overpayments adjustments

[#1]

Up work just took 170$ from my account without notice or approval with 4 emails saying the same thing for the 4 last payments ALREADY MADE TO MY ACCOUNT.

Can anyone please help me. Are they allowed to do this ? They are not responding to me anymore...

Background:
 
In our ongoing commitment to financial accuracy and transparency, we recently identified an issue related to certain disbursements, including the transaction listed above. Specifically, these payments were initially processed with an incorrect currency conversion rate, resulting in.
 
To address this matter and rectify the overpayments, we have implemented a recovery plan. This plan involves debiting your current or future Upwork earnings to recover the overpaid amounts.
 
We greatly value your understanding and cooperation during this process. Please be assured that we are working diligently to ensure that all payments are accurate, and this debit is an essential step in rectifying the situation.
 
Next Steps:
 
If you have any questions or require further clarification about this, please do not hesitate to reach out to our dedicated support team. We are here to assist you and provide any information you may need.
 
We appreciate your continued trust in our services and your understanding as we work to maintain the integrity of our financial operations.
 
Sincerely,
Upwork Customer Support

For real ? Can someone explain ? ...

[#2]

If you exchange money at the bank, and they miscalculate the exchange rate, they can't come back later and demand the money.

Since there is no way for the freelancer to change the figures, it is up to Upwork. Well, they can cut into the profit they made from firing 15% of their staff, and cover their mistake.

Explain? It's "if there is a problem, it is the freelancer" Upwork.

[#3]

This is so **Edited for Community Guidelines** up ! 
"If you exchange money at the bank, and they miscalculate the exchange rate, they can't come back later and demand the money." Exactly so if they made a mistake it's their mistake I shouldn't have to pay the price 1 month later. Taking -170$ off of 500$ I earned is so **Edited for Community Guidelines** insane. 

[#4]

The bank made a mistake and paid thousands of European freelancers in euros instead of dollars, so now they're rectifying the mistake. How is that "stealing"? Why should you get to keep extra money that you didn't rightfully earn?  If the mistake hadn't been in your favour - i.e. if you had received less money than you were expecting, instead of more - you would want Upwork to fix it.

[#5]

Christine i honestly don't see why you have to go so hard on defending upwork in this situation?

[#6]

Hi Christine,

I too went through being paid monthly, then weekly, then after 2 business days... and then... after 8 business days right around Christmas.

Regardless of the amount, it was absolutely unacceptable for thousands of freelancers, not only in Europe, to have waited for a sign from who knows where about where their earnings were.

Once finally received, some after a lot more than 8 business days, some received an email saying "We understand your frustration" but NO APOLOGY.

Now a week later, many had available earnings for Upwork to pinch on... 

I personally received no forewarning communication before both situations and had to waste time on the phone three days in a row with my Italian bank looking for my international wire transfer from Upwork and waste my nerves.

As a TRP freelancer who has worked on Upwork for 5 years, I EXPECT more RESPECT.

[#7]

Unfortunately, you will never receive it.

[#8]

---

Jeanne H wrote:

If you exchange money at the bank, and they miscalculate the exchange rate, they can't come back later and demand the money.

---

I don't know who you bank with, but when my bank or credit card providers or whatever makes a mistake, they very much do demand the money back. And if a client ever accidentally overpays me, I always return the money to them. I don't know why anyone would feel entitled to keep money that they didn't earn. We're talking about thousands of European freelancers who were overpaid, not just one or two, so it would be a huge loss for Upwork to just write it off.

[#9]

 I guess I didn't make myself clear. I was speaking of exchange rate, and yes, during my travels, I have received the incorrect amount, from banks and other supposed trustworthy institutions. In one case, I didn't know enough about the currency to know they made an error. It has been both in my favor and the bank.

Yes, the bank or card company want the money back. I have never been overpaid, except for bonuses or tips. Of course, if someone made an error, I would correct it.

