Contract placed on hold

[mahfoudhif]

Hi everybody,

I had a fixed price contract with a client who told me that he will pay me for the whole job once he gets money. He placed a little amount in escrow, but I delivered the full job perfectly completed.

After a while, the contract was placed on hold, and the client became unresponsive, I texted him many times but he never replied. 

It is now clear that the client frauded me but I am seeking advice from those who dealt with the same problem.

My questions are:

* What was the problem that made upwork place the contract on hold?

* How can I ask for the total amount of money?

* When would they close the contract?

* The chat between me and the client clearly proves that I delivered the completed work, Does Upwork help center have the authority to check this chat? And what is the best they can do?

Thank you!

[petra_r]

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@fedy M wrote:

1) He placed a little amount in escrow, but I delivered the full job perfectly completed.

After a while, the contract was placed on hold, and the client became unresponsive, I texted him many times but he never replied. 

My questions are:

2) * What was the problem that made upwork place the contract on hold?

3) * How can I ask for the total amount of money?

4) * When would they close the contract?

5) * The chat between me and the client clearly proves that I delivered the completed work,

6) Does Upwork help center have the authority to check this chat?

7) And what is the best they can do?

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1) Never deliver work against insufficiently funded contracts.

2) The client probably failed to pay Upwork or was suspended

3) You can try to use the "Submit work and request payment" button but at best you might get what is in Escrow. Not a Cent more.

4) Close it yourself, the client is gone.

5) Not relevant. All that matters is whether the milestone was fully funded.

6) Yes, but there is no point.

7) Absolutely nothing. You decided to work on an unfunded contract. That's it.

---

[prestonhunter]

Fedy:

You now know that promises have no monetary value on Upwork.

Don't take it personally or feel bad at all. Many freelancers have made the same mistake when starting out.

Your new wisdom and experience are worth more than the amount of money you were not paid for this one contract.

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Fedy,

I`m sorry to hear about the bad experience you had.
In addition to Petra comment I would also advise you to check out this Post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs. You can also check out the Safety First section in this thread as well. 

Additionally, our Fixed-Price Protection for Freelancers does not cover promised funds and unfunded milestones. If you have any additional questions feel free to post them here. Thank you!

[michaelapadilla]

Good day, one of my clients was also suspended and the contract was put on hold. But the latest milestone was fully funded. Should I still deliver work for that milestone or should I wait until the problem is resolved? Thank you.

[AveryO]

Hi Michaela, 

I would recommend that you stop working on the contract until the issue with your client's account has been resolved. 

[michaelapadilla]

I see. Okay I will just work on my active contracts. Thank you very much Avery.