Unresponsive client

[bluesilence12]

Hi,
I have been working with this client on a milestone basis. I have submitted the first part of the job and she said she loved it and asked for some more changes. But after that became unresponsive. I haven’t completed the project and the final files are not released. I’d like to know what I need to do at this stage?

[feed_my_eyes]

If it's been three weeks, then Upwork hasn't been able to successfully charge the client's payment method for the bonus; they can only release funds that are in escrow. (That's why the escrow account needs to be funded before you work on any milestone.) There's no way for Upwork to help you get the rest of your money if the client has disappeared now.

[prestonhunter]

Tamuka:

Close the contract yourself, immediately.

Dont try to contact this client again.

Don't make the same mistake again the future.

Don't work on unfunded milestones.

[tamukamatare]

Hi Preston

I understand now. The project bonus was funded its already in the Escrow account but I don see a way to have it paid into my account the submit work for payment in not active.

[mahmood-atif]

Hi,

I have also facing an un responsive client. I am working with a client from past 8 months on website testing. The work flow is client send me the website links along with a test sets (400-500). I perform the test and send the results to the client. Then I create a milestone and client approved the payment.

In the month of May-2022, client did not approved the milestones for several works but sent me work continuously. Despite of previous un approved milestones, I continued the work and submitted my last work on 31-May-2022.

After 31-May-2022, I get no response from the client even after many messages. I have created a new milestone 10 days ago for the remaining work but no response from the client. I have also submitted my work in upwork messages and all logs are available.

Can someone please guide me that what should I do ?

Should I contact the upwork support or file a dispute ?

Thanks 

[759e32fa]

Hi Atif,

Thank you for reaching out to us. If you are working with a client and they become unresponsive for a long period of time, it may be best to stop working on the project and wait for contact from the client. In some cases, you may also reach out to Upwork to contact the client on your behalf.

As for the unresponsive client, we generally recommend that you complete your last milestone, submit the work for payment and still try to get in touch with your client in order to leave a good impression. If your client fails to respond to your submission, we will automatically release the funds after 14 days.

[mahmood-atif]

Thanks Annie for a prompt response.

As per my scenario, I created the milestone after submission of work. This is manual submission in messages only.

Now, its more than a month and I contacted several times but getting no response from the client.

Can you please guide me with my current scenario what I should do ?

My pending amount is more than $900.

Thanks 

[feed_my_eyes]

If the client never approved nor funded the milestone, then there is no way for Upwork to release it to you. If the client isn't responding to you, then they probably won't respond to Upwork either. You should never work on an unfunded milestone.

[mahmood-atif]

Thanks Christine.

Fully agreed with your advice.

Client is big and have more than 200k spending.

Currently, client also have 33 active hires.

In this case, client must reply to the upwork ?

What's your opinion on this please ?

Thanks 

[feed_my_eyes]

My opinion is that Upwork will tell you what I've just told you - if there's no funded milestone, you shouldn't work. If this is a big client and they were paying you regularly before, maybe something happened to them - an accident or illness. But if that's the case, Upwork still can't charge them for unapproved work. Do they have active projects that started recently?

[mahmood-atif]

You are right

Yes, client has active project with approximately three dozen active hires.

Should I request upwork to just contact the client on my behalf or should absorb this injection ?

Thanks

[prestonhunter]

re: "Should I request upwork to just contact the client on my behalf or should absorb this injection ?"

My advice is to never ask Upwork to contact a client on your behalf. It will not benefit you if you try to do that.

You would be wasting your time.

If you worked on an unfunded milestone, that is your mistake. Upwork can't fix that.

[tamukamatare]

Hi Annie I have a situation with a client who asked me to do edits for fixed contracts for which I charged him extra and he agreed. Instead of funding $304 into the Escrow he funded only $70 and disappered and the status is Active The submit work for payment button is not Active. I have posted before and I am not quite satisfied withnthe responses I am getting here people have generalized the answer and I have seen the mistake I made.

1) The client funded the Bonus and just disappered is there a way for that bonus to be paid into my account its active but I dont see how it can be paid to my account.

