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Clint's avatar
Clint H Community Member

Client can't figure out how to pay me

Hello, I need your help with one of my ended contracts. It was a fixed price contract with a budget of $525 with only one milestone of $25. There probably should have been a second milestone for the remaining $500, but we didn't set it up that way cause we're noobs. I've sent all the files to the client, but the client has not released the full amount of the budget to me. All I got was the first milestone payment of $25. After I sent the final files and asked for full payment, the client simply said that he couldn't see any obvious way on the website to pay me. Both me and the client are new to UPWORK. I think I need dispute resolution to step in and help him figure out how to make final and full payment on the project. How do I get dispute resolution involved to help? I tried to following the direction on the website, and it just pushed me to the community. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional information.

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Richard's avatar
Richard W Community Member

If your client wants to pay you,  the easiest way now would be to pay you a bonus, as described here:

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000980407-Pay-a-Bonus?flash_digest=bded3489527ea6c06...

View solution in original post

13 REPLIES 13
Avery's avatar
Avery O Community Manager

Hi Clint, 

Please note that only the money that's held in escrow is secure. Upwork can't help you collect any funds that have been promised but not deposited to the escrow. Therefore, it's important that the amount held in escrow is appropriate for the work you will perform for that milestone. In this case, your client can issue a bonus payment to you by following the steps here

 

I would also like to clarify that dispute doesn't apply in this case since there is no milestone for the remaining $500. You may want to read up on Payment Protection here for more information on how you can be payment protected while working on Upwork. 

 

Since you are new, I highly recommend that you read up on the "Safety First!" section of the freelancer resources we have compiled, and these tips for avoiding questionable jobs for more information about working safely through Upwork.


If you have other questions, please don't hesitate to reach out here, and our team will be happy to assist you. 


~ Avery
Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member


Clint H wrote:

Hello, I need your help with one of my ended contracts. It was a fixed price contract with a budget of $525 with only one milestone of $25. There probably should have been a second milestone for the remaining $500, but we didn't set it up that way cause we're noobs. I've sent all the files to the client, but the client has not released the full amount of the budget to me. All I got was the first milestone payment of $25. After I sent the final files and asked for full payment, the client simply said that he couldn't see any obvious way on the website to pay me. Both me and the client are new to UPWORK. I think I need dispute resolution to step in and help him figure out how to make final and full payment on the project. How do I get dispute resolution involved to help? I tried to following the direction on the website, and it just pushed me to the community. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional information.


If you agree to milestones, it works the following way: Client sets up first milestone, you provide work for first milestone. Client approves milestone and sets up second, you provide agree work for second, and so on.

This client had paid for the first one, so he is very able to figure out how to do the next, unless he is unwilling or unmotivated to do so, as he already has received the full work. Hint: he will not pay you, and you don't need to involve anybody else in this matter, just accept where you went wrong and move on. Upwork does not protect you if you don't work in the framework they provide for you to get paid. 

Richard's avatar
Richard W Community Member

If your client wants to pay you,  the easiest way now would be to pay you a bonus, as described here:

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000980407-Pay-a-Bonus?flash_digest=bded3489527ea6c06...

Anne's avatar
Anne D Community Member


Martina P wrote:

This client had paid for the first one, so he is very able to figure out how to do the next, unless he is unwilling or unmotivated to do so, as he already has received the full work. Hint: he will not pay you, and you don't need to involve anybody else in this matter, just accept where you went wrong and move on. Upwork does not protect you if you don't work in the framework they provide for you to get paid. 


Martina, we've just spent the last two hours trying to figure out how to pay our contractor.  The Upwork interface is clean and pleasant in appearance, but almost impossible to use.  For example, this forum itself doesn't list more than a few current threads, and no way to search or to see a complete list.

 

We had one milestone, and paid for that, and now our contractor finished the job, and ended the contract, but we absolutely cannot find out how to pay him.  If we make it a bonus, this still leaves $700 on the job itself, and who knows what will happen with that, and if in the future we'll look negligent for not paying for the work.  I'm saying this just to point out that from the client side, it's not that we don't want to pay or intend to pay - we simply can't figure it out.

Nichola's avatar
Nichola L Community Member


Anne D wrote:

Martina P wrote:

This client had paid for the first one, so he is very able to figure out how to do the next, unless he is unwilling or unmotivated to do so, as he already has received the full work. Hint: he will not pay you, and you don't need to involve anybody else in this matter, just accept where you went wrong and move on. Upwork does not protect you if you don't work in the framework they provide for you to get paid. 


Martina, we've just spent the last two hours trying to figure out how to pay our contractor.  The Upwork interface is clean and pleasant in appearance, but almost impossible to use.  For example, this forum itself doesn't list more than a few current threads, and no way to search or to see a complete list.

