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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

Hi
Many thanks for your reply
My problem solve

thanks
Kamruzzaman

b6f5b61d
Community Member

I need information regarding direct contracts. Please let me know.. if I invite my client on Upwork on hourly rate.
When I manually lock hours.. does these hours will be asked for time of day..that these should be different from upwork time tracker's time? Like in Upwork jobs case.. the time can't be same as the time locked in other job.
Do direct contacts time treated differently than upwork jobs?
Please make this clear.
Also please let me know other differences between direct contract and Upwork contract.

Thanks,
Shamsa
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Shamsa,

 

Thanks for your question. After you and your client agree to create a contract and set a weekly rate and time limit, we’ll estimate the weekly total and require your client to deposit that amount into Upwork’s secure escrow account. Once your client funds the deposit, we will notify you and you can confidently begin work knowing your payment is secure. Payment protection does not cover work additional hours beyond the set weekly limit or expenses.

 

The Time Tracker feature is not an option with Direct Contracts. With hourly Direct Contracts, you and the client agree to a weekly limit on hours. Before releasing payment, the client can also review the manual hours invoice so they can reach out to the freelancer with any questions and, if needed, file a dispute.

 

Here is the help article with more information.

~ Bojan
Upwork
b6f5b61d
Community Member

So it means.. there is no requirement of selecting the time of manual hours added in the direct contract. Right?

While in Upwork contracts we have to select the specific time for manually adding the hours on track sheet.
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

That is correct, Shamsa.

 

The freelancer can manually log hours without entering the exact time frame they worked during the day.

~ Bojan
Upwork
addtraction
Community Member

I have a client approaching me to work with me again, used to work via upwork couple of years ago, (work with me for about 4 yeats at upwork). I want to know can i get him into direct contract without creating a project?

 

I sent out a direct contract to him and it went out okay and the client accpeted it. He is not keen on entering into regular upwork project, so I thought i should get into a direct contract.

Is this okay? are there issues in doing a direct contract with this client? If not then what should i do? I contacted the helpdesk but that was not of great help.

 

Best Regards

Ajay

Hi Ajay,

 

Direct Contracts cannot be used with clients who already have an account on Upwork. I can see your support ticket has been referred to the appropriate team. Please allow some time for our team to review and they will update you directly via ticket as soon as possible.

~Andrea
Upwork

Thanks Andrea, not sure what to do in this case, i did not realize a ticket has been raised. Meanwhile, what should i do with the direct contract I created (which was accepted by the client)? Shall I cancel it? To be honest, personally I do not think there should be any issues but would like to hear from experts here.

subhanm87
Community Member

why my client is asked to verify its identify for direct contract? As per upwrok words direct contract does not ask clients to register on upwork. Cann anyone help?

 

Thanks in advance

Are you planning to have a direct contract at your current rate? 


Subhan G wrote:

why my client is asked to verify its identify for direct contract? As per upwrok words direct contract does not ask clients to register on upwork.


Your client isn't asked "to register" on Upwork, just to verify their identity.

Due to Anti-Fraud and Anti-Money-Laundering and KYC guidelines every company that handles money online needs to do their due diligence.

 

 
~Andrea
Upwork
b4e79a7d
Community Member

Direct contract, I'm a client, using an unregistered account to make it cheaper. Clicking review contract sent on mail then request code. Code does not arrive, does not arrive when i send it again. After some waiting and trying on phone, code arrives but the codes that arrive do not work and take up to or over a minute to arrive. Can't find solution as the solutions are apparently hidden behind private chat as indicated by similar discussions upwork has received. Bot does not seem to understand me, the person i hired does not know a solution or has never encountered it. It baffles me how after all this time, the system is still faulty

Hi Alexander,

 

 I have requested the assistance of our team. One of our agents will reach out and assist you directly via a support ticket.

~ Joanne
Upwork
anapatankar
Community Member

Hi

I have a potential non-Upwork client based in India and i am in Chile. Will direct contract work in this case?

Hi Anagha,

 

Yes, Direct Contracts are available to freelancers and their clients in the 180+ countries where we operate.

~ Joanne
Upwork
talos777
Community Member

I'd like to invite a potential client to use UpWork and create a contract however I would like to use the Time Tracker function.
If I can't use the Time Tracker function through Direct Contracts - how can I set up a contract with the Time Tracker function?

Hi James,

 

You can have both hourly and fixed-price contracts with Direct Contracts, and you can use the Desktop App for hourly ones. Feel free to check this help article to learn more. 

~ Luiggi
Upwork
talos777
Community Member

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I'm aware that I can put in manual hours using the Desktop App however for transparency with the Client and ideally less disputes, I was hoping to use the time tracker / time logging function that records what you are doing.

Is this possible with a Direct Contract using the Desktop App?