In my opinion, when a private business makes an enormous mistake, they need to rectify it. Heads should roll for making such a basic error.

[#10]

---

Jeanne H wrote:

In my opinion, when a private business makes an enormous mistake, they need to rectify it. Heads should roll for making such a basic error.

---

I'm sure they did. They definitely screwed up big time, not the least because the whole mess was preceded by lots of European freelancers having their payments delayed, and right before Christmas, too. It wouldn't hurt Upwork to at least give them some bonus connects as an apology. But I take issue with the ranting and the "stealing" accusation. It's not stealing if it was never your money in the first place. 

[#11]

Removed

[#12]

If you read carefully the option “other” is always there. In other words "we can do whatever we want, whenever we want".

[#13]

There are other posts from freelancers receiving the same email and finding out the amount is missing from their account. I don t think these freelancers can do whatever they want

[#14]

I believe Mykola was referencing Upwork.

[#15]

Absolutely right.

Forum members said that after showing the ToS to lawyers they received an answer that the upwork was perfectly protected from freelancers and clients as well.

[#16]

Many people thought it was a Christmas gift 😂 Wondering if someone got fired for this.

[#17]

I feel so powerless I don't know what to do but this feels so not ok. They are making so much and taking more money from freelancers that earn $1000 a month ??? For real ??? This is so insane.

[#18]

I think this is the result of firing 15% of your hardworking staff. 😉

[#19]

For that purpose be sorry,Will it be the order commission deducted? 😥deduct a percentage from a sum of money

[#20]

To Christine A:  I understand and yes when an institution such as this makes a mistake on a conversion rate they have to rectify it and I've had similar problems with banks before and almost 100% of the time they are allowed to do whatever they wish however they wish to rectify the mistake, to the detriment of us (aka the peasants lol).

Upwork replied to me explaining each payment and mistakes.
This was my response, that I feel I needed to share here...

Thank you for your response.

I don't understand how such a mistake can happen, and 4 times in a row.

I also don't understand how

1 I don't have the option to choose how to deal with the situation as it is upwork's mistake

2 I didn't get any notice and time to prepare for all this. You told me about the mistake and took my money on the same day. Again, this is inhumane and I will look into using another platform as soon as I can and alert my clients of this so we find another way to get paid. On top of the 10% fees on all projects when I only had 5% before, this platform isn't serving freelancers anymore and I do not appreciate how things run around here.

Happy new year.......

[#21]

Dear all,

I am new to Upwork. the money for the task I did is doller. I provided a local bank account but in dollar. However, Upwork transferred my money in the local currency, but I need to get my money in dollar. What should I do now?

I need an email  to write to to get a solution for my problem.

Best, Yousry Elseadawy

[#22]

Hi Yousry,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I shared your report with the team handling your case and one of our agents will follow up with you on your support ticket as soon as possible to assist you further. 

[#23]

Hi, the numbers below are examples (for privacy reasons), but it shows the issue:

I made a withdrawal 15 Dec - 1,000 USD - to my EUR bank account

In the transaction history it shows as a payment of 900 EUR (correct according to currency exchange rate)

However, UpWork actually deposited 1,000 EUR in my account. The actual exact figures suggest that they applied a 1:1 exchange rate USD:EUR. 

So there is an overpayment. This inaccuracy will be an issue for me when I have to prepare my tax returns, so how can I resolve it?

I tried chat but no joy. And then the chatbot was meant to create a ticket, but I don't see it. Can anyone here advise?

Thanks,

M

[#24]

Hi Matthew,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I see that you were able to raise a ticket with the Customer Support team, and they've recently replied to you. Please refer to your ticket and rest assured that the team will continue assisting you from there. 

[#25]

I have a similar issue, I got overpayed as well and now have to pay it back which also results in incorrect bank data for my taxreturns (as the payback will just be deducted from earnings on upwork)  I hope I get feedback about it as well ASAP.