Upwork client insisting on refunding them money when I never charged them nor received any payment

[thompson_karen]

I am at a loss at how to proceed -any suggestions greatly appreciated!

I withdrew  from a job, without charging a penny - nor billing a dime - on day One as the job wasn't what it was portrayed as being.   A week later, with the job closed - the client messaged me out of the blue - that I needed to Refund them $400.   And that upwork c/s would reach out to me.  I spoke to Upwork - and they insisted I  follow through and refund the client money - which made no sense - as I hadn't billed or received any payment. However I complied with the request.

Today - when reviewing my current active client pay - I see that the refunded $400 (which I never received any payment of $400 or one dime for),  was deducted from my real earnings with a real client this week.  So I am out $400...  And I also received a statement from the Upwork tax department in Mountainview -  of earnings this $400 from a client I never received a dime from, and never billed any hours for.  So - I am out $400, and have to pay taxes on money I never received and a client I never actually worked for?

In any case I have no idea how to get that $400 put back in my pay - since I refunded money which I never actually received?  Not certain how to get the $400 which I refunded but never got, nor billed/asked for?  

[thompson_karen]

I am new to the platform - and apologize for putting in a C/S name.  

[AveryO]

Hi Karen, 

I looked into this for you and can see that you have already been assisted through Ticket #29217393. I looked into this further, and I can see that your client set up an hourly contract, and also added a Recurring Weekly payment. You can refer to this client help article, and check out the section with this sub-title - "Recurring Additional Weekly Billing." This means that your client set up a weekly payment on top of the hours that you would be logging on the contract. 

You will see on this help article that in order for a freelancer to send a refund, the client will need to be billed. As the agent in your support ticket has already confirmed, the client was billed for this transaction, and you would have seen this on your Reports > Overview page, with Reference ID 314523973, and 314523974. As such, you should be able to process the refund on your end. 

Kindly refer to the support ticket I have noted above if you have further questions about the same concern, and please don't hesitate to update your ticket anytime. 

[thompson_karen]

Hi Avery.  Thanks for reaching out.  I never received a mistaken payment on July 25, 2020 of $400 by this client I never billed who claimed a mistake was made.  I Did refund this client because both Upwork and the client insisted I do so last week.  

The $400 Refund I kindly enacted on my end back to them- was taken out of my pay for this coming week, with monies earned by an active client.  So I have lost $400 of pay coming to me by an active and current client.  

If you don't understand - I am happy to rephrase.  However I am being dinged $400, out of current contracts, for money I kindly refunded that I never actually received.

Thank you.

[AveryO]

Hi Karen, 

I understand how this can be confusing and frustrating for you and I'm here to help. Your client was billed on 25-July as you will see on your Reports > Overview page (Reports > Overview > Available tab). You will see in this screen grab I have noted here that the client was indeed billed for the Recurring Weekly payment, and since you processed the refund on the same day, you didn't see it reflect in your account. 

As I have noted in my previous response, the client added a Recurring Weekly payment to this hourly contract. This means that this will be charged to the client's account every week, regardless if you log hours on the contract or not. As such, even if you didn't log hours on this contract, your client will still be charged the Recurring Weekly Payment. Since the client was already charged for the week of 07/13/2020 - 07/19/2020, the Recurring Weekly Payment had to be refunded (since there was no work done). 

I hope that my explanation made sense. Kindly refer to the help articles and links I have added on my posts for more information about the Recurring Weekly Payment, and to see more information on the refund that you processed.

[thompson_karen]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate you trying to help on the fly.

However - My frustration is my pay Due me on July 29, 2020- for work with a current ongoing client.

I noticed that $400 was deducted from my upcoming paycheck and hours with a current client-  on my new weekly time log-which I just received tonight to review for monies earned and hours logged and due to be paid to me on July 29, 2020.  The weekly time log has $400 deducted from my earnings and  pay due me on July 29, 2020.  And shows $400 is deducted for money I never actually received!  

So - that is what is of great concern to me - $400 for money I never received being deducted from my upcoming  July 29, 2020 pay due.

Thank you,

[AveryO]

Hi Karen, 

Your earnings are processed according to the Weekly Billing cycle. If you check the "Pending" tab on the Reports > Overview page, you will see that the payment you are referring to is currently in the five-day security period. This will only be available in your account once the security period is over, and will become available in your account on July 29, Wednesday, UTC timezone.