client requesting a refund for hourly

[jericotorres]

Hi guys i have a client requesting me to refund 15 hrs of work for a design, stating that I didn't qualify his preferred style and " secretly going behind his back to activate the milestones" but there are no milestones as this is an hourly job. and there is no way for me to do that. it's set as 5 hrs per week.

 I had the first revision done and he is happy with it.  then more revisions came and we just kept going in circles for 3 weeks.  so now all revisions are delivered and he is demanding a refund because of all the revision time. what should I do? 

thanks!

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

re: "I have a client requesting me to refund 15 hrs of work for a design, stating that I didn't qualify his preferred style"

Wow. That is really inappropriate client behavior.

OF COURSE the client shouldn't be acting like this. I am very sorry to hear that you are facing this situation.

If you worked according to the rules of Upwork Payment Protection, then you will be paid for all of the time that you worked.

What should you do?

NO MATTER WHAT: You must always be polite and professional. But of course you shouldn't agree to refund hours.

DON'T PANIC.

You have an hourly contract. It is Upwork's intention that you get paid for your TIME, and not for a specific deliverable.

If the client says he HATES your work... I don't believe him. I think he is just trying to take money from you. Claiming to hate your work IS NOT A VALID basis for getting money back. If the client SINCERELY DOES HATE YOUR WORK, that is STILL NOT a valid reason for getting money back.

When a freelancer works using an hourly contract, a client has 5 days after the end of a week to dispute hours during the previous week.

A client can only dispute hours from the previous week, not from weeks prior to that.

And just because a client disputes hours, doesn't mean he won't need to pay for those hours. If you followed the rules of Upwork Payment Protection, Upwork will still expect the client to pay. They will still charge the client's credit card. And if the client does something weasly like blocking payment from his credit card (which is a violation of Upwork ToS), then Upwork will pay you out of their own pocket.

You don't need to tell the client any of this.

If it was ME, I would reply to the client and ask him to tell you why he wants a refund. In most cases, when clients click a button that generates an automated refund request, they are too embarrassed to actually reply if a freelancer asks them about it. Especially in situations such as your in which you clearly did quality work and the client knows full well that he is simply trying to manipulate the system.

If you worked LAST WEEK, then the client has until Friday (2 days from now) to dispute hours from last week. If the client is simply asking you to give him a refund, then you can ask him about why. And if he actually is brazen enough to respond, then tell him you will take some time to think about what he said. And wait until Saturday to reply. I know this seems like silly game-playing. But this client is NOT an honest, serious person. He is the one trying to do something far worse than playing games. He is trying to steal from you.

If you see an automated message with buttons, don't choose any option to refund money.

[jericotorres]

Thanks Preston! yeah, so far I'm just explaining to him what our situation is. I also have the entire progress of the work documented along with his feedback. hope everything goes well. thank you again

[prestonhunter]

You don't need to spend so much time explaining things to him.

And don't reply so quickly.

If he sends you a message, quickly reply that you'll will get back to him with a reply within two or three days. Then take your time.

I don't think he actually cares AT ALL about your explanations. I think he got the work done that he wanted from you, and now he is just trying to get money from you.

I can't say for sure if this client is incredibly ignorant about how to use Upwork, or if he knows full well how to use it and is simply evil. In the end, it doesn't matter that much because either way, the correct thing for you to do is to be polite but not give him any of your money.

If he has questions, he should come to the Forum to ask his questions. Maybe you could tell him that. Give him a link to community.Upwork.com and tell him that if he has ANY questions at all about how to get his refund, he can come here.

[jericotorres]

Update on this. Upwork refunded my last week's time to the client. this is so unfair.

[a_lipsey]

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jerico t wrote:

Update on this. Upwork refunded my last week's time to the client. this is so unfair.

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Did you use the time tracker and include meaningful memos? 

[jericotorres]

Hi Amanda!
only manual time but all the works have been submitted with no further revisions.

[petra_r]

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jerico t wrote:

only manual time

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Manual time is never protected and you are warned of that fact every time you add manual time.

[prestonhunter]

Jerico:

I am sorry your hours were successfully disputed by the client.

If you had followed the rules of Upwork payment protection... you would have been paid for those hours.

Next time you work, follow those rules.

[AveryO]

Hi Jerico, 

I'm sorry to learn about your experience. As Petra said, manual time is not covered under Hourly Protection. As such, if a client disputes any hours you log in to your Work Diary, any hours that do not meet the Hourly Protection eligibility, such as manual time, will be refunded back to your client. 

I would highly recommend that you download the Upwork Desktop App, and log time with the app on your hourly contracts.

I hope this helps!