If not, is there a better way to set up a new contract so that I can use the time tracker / logging function?


Hi James,

 

You may have the option to bring your client to Upwork at a 0% fee with them. One of our agents will be getting in touch with you via a support ticket to share more information about the program.

 

~ Luiggi
Upwork
gabrielemmanuel2
Community Member

Hi, I got a client off Upwork, so we used the direct contract option. He made payment and I saw it on my mail. He ghosted me after doing the work and it's been over 14 days but the milestone hasn't been released. What's going on?

 

P.S: I requested Feb 22

Hi Gabriel,

 

I checked and it looks like you have one active milestone on your Direct Contract, but it doesn't look like you've requested payment on it. Could you please clarify if you're referring to the previous milestone?

 

~Andrea
Upwork

It's been resolved
c22c4c37
Community Member

Hello,

I'm interested in your direct contracts service. I live in Vietnam, and I have a client in France. We are looking for a platform that can help us to pay and provide invoices. So does your service available in my case?

 

Thank you so much,

Hi Huong,

 

Thanks for your interest! Direct Contracts are a great way of working with a client that doesn't already have an Upwork account. You may want to visit this page to learn more about how the feature works and how you can get started.

~ Luiggi
Upwork
c22c4c37
Community Member

Hi Luiggi,

 

Thank you a lot for your answer. Actually, I saw this information on your website: "

"Can I set up a Direct Contract with anyone, anywhere in the world?
Currently, Direct Contracts are only available to freelancers and their clients in certain countries."

=> So I'm wondering if this service is available in my country (Vietnam) and my client's country (France) or not. I would like to be sure so I have no risk with my contract with my client.

 

Thank you in advance,

Hi Huong,

 

Yes, Direct Contracts are available to freelancers and their clients in the 180+ countries where we operate. If you face any issues setting it up just let us know and we'll happily assist. 

~ Luiggi
Upwork
tombish
Community Member

Hi,

clicking "Continue" on a direct contract the client has received, does nothing:

 

tombish_1-1648474261706.png

 

 

- cache cleared, not working

- incognito, not working

- different browser (firefox, chrome), not working

 

this seems to be a bug. if you dont fix it, I will lose this client.

 

seriously, why has upwork so many bugs? (the other one is not being able to close contracts by leaving feedback).

Hi Hasan,

Someone from our team will reach out to you via support ticket in order to assist you further.

~Andrea
Upwork
tombish
Community Member

well that wont help. because I cant access my support ticket site. it doesnt load there either!

tombish_0-1648478809984.png

 

like I said, upwork is full of bugs. you guys make millions, but cannot provide a functioning site. it is mind-boggling.

tombish
Community Member

I guess this is the HTTP request that is causing the issue:

tombish_0-1648480612675.png

 

I get "Unauthorized" for the "side_conversation" request. even though Im logged in.

though Im not sure. you guys should investigate.

I'm sorry to hear you're also having trouble with the Help Center, Hasan. Please check your inbox as you can see our team's message from the notification sent to your email address. You can also reply from that email directly so the team can assist you with this.

 

~Andrea
Upwork
tombish
Community Member

I didnt receive any mail.

Hi Hasan,

 

Thank you for following up. I reached out to the team handling your case and you should have received the email now. If it's not in your inbox, kindly try checking your spam folder. 

 

~ Nikola
Upwork
tombish
Community Member

Hi Nikola,

please tell  **Edited for Community Guidelines** (who wrote to me via email), that he shall look into this discussion to see my problem and all the screenshots I have posted.

 

As I've said, I can't use the support ticket system due to technical errors. and I cant reply via mail since I dont have my screenshots at hand (and it would be a duplicate).

 

it seems like Daniel doesn't know anything about my issue. tell him to look inside this discussion.

tombish
Community Member

daniel wrote. but I cant do anything.

I cannot use the ticket system. look at the screenshot:

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

tombish
Community Member

this is another browser. chrome. incognito (no addons, no blockers, nothing):

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

I tell you. your site is seriously broken!

Hi Hasan,

 

If you can't access your support ticket, please try checking your email as you should be able to access all of your support tickets from there. Kindly continue communicating with the team from there as they're the ones who can best assist you.

 

~ Luiggi
Upwork
zhoic
Community Member

Hello, for the first time I have a "direct contract" with a new client and for some reason, the contract is now paused "due to a pending issue".

It's an hourly direct contract, the client paid the requested amount in advance, on Sunday I entered the time into the timesheet, and everything seemed good.

Now, for some reason, the contract is paused and I can't add more time. Can someone from Upwork support check what happens and why it is paused?

Thanks.

Hi Zlatko,

 

One of our agents will reach out to you via support ticket in order to assist you with your Direct Contract.

~Andrea
Upwork
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