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badorl
Community Member

Direct contract

I tried to login into my account today to send someone who wanted to give me a job outside upwork a direct contract proposal, but to my disappointment I notice Direct contract is not functioning on my account again? What could be the cause?

Could it be that the upgrade/maintenance that upwork team want to carry out is the reason it's not functional, or the feature has been axed from my account.


Please I need a quick response.


Thanks
Regards
ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hi Constantin,

 

I would like to clarify that the process you're referring to is working as designed. 

With Direct Contracts, you can create and send contract proposals to your clients that don't have Upwork accounts. Your client will be asked to create an Upwork account. Just like your other contracts on Upwork, your client deposits project funds in escrow before the contract starts. When you've completed the work, you'll request payment from your client.

 

To learn more about how Direct contracts work and how to manage them, check out this Help Article. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

View solution in original post

176 REPLIES 176
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Gbolahan,

 

I checked this for you and I can't replicate the issue you're describing. Could you please share more information about the issue you're experiencing along with the screenshot of the error message if you're seeing one?

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork
badorl
Community Member

What I am trying to say is that I used to use the direct contract feature before, but just today that I try to use it, the feature loading up again.

Kindly check the screenshots I attached.
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Thank you for following up, 

 

Looks like you're experiencing this on your mobile. Could you please try using this feature on your computer or laptop to check if you’re still experiencing the same issue? Let us know if the issue persists. Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork
badorl
Community Member

Thanks so much for your help, i just logged in on my pc and it worked

Hi,
I had a direct contract with a client. I did work for him and delivered him the files. He rejected the payment request and told me to do revision. I revised the file and send him again via email. He keeps saying i never received the revised files but i sent him via email 4 times. He doesn't reply to email now and keep rejecting the payment request and lying. Moreover when i send him file and submit a payment request he calls me un professional. Strange. I requested help from "Get Help" tab at direct contract and submitted my question with detail there but no response till now it's been almost 18 hours. I also contacted support so they can take the matter to relevant department they said someone will contact you as soon as possible but it's been almost 12 hours since then and no one contacted.

Please guide me or open a support ticket so i can explain my matter to support and they can help me get my payment.

Thanks

Hi Umer,

 

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. It looks like your ticket has been escalated to the correct team for review. Please allow time for our team to respond and update the ticket. If you have any additional questions please post them on that ticket for further assistance.

 

Thank you for your patience!

~ Bojan
Upwork
badorl
Community Member

Please check the screenshot I attached so you could understand what I'm trying to say.

I'm trying to attach a video though but the site doesn't support video format
9737948e
Community Member

I want to ask if I have worked with a client before and he have upwork account already, then can I invite him for direct contract on upwork (out of upwork) or my accound will be suspended?

petra_r
Community Member


Muhammad A wrote:

I want to ask if I have worked with a client before 


On or off Upwork?

 


Muhammad A wrote:

can I invite him for direct contract on upwork (out of upwork) 


You can't do a direct contract on Upwork with a client who has an Upwork account, and you can't work with a client you have met on Upwork outside the platform for 2 years.

studioconstantin
Community Member

Hello

I was excited about the Direct Contracts feature when it was launched but when i had an opportunity to use it, i failed miserably. I had a potential client  outside of Upwork and everything was good untill the moment i proposed him to use Upwork Direct Contracts platform.

Because this feature requires the client NOT to register to the website  and when i told him this, it really confused him and it even became suspicious to the point that everthing went down and he probably find other ways. He probably thought it is a scam or something....

Do you guys have any tips about how it should be done not to confuse the client?

Thanks !

Hi Constantin,

 

I would like to clarify that the process you're referring to is working as designed. 

With Direct Contracts, you can create and send contract proposals to your clients that don't have Upwork accounts. Your client will be asked to create an Upwork account. Just like your other contracts on Upwork, your client deposits project funds in escrow before the contract starts. When you've completed the work, you'll request payment from your client.

 

To learn more about how Direct contracts work and how to manage them, check out this Help Article. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

Hello Goran

Yes i think i understand the technical aspects but i think my  issue was on the communication strategy. with the client. The fact that i told him Not to register but just use the Direct Contract system, it made him suspicious. 

Actually i want to ask, is there any advantage on the client side to use this system instead of normal registration method?


Constantin Eugen C wrote:

Hello Goran

i think my  issue was on the communication strategy. with the client. The fact that i told him Not to register but just use the Direct Contract system, it made him suspicious. 


Why would you want to use direct contracts with a non-Upwork client and pay  3.4% rather than use the "Bring my own client" scheme (under which the client gets to sign up) and pay 0% fees? You are top rated, so you're entitled to the special link which allows you to invite clients and pay no service fee when working with those clients.

 


Constantin Eugen C wrote:

 is there any advantage on the client side to use this system instead of normal registration method?


