Dispute Update

[aishak344]

Hello Upwork Team,

Hope you guys are well. So I've been in a Dispute with a client recently. We were given a deadline of 5 days to respond with some specific details and screenshots, and I responded on time with all the important stuff. But the client failed to respond, which makes me the only responding party in the Dispute. 

I've read in the Upwork Dispute Term that if one of the parties doesn't respond to the Dispute within the deadline, the funds are released to the other (responding) party. But the deadline for this Dispute was August 15, and I haven't heard anything from the Mediation Team or the client regarding the Dispute. And I haven't received the funds either. 

If there's another waiting period that I don't know about, please let me know. If not, can somebody tell me what the problem is with the dispute and why there hasn't been any update? 

Thanks so much!

Best regards,

Mawra

[LuiggiR · Accepted solution]

Hi Mawra,

I see you've recently followed up with the Mediation team; kindly allow 24-48 hours for them to follow up and assist you further. 

[aishak344]

Hey Luiggi,

Thanks for your response. Sure, I'll wait, no problem. I'll update you if I still don't hear from them after 24-48 hours.

Thanks again!

Best,

Mawra

[47430a16]

I'm having the same problem and client is not respoding to the dispute. But today Mediation Team came with asking for a arbitration fee of $337.50 where I need to claim only $100. How to resolve this? I'm so disspointed with this. If I couldn't pay that, funds will relase to the client. Is this the way it works?

[ArjayM]

Hi Sandaruwan,

I'm sorry to learn about this experience. While our Community Guidelines prevent us from discussing the specifics of an individual case, we are here to answer any questions you have about the process.

It looks like the dispute has entered Upwork's Dispute Assistance process, where a dispute specialist will assist both parties in reaching a mutual agreement. If the client and freelancer are unable to come to a mutual agreement, the dispute specialist may provide a non-binding recommendation as part of the process.

If the recommendation is rejected, the client and freelancer may choose to proceed to arbitration for a fee. You can read more about the process here.

We highly recommend that you continue coordinating with the dispute specialist through that support ticket so that they can assist you more efficiently. For more details, please refer to the Fixed Price Service Contract Escrow Instructions.

[47430a16]

This is one of the most amusing Mediation Team resolutions I've encountered. I had to open a dispute because the client is unresponsive, and I needed to release my final $100 milestone payment after completing the work.

The Mediation Team representative initiated a dispute conversation and stated the following:

'If we've only heard from one of you by the deadline, we'll release any funds in escrow to the responding party, as noted in the Upwork Terms of Service. If neither party responds, we'll return escrow funds to the client.'

As usual, my client did not respond. Now, the Mediation Team is indicating:

'At this point, it seems that a resolution won't be possible through Upwork's dispute assistance. Therefore, our next step is arbitration,' and they're requesting a $337.50 arbitration fee to claim $100. If not paid Escrow amount will rleased to client.

Anyone can do the same if this is how Upwork Disputes & Mediation Team resolve diputes. Get the work done, and not respond to dispute case and get released Escrow amount.

Is this the same for others? How can I resolve this?

[afaytaren]

If you have responded and the Client did not before the deadline, the amount in Escrow will be released to you.  If the Dispute agent refunded it back to the Client, you can make a new ticket and reach out to the Dispute Team or the Customer Service team so that you can contest why the amount in Escrow was not released to you.

I hope one of the moderators can respond to your post here so that they can assist you and they can reach out to the dispute team.

[47430a16]

He hasn’t released that yet to the client. But going for an arbitration process. I don't know why it necessary here. 😑

[47430a16]

Can you please explain this

'If we've only heard from one of you by the deadline, we'll release any funds in escrow to the responding party, as noted in the Upwork Terms of Service. If neither party responds, we'll return escrow funds to the client.'

My client did not respond. So why still we need to go throug arbitration process?

[afaytaren]

You might  be responding to the personal conversation with the dispute agent.  Try to respond in the group converstion which includes the Client and the Dispute Agent.

[47430a16]

No. I do it in Group Conversation.

New update ! Agent is saying since client has paid first milestone we need to go to arbitration process. I'm so confused. 😑

[afaytaren]

That is wrong,  Try to make a new ticket to the dispute team or ask assitance from CS.  You should not be paying arbitration Fee if the CL has not responded to the dispute.

[47430a16]

Thank you Aristotle for help. I'm giving up on this. Totally dissapointed with this. 😓

[afaytaren]

If I were you, please make sure that you do not pay for any Arbitration Fee if the Client has not responded in the Dispute.  If the Dispute Agent insists that you pay the Arbitration, ask to be escalated to a Senior Agent or a Supervisor within the Dispute Team.