When client decided not to continue the work, and same time doesn't close or cancel the contract

[siuneharakelian]

after working a day, my client decided not to continue the work. And he doesn't know how close or cancel the contract.  If I cancel the contract I have to refund him 99$. But it was him who decided middle of the work not to continue.  Since I don't submit any work for him when the deadline arrives, what will happen then? 

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Siuneh,

Unfortunately I don't know all of the details about your contract but in general when a freelancer has worked they should be paid.

You can negotiate with your client to be paid for the time and work you have finished/spent. 

If you have any additional questions feel free to post them here, thank you!

[siuneharakelian]

Thank Garon for your answer.

And just to be clear, since there is no way to close the contract, I have to wait till the contract expires. right?

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Siuneh,

You or your client can close the contract at any time and provide truthful and honest feedback about your experience. Thank you!

[petra_r]

Your client needs to first pay you for your work (release the milestone) and then end (NOT cancel) the contract.

Have you submitted the work through the "submit work and request payment" function?

That way the client can just approve and then close the contract.

[siuneharakelian]

Dear Petra,

No, I didn't submit any work, since he decided middle of the work not to continue. 

And because he didn't want to cancel the contract and lose his money, he paid me 100$ to me and then required a refund. And he did this without letting me know. later he messaged me for the purpose of these actions.

Now I get notifications that I have to refund him asap. I don't have any problem to give his money back, but my question is if he pays me 100$ I don't earn exactly that amount, and if I refund him will I lose extra amount from my balance?

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

No, you keep the $ 100 that were already paid out to you. The refund request is for the funds left in Escrow, not what's been paid already.

*IF* the client is actually asking for the $ 100 that were paid back, that's not really reasonable because you have been working, but you would not lose more that you received because fees are refunded back by Upwork.

So if you do a refund for $ 100 it takes $ 80 off your balance and Upwork adds the $ 20 fees so the client gets $ 100 .