2) Can upwork contact the client on my behalf on this matter I have read some article that say upwork can offer such a service, How do I do that? I had a meeting with the client at the start of the project on skype so I havent spoken to him since ius it okay if I send him a message regarding this situation.

3) I seems as if upwork has a feature to where one can turn off his online status even if they are online does not that encourage fraudulent activies as in my case with this client.

[prestonhunter]

re: "I seems as if upwork has a feature to where one can turn off his online status even if they are online does not that encourage fraudulent activies as in my case with this client."

I am nearly always online on Upwork. I ALWAYS keep me status set to "offline."

This is not "fraudulent."

In my opinion, no Upwork freelancer should be looking at "online status" indicators. I refer to these as "stalker dots."

[NikolaS]

Hi Tamuka,

One of our team members will reach out to you directly via a support ticket to assist you further. You can access your tickets on this page.

[d7f0c067]

I spent hours working on a fixed-price project for 3 different clients and completed and sent them the work. but has not approved my payment request yet, and it has been over 3 days. They are not responding to me either.

[759e32fa]

Hi Muhammad,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. If you are working with a client and they become unresponsive for a long period of time, it may be best to stop working on the project and wait for contact from the client. In some cases, you may also reach out to Upwork to contact the client on your behalf.

On a fixed-price contract, ending the contract forfeits any funds remaining in escrow. Instead, it is often best to complete your last milestone before you end the contract. If your client fails to respond to your submission, funds will be automatically released after 14 days. If they respond but refuse the work and you believe you have completed the work according to the agreed terms, you have the option to file a dispute.

You can find more information in this help article. 

[d7f0c067]

I've completed my work and also submitted it to the client he also likes the work but when I request payment he becomes unresponsive.

[pointz0r]

I'm working with a rather new/amateur client who just joined Upwork. He was already bargaining when it came to deciding a fee for the work I was going to do. We settled on a price and I worked hard for 10 days. I submitted before time. He knows I have uploaded the submission as he messaged me after I submitted. But has disappeared on me for 5 days now. Is it remotely possible for him to just download the files I sent and cancel the contract later on? Or does Upwork forbid him from doing this?

I know there's a 14 day period IF the client doesn't respond. But what happens if he just decides to cancel the contract? Is their any protection that Upwork provides in this case?

[759e32fa]

Hi Muhammad,

Thank you for reaching out to us. On a fixed-price contract, ending the contract forfeits any funds remaining in escrow. Instead, it is often best to complete your last milestone before you end the contract. If your client fails to respond to your submission, funds will be automatically released after 14 days. If they respond but refuse the work and you believe you have completed the work according to the agreed terms, you have the option to file a dispute.

You can find more information in this help article. 

[pointz0r]

Thank you for the reply. And just to iron out this little confusion - will the complete amount be released or only the amount in escrow? So for example - if the fee we discussed was $50 and $15 is in escrow, which of these will I get?

Thank you, again.

[prestonhunter]

re: "So for example - if the fee we discussed was $50 and $15 is in escrow, which of these will I get?"

You get $15

[759e32fa]

Hi Muhammad,

Preston is correct. Only the amount in escrow will be released.

[mwenden]

I have a client who has been unresponsive for almost a week after I submitted the work. I often see her online but does not respond to my texts. Kindly advise on what step to take. Thank you.

[759e32fa]

Hi Mwende,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Your client may have times when they do not respond or communicate as quickly as usual for many reasons — busy on several projects, technical issues, a family emergency, etc. However, if you are working with a client and they become unresponsive for a long period of time, you may want to stop working on the project and wait for a response.

On a fixed-price contract, if you end the contract, you forfeit any funds that remain in escrow. Instead, we recommend that you complete your last milestone and submit the work for payment before you end the contract. If your client fails to respond to your submission, we will automatically release the funds after 14 days. If they respond but refuse the work and you believe that you have completed the work according to the agreed terms, you have the option to file a dispute.

[mwenden]

Hello AJ,

Thank you for your response, however, the client had divided the work into 2 milestones, and only funded 1, whereas I completed the whole workload and sent her. What does this mean?

[6d4c4841]

Yes ! I completed the whole workload and sent her.