 

We had one milestone, and paid for that, and now our contractor finished the job, and ended the contract, but we absolutely cannot find out how to pay him.  If we make it a bonus, this still leaves $700 on the job itself, and who knows what will happen with that, and if in the future we'll look negligent for not paying for the work.  I'm saying this just to point out that from the client side, it's not that we don't want to pay or intend to pay - we simply can't figure it out.


_______________________________________________

 

You can still pay the freelancer the balance as a "bonus". 

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000980407-Pay-a-Bonus

Bojan's avatar
Bojan S Community Manager

Hi Anne,

 

The Remaining field you see on the Contract page for fixed-price jobs shows the difference between the amount that was set as a budget in the offer and the amount that's been paid. I checked the contract you're referring to and see that all the money that's been funded in Escrow (which was less than what was set for the budget) has already been released to the freelancer and the contact's been closed. You currently don't have any funds in Escrow for that contract. 

 

If there are any remaining funds that need to be paid to the freelancer, you can pay them as a bonus.

 

Thank you!

 

~ Bojan
Upwork
Clint's avatar
Clint H Community Member

Thank you for the reply. I actually solved this issue by asking the client to start a new contract, which they did and paid me in full.

 

I do have another pressing question: Some of my work involves filing documents for clients with state and federal agencies. There are filing fees involved, anywhere from $20 to $800. I normally bill clients by the hour on Upwork. Is there a way to submit receipts to them for the filing fees I've paid for their projects and get reimbursed when working on an hourly basis?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Best regards,

 

Clint Hanni

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member


Clint H wrote:

Thank you for the reply. I actually solved this issue by asking the client to start a new contract, which they did and paid me in full.

 

I do have another pressing question: Some of my work involves filing documents for clients with state and federal agencies. There are filing fees involved, anywhere from $20 to $800. I normally bill clients by the hour on Upwork. Is there a way to submit receipts to them for the filing fees I've paid for their projects and get reimbursed when working on an hourly basis?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Best regards,

 

Clint Hanni


Nice to hear that you encountered an honest client that paid you in full. Usually this kind of experience ends quite differently.

Upwork does not have a system in place to account for expenses to be paid without a fee to upwork. It could be manipulated too easily. Either the client pays the expenses directly to the service provider without your involvment, which might not be possible in many cases, or you bill it via upwork with a fixed price contract but then you have to mark them up for the fee. 

Clint's avatar
Clint H Community Member

You please be just a little more specific. What Exactly do you mean by “Bill it through Upwork and account for the fee”?
Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member


Clint H wrote:
You please be just a little more specific. What Exactly do you mean by “Bill it through Upwork and account for the fee”?

You need to pay 100 in expenses to a third party service provider. 

1. You tell your client to pay the 100 to the service provider directly.

If that is not possible,

2. You tell the client to create a fixed price contract for 125, so that you will receive 125 - 20% = 100 so that you can pay the service provider yourself. (or other applicable upwork fee %)

Chris's avatar
Chris C Community Member

Though it isn't much comfort, we are in the same situation: freelancer performed work at agreed to hourly rate, contract ended, it is utterly impossible to figure out or confirm payment. This has to be the worst interface I've ever encountered. Insult to injury, some links that appear helpful lead to "Upgrade" pitches from Upwork. We've successfully paid fixed price contract in the past, but I would seriously avoid using Upwork again based on how awful this experience has been. How hard would it be to have a simple "Pay Now" button? Simply terrible.

Virginia's avatar
Virginia F Community Member


Chris C wrote:

Though it isn't much comfort, we are in the same situation: freelancer performed work at agreed to hourly rate, contract ended, it is utterly impossible to figure out or confirm payment. This has to be the worst interface I've ever encountered. Insult to injury, some links that appear helpful lead to "Upgrade" pitches from Upwork. We've successfully paid fixed price contract in the past, but I would seriously avoid using Upwork again based on how awful this experience has been. How hard would it be to have a simple "Pay Now" button? Simply terrible.


Chris,

With flat rate jobs, and if the freelancer uses the site correctly, there is a "Get Paid Now" button when the freelancer uploads final files to the contract page. Some only use the message room or send files outside of the site ... which is fine, but for the record, they should also upload to the contract page.

 

Hourly jobs are paid automatically.

 

ETA: That said ... we've tried telling Upwork many times over that some clients find the site not very user-friendly.

Chris's avatar
Chris C Community Member

Thanks Virginia, 

All the files were transferred via Upwork, but it's possible the freelancer didn't use the "Get Paid Now" button. I've never criticized a UI before, but, from the cllient's perspective, priortizing a clear "paid" or "payment scheduled for dd/mm/yy" would have solved all of my problems.

Thanks again,

-Chris