Client compains about my performance and said do not want to pay

[ngoeerly]

Hello,

I am new to Upwork and I just got my first job. It is hourly contract with max of 15 hours/week (Should involve initially 5 - 10 hrs to get this completed)

After accepting the offer, the client direct me to contact other person via email or call with the reason that she is the one who has all the files and the instructions, but she is not at Upwork. So I called, talked to her and tell her to send me email regarding all the job she needs to me do.

She gave me the instructions by email and I followed and finished most part of the job from the email task list she gave me. I spend 5 hours working on the task.

The client at Upwork messages me complaining that the website I worked on is not working properly and a lot of functions are missing and stated I did not do my job properly and yet billing for 5 hours. He said that he is unwilling to pay for the work that I already did, expected me to fix it without billing anymore hours.

It sounded like he only want to pay 5 hours for the whole project (instead of 15 hours)

What shoud I do? Will I not get paid?

Thanks

[joostdoevelaar]

Now I am obviously not on the loop, but it sounds like they are unhappy with the work and are suggesting that the work you delivered is faulty. It doesn't sound like they want you to complete the entire job (least that's what I am getting) but they want you to fix what you have done to ensure that it works. 

The question you need to ask yourself is whether the work was up to par and whether the website works as it should (par the instructions that you were given). 

[ngoeerly]

I am doing the job as the instructions given. The problem is the client at Upwork
is different than the person who is giving instructions (Client at Upwork directed me to another person who has the instruction)
The person who has instruction said that I completed the job, but the Upwork client is not satisfied with the end result

[petra_r]

---

Erly E wrote:
I am doing the job as the instructions given. The problem is the client at Upwork
is different than the person who is giving instructions (Client at Upwork directed me to another person who has the instruction)
The person who has instruction said that I completed the job, but the Upwork client is not satisfied with the end result

---

With an hourly contract, all that matters is the work diary. Did you fulfill ALL the criteria below

1. You used the Upwork tracker to track your time (NOT manual time.) AND
2. Did you use work memos which clearly described the work you were doing AND
3. Did you have good activity levels (the green bars on the screenshots in your work diary AND
4. Do your screeshots show only work related screens?

If you can answer "YES" to all the above, you'll get paid even if the client disputes or fails to pay.

If the answer to one or more questions is "NO" - you won't.

[ngoeerly]

I did all the criteria. 

He said he will file dispute and not agreeing with the billing until I put more works that it is acceptable with him. I messaged him through Upwork no reply. I contacted the person in charge via phone and email also no reply. What should I do?

[tbucci]

Hi, I'm new as well. I thought Upwork is supposed to help in these kinds of situations. Have you tried contacting their support? Go to Help & Support > Payment Issues. Good luck!

[prestonhunter]

re: "Client compains about my performance and said do not want to pay"

That's not how this works.

If a client does not like a freelancer's perfomance, then the client has the ability to close the contract ("fire" the freelancer) at ANY TIME.

The client has the right to never work with that freelancer again. The client may leave appropriate, accurate feedback reflecting her experience with the freelancer.

The client can even block the freelancer if she wants to.

But a client can not simpy "not" pay a freelancer for work she hired the freelancer to do.

That isn't how Upwork works, and it isn't ethical or professional.

However: If a freelancer logs time manually (instead of with the time-tracker) or if the freelancer's work diaries are insufficiently annotated with memos, or show the freelancer doing other things (not working on the client's project) or if the freelancer's mouse/keyboard activity is too low, then a client CAN dispute those time segments, and Upwork WILL remove them. If the client does that, then the client will not need to pay for that time.

If a freelancer was NOT actually working on the project, then it IS acceptable for a client to dispute such time. It would NOT be unprofessional or unethical.

On the other hand, if a freelancer was seriously working on behalf of the client and delivering the work the client hired him to do, then if a client exploited these rules simply to get out of paying... Then that WOULD be unprofessional and unethical. Even though Upwork allows it.

[AveryO]

 Hi Erly, and Tina, 

I would like to confirm that Upwork Payment Protection adds a level of security for payment processing for hourly and fixed-price projects. You may check out the links for payment protection for freelancers for more information about how you are payment protected on Upwork.

[ngoeerly]

Thank you for all of the answer
The project is for website. However, the person/partner in charge to give instruction is not reaponding anymore to me. The client at Upwork threatening for lawsuit if I don’t fix the problem within 24 hrs, but I do not know what is the problem they encountered. They just open the site April 4 and it was not working properly yet.  But they accusing me made error and making them lose sale. I looked at their back end and they absolutely has no sale since April 4. This is completely a lie and looks like the client want me to complete the website up and running with only paying for 5hrs. He said lost confidence on my work and asking for full refund.If he want full refund, isn’t it supposed to be through Upwork and from their end?
I do not want to continue the project anymore as I was wrongly accused of something I did not even do. The client is a scam and from the first time he asked to contact someone else is already a ambiguous. 
What should I do now? Can I also report this client so he doesn’t scam other freelancer?
Thanks