[6d4c4841]

My client doesn't give me an answer. I have completed the work . i am wait 14 days my blance not add why ?

[759e32fa]

Hi Shuvoraj,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I checked this for you and found that the client was asking for revision but it looks like you did not click on "Submit Revision" hence no funds were released. 

You can check this article for more information. 

Also, when your client becomes unresponsive for a long period of time, it may be best to stop working on the project and wait for contact from the client. In some cases, you may also reach out to Upwork to contact the client on your behalf.

[6d4c4841]

Submit Revision" already done check 

[6d4c4841]

work Revision done and i am wait 14+  but blance not add

[LuiggiR]

Hi Shuvoraj,

Since you submitted the revision, the client will now have to review it to release the payment from escrow. If the client does not respond within the next 14 days from the date of the resubmission, the funds will be automatically released to you. 

[6d4c4841]

thanks 

[efendioktay]

Hello,

I did a fixed price study 1 month ago. All stages have been completed. The client does not confirm my payment and does not respond to me even though he has made new work with other people on Upwork. What can I do?

[759e32fa]

Hi Oktay,

I'm sorry to hear about your unresponsive client. Your client may have times when they do not respond or communicate as quickly as usual for many reasons — busy on several projects, technical issues, a family emergency, etc. However, if you are working with a client and they become unresponsive for a long period of time, you may want to stop working on the project and wait for a response.

On a fixed-price contract, if you end the contract, you forfeit any funds that remain in escrow. Instead, we recommend that you complete your last milestone and submit the work for payment before you end the contract. If your client fails to respond to your submission, we will automatically release the funds after 14 days. If they respond but refuse the work and you believe that you have completed the work according to the agreed terms, you have the option to file a dispute.

[pbansal6]

Hello Upwork team

Refer to contract id 31353254. I completed the work for this contract and answered client's question as well. However, client has still not approved payment, after multiple requests and messages. Can you help? You can track and see my messages pertaining to this contract and make a determination.

 Thanks 

Prabuddha

[759e32fa]

Hi Prabuddha,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Once you submit your work, your client has 14 days to review and either approve the milestone or ask for changes. If they approve, the funds in escrow will be released to you. If your client takes no action for 14 days, the funds are automatically released to you. Looking at the contract, you submitted your work 6 days ago, and the client still has 8 days to approve it or request changes.

If the client refuses to release funds or requests an escrow refund for a milestone that you’ve completed, you can file an escrow dispute. The disputed funds will remain in escrow until a resolution is reached. To learn more about the escrow dispute process, click here.

[c508945d]

Hello Upwork Team, 

I started working with a client on a logo project, we had a contract on a fixed price, and everything was moving great. We had good communication and talked about another project after the finalization of the current one.

After a few days of working on the project, the client closed the contract from nowhere, send me a request for a refund, and blocked me without saying a word. Now I'm in dilemma, can't even text the client and I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

This is the first time this has happened to me with a client. Аny advice is welcome. Thanks.

[0e581242]

My client disappear since 1 and half month

I had worked for him 

I was added on slack  to communicate with in a group..
few left group also..
I only manage to approach one..
but he said he can't also get response from him .
So I just submit the work i have done so far..
and request payment 
it' been 14 days but i haven't recieved any my amount yet please guide through

[759e32fa]

Hi Muhammad,

Thank you for reaching out to us. If you are working with a client and they become unresponsive for a long period of time, it may be best to stop working on the project and wait for contact from the client. In some cases, you may also reach out to Upwork to contact the client on your behalf.

On a fixed-price contract, ending the contract forfeits any funds remaining in escrow. Instead, it is often best to complete your last milestone before you end the contract. Generally, if your client fails to respond to your submission, funds will be automatically released after 14 days. If they respond but refuse the work and you believe you have completed the work according to the agreed terms, you have the option to file a dispute.

You can find more information in this help article. 

Could you please share the contract ID number so we can check?

[irbazsiddique]

Hello,
One of the clients was inactive and didn't reply my messages since more than two months. I want to end the contract with the client but  today I received a notification that the contract is suspended temporarily and upwork is investigating a problem with the client's account.
Still Can I end the contract and does it effect my JSS score ?

Best regards,
--Irbaz