Trouble with terminated contract

[ninabel]

Hi, everyone. I'm having trouble with an issue of mine on Upwork. So, I completed a small project for a client, and only after the work was completed, reviewed, and accepted, he made a contract for the agreed amount, which I accepted (I know, contract first, lesson learned). The problem is I mistakenly closed the contract, as the work was done on an outside platform. So he didn't approve anything on Upwork, and now there's no sign of the job in my Work History or any payment. How should I handle this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[spectralua]

Ask client to use "add bonus" option. You will receive money and contract will be shown in your history.

[ninabel]

When asked about it, he replied, "I've paid the money." I've attached a screenshot below showing that there's no amount in Escrow or received. Could it be that there's a waiting period for any amount of money to show at all?

[spectralua]

What is milestone status? If completed then you will receive money after 5 days security hold.

[ninabel]

The project itself appears as completed. I guess I'll have to wait the 5-day timeframe and see. Thank you!

[elisa_b]

Never ever work without having a funded contract first.

[ninabel]

You are absolutely right. I hadn't worked on Upwork for quite some time and let this holy grail rule fly right over my head.

[rekasesh · Accepted solution]

From the screenshot, doesn't look like any amount was funded. Check your reports to see if any amount is in pending status. If not, your client hasn't paid anything, not even as bonus, as even these payment gets reflected in pending transactions. 

[ninabel]

There's no reflection of a pending status in my reports tab, so I guess what you wrote applies: no amount was funded to the project. Is there anything I can do about it? Thank you for replying.

[rekasesh]

So, nothing in any of these columns -- work in progress, review, pending or available?

You can ask the client to pay the fees. If he/she doesn't respond, chalk it up to a bad experience.

When you close the contract after a month, provide a detailed feedback to warn others. 

[ninabel]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. We agreed with the client to simply draft an identical contract, which I accepted. The amount does show up in Escrow now. My question is, since my work was completed on an external platform, what do I submit/write in the "Submit work for payment" section?

[rekasesh]

I am glad it worked out for you.

You can simply state in the submit message that work was submitted through client's preferred method, or add the file to the submit page.

[ninabel]

Thank you so much for all your help!

[rekasesh]

You're welcome. 

[ninabel]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply and help me out with my issue!