Client asking for refund but I never got paid

[excel_crab]

Greetings,

I need help with client who's asking for refund an amount I didn't get paid yet.

The thing is, I canceled the contract promptly due to client's unprofessional behavior (giving insult / criticizing when I asked for additional information about the job but not providing information I asked and then sounded angry in his reply when I missed his expectation - obviously  since he failed to provide me the information I need to accomplish the task)

We did all communication in the Upwork messenger so staff can look at our messages as proof of his behavior.

Thus, I closed the contract within 24 hrs of accepting his offer.

I also checked my pending payments right now and saw all my time rendered to him is still "in review".

So how come he's asking for refund with the same exact amount that is still "in review"?  An amount I haven't received yet?  And since I closed the contract before he even got the chance to review my hours, there's no way he could have paid me.

It doesn't make sense.

Thanks and Regards,

Mark

[prestonhunter]

Mark:

Obviously you can't refund any more money, because you already refunded all the escrow money when you closed the contract.

The client probably just doesn't understand the timing... that it can take about 5 business days for the refund to show up in his payment account.

Tell him:

"Peter, thank you for your note. The full amount of money you funded for this contract has been refunded to you already. It takes about 5 to 6 business days for the refund to show up in your account. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Upwork Customer Support. They will be able to confirm that the refund money will reach you soon. I will be back online in 7 days. If you still have not received your refund by then, please don't hesitate to contact me."

Then block him.

[excel_crab]

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Preston H wrote:

Mark:

Obviously you can't refund any more money, because you already refunded all the escrow money when you closed the contract.

The client probably just doesn't understand the timing... that it can take about 5 business days for the refund to show up in his payment account.

Tell him:

"Peter, thank you for your note. The full amount of money you funded for this contract has been refunded to you already. It takes about 5 to 6 business days for the refund to show up in your account. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Upwork Customer Support. They will be able to confirm that the refund money will reach you soon. I will be back online in 7 days. If you still have not received your refund by then, please don't hesitate to contact me."

Then block him.

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Hi Preston,

Thank you very much for your advice.

The job is per hour basis.  And 9 days have passed since I closed the contract.  Is there any further action I also need to do in this case?  Contact support?

I remember the first time I close the contract, I also checked the refund option - the option to refund money is greyed out.

But now the option is green / enabled. It really doesn't make sense since I never received any money from him.

Thanks and Regards,

Mark

[nyrrielatienza]

Hi Mark, 

I'm sorry to learn about your experience with this client. Please send me a private message by clicking on my name with more information eg. your client's name, link of the job post etc. I'll be waiting for your message. 

[excel_crab]

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Riri A wrote:

Hi Mark, 

I'm sorry to learn about your experience with this client. Please send me a private message by clicking on my name with more information eg. your client's name, link of the job post etc. I'll be waiting for your message. 

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Thank you so much Riri, I have sent you PM.

Kind Regards

[petra_r]

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Preston H wrote:

Mark:

Obviously you can't refund any more money, because you already refunded all the escrow money when you closed the contract.

---

Nonsense.

Of COURSE he can refund the money.  If the money was still in Escrow or had been refunded, it wouldn't be in under "Review" and the OP clearly stated "hours" - so it is an hourly job. Mark is confused because he thinks the client is not charged until they have reviewed the hours, when in fact his client HAS paid, which is why the refund option is now enabled.

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Preston H wrote:

Tell him:

"Peter, thank you for your note. The full amount of money you funded for this contract has been refunded to you already. . I will be back online in 7 days. If you still have not received your refund by then, please don't hesitate to contact me."

Then block him.

---

Well, I hope Mark had the good sense to ignore that.  First of all, it is completely wrong (as it is an hourly contract), secondly advising freelancers to lie and then block the client? Seriously? Is that how you deal with your clients? If he had done that it would have forced the client to raise a dispute, that nonsense advice and the lies and the blocking would have looked as if Mark was trying to get out of refunding...

If he wants to refund the money for the hours worked, all he has to do is go to the contract and click on "give refund"- that will initiate the refund of the money the client paid on Monday.

[prestonhunter]

Petra: as you probably surmised, I though that the original poster had a fixed-price contract.

He corrected that impression in his next post. You and others in this thread have now provided accurate information to him, with a clearer picture of what happened. Thank you for doing so.

[excel_crab]

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Petra R wrote:

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Of COURSE he can refund the money. If the money was still in Escrow or had been refunded, it wouldn't be in under "Review" and the OP clearly stated "hours" - so it is an hourly job. Mark is confused because he thinks the client is not charged until they have reviewed the hours, when in fact his client HAS paid, which is why the refund option is now enabled.

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Thanks Petra,

I still didn't receive the payment.  Contract is still showing $0 total earned.

So I'm thinking if I refund the amount, I would end up losing money from the contract instead of simply earning nothing (excluding the service charge of course)

Is there a mechanic I'm missing?

Kind Regards,

Mark

[nyrrielatienza · Accepted solution]

Hi Mark,

Thank you for getting back to me via private message. In addition to our Gurus' insights, we have also escalated your concern to the appropriate team so we can investigate this further. Our representatives will reach out to you shortly. Let me know if you need anything else.

[excel_crab]

Hello Everyone.

I decided to issue the refund.

I just realize my balance in the refund window is also calculating the pending earnings which included that of the closed contract.

I didn't lose any money that is already in my account 🙂

That was really confusing at first, seeing I made zero earnings with the contract and then I have to issue a refund.  I would suggest somehow, this kind of situation should be communicated in the refund window so that freelancers aren't confused.

Kind Regards

Mark