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adeel_kashan
Community Member

Upwork Refunded Payment to client

Hello Upwork team

 
I am new to Upwork and don't know the procedure of the hour process. I have submitted the work of the previous week, but the client did not respond to me. And the contract was suspended by Upwork. Now that the payment is reversed, why did this happen? I added the Munaual time 15hrs accordingly and delivered the five articles in messages as promised by the client-side. Why is the payment reversed? Please have a look and do some action. I had spent time on this job, and eventually, I got nothing. Kindly help me out.
 
Regards

 

Adeel Kashan
11 REPLIES 11
petra_r
Community Member


Adeel K wrote:
 Now that the payment is reversed, why did this happen?

Because the client never paid your hours.

Had you properly tracked your hours, Upwork would have paid you out of their own pocket.

 


Adeel K wrote:
Please have a look and do some action.

There is no action to take. Unless the client returns and pays you as a bonus, this is over.

Well, thanks for your reply. But I have added the hours and sent the task to the client but he did not respond to me so what was my fault? Why am I not getting paid? As I did another job for him next week and the contract was not suspended at that time. So this payment will also reverse?


Adeel K wrote:

 But I have added the hours and sent the task to the client but he did not respond to me so what was my fault? 


The fact that you didn't use the tracking software. 

 


Adeel K wrote:

Why am I not getting paid? 


Because the client never paid for your hours, and as manual time is not protected (you were told this when you added the manual time), Upwork won't pay you out of their own pocket.

 


Adeel K wrote:

I did another job for him next week and the contract was not suspended at that time. So this payment will also reverse?


On the same client account or a different one? That depends on whether he paid for those hours, the contract would be suspended on Friday if he hasn't paid (if those hours were logged last week).


In the future, don't use manual time unless you know and really trust the client, and even then never more than you can afford not to get paid for. If you track your time correctly with the desktop app, you are protected.


What is the client saying about all that?

Yes, It is suspended on Friday, after that, I did not work for him. The client did not say a single word all silence! I have proof of my work which I sent to the client. What should I do?

Hi Adeel,

 

I'm sorry to hear about the bad experience you've had and the inconvenience this has caused you.
I checked your account and I can see that you're communicating with our team via ticket. Feel free to follow up directly there with any additional questions you may have and our team will assist you further. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

Thank you for your response. But the Upwork did not respond to me yet. What is the best way I can do? I have proof of the work that I have sent to the client. Is there any way how can I get back my payment for the job. 

pgiambalvo
Community Member

The client doesn't have to pay you unless they want to. You are not protected unless you use the time tracker.


Peter G wrote:

The client doesn't have to pay you unless they want to. You are not protected unless you use the time tracker.


This isn't entirely accurate. The client does have to pay and if they don't, their account is suspended. Even if the client wants to dispute, they still have to pay in exactly the same way they have to pay for properly tracked time.

 

The difference is that when a freelancer tracks their hours correctly, when the client's payment method can't be charged despite repeated attempts as was the case here, Upwork pay the freelancer out of their own pocket.

 

If the client pays for manual time and then disputes, they will win the dispute and get their money back, but they still have to pay in the first place. In this case, there was no dispute, just simple non-payment.

The client allowed me to add manual time so I added accordingly. But the payment is reversed I don't know the work hours process because I am new here. Can you suggest the best way how can I get back payment?


Adeel K wrote:

The client allowed me to add manual time so I added accordingly.


Manual time is allowed by default. You use it at your risk because there is no protection for manual time.

 


Adeel K wrote:

 But the payment is reversed


Strictly speaking, the payment was not reversed, it never existed. The client never paid.

 


Adeel K wrote:

I don't know the work hours process because I am new here.


You will want to read up on how it works then.

 


Adeel K wrote:

Can you suggest the best way how can I get back payment?


The only way would be to get the client to pay you as a bonus payment.

We know how difficult it is to admit our mistakes, especially since it can cost 2 weeks of work. Your mistake was not taking the time to read the rules of the game, which are very simple:
1. Always track your time using the tracking software provided by upwork.
2. If you choose, or agree with your client to add the hours manually, you risk not getting paid at all. Which is the case now.

My advice now is to try to contact your client, so that he pays you what you owe him (remember that since nothing obliges him, I insist on the fact that you must remain 110% professional and polite, I understand that it is not easy to keep calm in front of a scammer, but nothing proves that he is really)

On the other hand, don't let this incident disturb your good start in the freelancing world. Keep prospecting for more clients, and do your best to avoid any further mistakes.

Good luck man !

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