The client does not have to create an Upwork account and the 3% payment processing fee is also not charged.

 

 

Hi Petra

I did`nt know about the Bring my own client feature 

You mean if i bring it to sign up with the website,  then i will get 0% fees if i have a contract with him as long as i am  top rated?



Constantin Eugen C wrote:

I did`nt know about the Bring my own client feature 

You mean if i bring it to sign up with the website,  then i will get 0% fees if i have a contract with him as long as i am  top rated?



If you use the special link you can get from Upwork, you will have 0% fees with that (!) client and any client you bring using that link forever.

Thanks Petra, i hope i`l have a chance to use the feature like that!

Hi Constantin,


If you would like to receive your unique link, let me know here and I will escalate your request to our team. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

Hi Goran

Yes please, if is possible so i can use it when there is a new similar opportunity in the future !

Hi Constantin,

 

Our team will share your link via ticket over the next couple of days with detailed instructions on how you can use it. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

Thank you too !

Hi, 
There is not much about the payment cycles of hourly direct contracts? 
Like after how many the amount shows in my account?

Hi Devpratap,


To learn more about how you're getting paid and how Direct hourly contracts work, check out our announcement Here. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

hi there,

just recently i tried Direct contracts but it isn't working,

I have tried to used both its services, Create a contract and invite clients 

create a contract: when i enter project related details and hit confirm it gives me an error,

invite client link : same is the case happened when my client click on the invite link and entered the desired info,
the error sated as:
"sorry we are having technical error try later" attached is the relevant screenshot, kindly look into this issue

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Noman,

 

Could you please clear your cache and cookies or log in with another browser to check if you’re still experiencing the same issue?

 

Let us know if the issue persists.

 

Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork
c0b26ed7
Community Member

hi Bojan S

thanks for assisting here with me, and yes i tried my other browser, claered all cache and cookies and guess what it ran ok. thumbs up for a quick and robust support.

 

 

Thanks,
Noman

Hi Goran, 

I have been trying to send a client a Direct contract via Upwork, but it's been 2 days, and the feature is not working. At first, I thought that maybe it was because of the maintenance and website update. But even now, the feature is inaccessible. When I click on the Direct contracts, I get a blank page and nothing else. 

Is the feature available, or has it been removed? 

Please respond, as the client is waiting for the contract proposal, and I only trust upwork. 

Thank you!


Hi Mahrukh,

 

I tried but wasn’t able to replicate the issue you’re describing. Here's what I can see from my end. Could you please try using a different browser or the incognito mode of your current browser? You may also try clearing your browser’s cache and cookies. Let me know if the issue persists and we'll look further into that for you. Thank you!

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
mahrukh78
Community Member

I tried everything, switched the browser, and cleared the cache. It's still not working. I also tried it from the mobile app; it's the same issue. 

Hi Mahrukh,

 

Thank you for following up. I shared your report with our team and one of our agents will reach out to you using a support ticket to assist you further. You can access your support tickets here.

 

~Andrea
Upwork

Hey Andrea, 

Thankyou so much! For some reasons, I couldn't access Upwork support and direct contracts. I hope the issue gets resolved. 

Thank you!

Hi Mahrukh,

 

Thank you for following up. I checked and it looks like you were able to respond to our team via a support ticket. Could you please clarify if you still experience any issues with opening your support ticket? 

 

~ Nikola
Upwork

The Support ticket is opening but I can't access without the link Andrea shared. 

Hi Mahrukh,

 

Thank you for clarifying. I shared your report with our team and they will reach out to you via email to assist you further. 

 

~ Nikola
Upwork
6f57ac9e
Community Member

How long should it take for the payment to be released? My client deposited the amount and now it is "processing payment" status. How long should I wait so that I can withdraw my earnings?

Hi Jayvie,

 

When you're working on hourly contracts your clients are billed every Monday for the hours you have tracked in the previous week. To learn more about how you're getting paid on hourly contracts, check out this Help Article. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork
setubabu25
Community Member

Hi
My client's direct contract first payment paid.
This client will pay for the next work.
Here's how to create a new milestone.
Please help.

Thanks

Kamruzzaman

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Hi Md Kamruzzaman,

 

I see that your Direct contract is already ended. You cannot create a milestone on an already ended contract. You can create a new Direct contract with the same client instead.

 

Thank you.

Pradeep.

Upwork

Hi,
Many thanks for your reply.
I need to know.
It is possible to send the same client the same email offer multiple times.?

Thanks.

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Hi Md Kamruzzaman,

 

You can initiate Direct Contracts only with Clients who do not have an Upwork account. The email address on your screenshot is already registered on Upwork and you cannot initiate a Direct contract with this client.

 

Thank you.

Pradeep.

Upwork
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