was legitimate, then pestering a client may have led him to doing a chargeback. (I have no idea what really happened.)

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

Hello Preston H,
I am an honest person and since he ended the contract there must be a reason. Maybe he got fired or someone stole his pc. The only thing I could do was to contact him or Upwork.

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

"That means the project was over, as far as the client was concerned. It doesn't matter why - you got paid, plus positive feedback. Can't ask for much more."
As a professional writer I cannot accept this money.

senosardjono · ‎04-07-2018

Stavros, you are trully proffesional. But if your client has been paid and leave without notice , is not your problems right. Keep move on Sir & bit cooling down....

Best Regards

magiatik13 · ‎04-07-2018

Hi Witur,
You are right, I shouldn't contact Upwork.

vladag · ‎04-07-2018

Hi Stavros,

I'm sorry to hear about the issue you're having on the contract you mentioned. I see you're actively communicating with our team and would like to ask you to avoid submitting additional support requests and following up only on your original ticket, in order to keep all the information in one place.

Also, note that we can't discuss account or contract-specific information in the Community and our team has already provided all the information we have available on your support ticket.

Finally, I've edited and removed a few posts from this discussion and would like to remind everyone that personal attacks or discussing other users' language proficiency or other personal or profile details is not allowed in the Community. I'm closing this thread for further replies.

~ Vladimir