Bad contracts

5982f861 · ‎06-11-2022

My statement here is: I had a contract of $100 with a guy and he did absolutely nothing right and of course, I didn't paid him. No reason for it
The second thing that happened next is making a new contract with a girl who did a chunk of the project in 8 hours and delivered and I paid $100 (a perfect pay for 8 hours of work)
She asked for another $50 and I stupidly accepted, but It's too big of a pay for what she's done for me
And then another $20 for writing some things down about the project, thing that she didn't do

I don't want to pay these two sums of 1. $100 and 2. $70 because I find it completely unfit.

Will I get sued by Upwork?

martina_plaschka · ‎06-12-2022

Upwork does not sue anybody. They don't have money or time for that.

Don't worry about it.

colettelewis · ‎06-12-2022

Your post isn't clear. The second freelancer did the work so why do you want a refund of the $100 you paid her? If you agreed to pay her an extra $50 for the same work, then you should stick by your agreement. You could dispute the $25. My feeling is that you should cut your losses and close the contract.

If you want a refund on the first $100 from the freelancer who did not deliver, this depends on the type of contract you had. If it was a fixed-price job and the amount funded into escrow, then you will have to ask the freelancer for a refund, and if he refuses, you will have to file a dispute. If it was an hourly contract, then you can only dispute the hours recorded in the last week.

If you didn't have an Upwork contract at all and paid either freelancer outside Upwork, then you won't get your money back and Upwork could suspend your account.

5982f861 · ‎06-12-2022

Hello. For the second contract: no, I don't want any refund. The $100 is fair, the work done was good enough, but I think $170 is outrageous to pay

The first contract that I funded I revoked before the payment so it is ok

(And again, I revoked because he did nothing good) (And expected me to still pay him - for literally nothing)

colettelewis · ‎06-12-2022

It is difficult for anyone to judge what is outrageous or not, as nobody knows what the contract was for. But since you agreed to pay the $70, it would be a little unfair to go back on it. However, if you are determined to go ahead with it, and if the job was on a milestone basis and you funded that $70 into escrow, then you can ask the freelancer for a refund, and if she refuses, you can file a dispute, but this will take time and a dispute is not generally settled by Upwork, who will only try to get some sort of agreement between you and the freelancer. If you are still not satisfied, you can take it further to arbitration, which would be costly for you, the freelancer, and Upwork. I would advise you to close the contract, and leave feedback. If you do this, try to be fair and not vindictive.

prestonhunter · ‎06-12-2022

Upwork does not sue its users.

And lawsuits have no place on Upwork.

If an Upwork user violates Upwork rules in a particularly egregious way, then Upwork may suspend them temporarily. Or even terminate their Upwork account permanently.

As for your notes about paying money to freelancers... I think there may be a disconnect in your thinking on this topic. As a client, I have hired over 160 freelancers.

The reason I pay money to freelancers, good ones and bad ones, IS TO HELP MYSELF.

I don't pay money to help the freelancers.

I don't care about balancing a freelancer's karma. So I really don't care if a freelancer earns money they don't deserve.

If I have a freelancer whose work I like, then of course I pay that freelancer for all of the work she does. Because I want her to favor me as a client. I want her to prefer me over other clients. That way she will work for me if I want her help, and she will do her best work for me.

I don't want any freelancers working for me to feel like I am asking then to work for free. This is not to be "nice." This is to secure the best people and their best work.

Even if I hire a freelancer whose work I do not like, I don't try to avoid paying them for their work, because that is just bad business. I don't have time to critique somebody's portfolio or get into a dispute with freelancers or ask freelancers for money. If I don't like someone's work, I simply fire them. It is a waste of my time and money to dwell on it.