How to resolve issues with your freelancer

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How do I resolve issues with hourly contracts?

For hourly contracts, it's important to note that you pay for the hours worked by the freelancer, not per work delivered. Therefore, it's essential to keep track of the weekly billing cycle to ensure you make time to review the number of hours your freelancer has worked.

If you encounter an issue with your freelancer, it's best to pause the contract to prevent them from logging more hours while you resolve it. You can always resume the contract later.

If you're unable to resolve the issue with the freelancer directly, you can dispute the hours during your five-day review window. If you miss that window, you can request a refund from the freelancer.

How do I resolve issues with fixed-price contracts?

For fixed-price contracts, if you are not happy with the delivered work, you can ask the freelancer to revise the work submitted during your 14-day review period. Note that these contracts are paid per approved work.

If needed, you can also:

Request a refund. It's important to remember that you cannot use any unpaid work done by your freelancer
End the contract and only release a partial payment. We'll automatically ask the freelancer to refund for remainder
If the freelancer refuses your refund request, we can help. Learn more here.

My freelancer missed the deadline, what do I do?

Sometimes, projects can face delays and deadlines may be missed. If your project has an urgent deadline, you can choose whether to continue working with your freelancer. It’s also important to communicate with your freelancer to determine if you can both agree on a new deadline.

I already paid my freelancer, but I’m not happy with the results. Can I get my money back?

For any payments made within the past 180 days, you can request a refund.

My freelancer is not responding at all. What should I do?

If you are working with a freelancer or agency and they become unresponsive for an extended period of time, it’s best to pause the contract (if hourly) to avoid being billed until you hear back from them.

However, if it's been less than 24 hours and you and your freelancer live in different time zones, the lack of response may be due to the time difference. Learn more about dealing with unresponsive freelancers.

I want to report my freelancer for not doing the job correctly. How do I do this?

If you see a violation of our Terms of Service, we urge you to report it. We take violations very seriously as this helps us maintain a healthy work marketplace. Learn more about common violations.

If you are unsatisfied with the quality of work provided by your freelancer, please discuss the issue with them.

My freelancer logged too many hours, and I want Upwork to delete the hours logged before I get billed. How do I request this?

Only freelancers have the ability to remove the hours that they have logged, and they can only remove hours during the work week. If the work week has ended and you are still in your five-day review period, you can dispute the hours. If you've already been billed, you can request a refund.

Tip: To help prevent having to pay for excess hours in the future, consider setting a weekly limit on hours.

The work my freelancer did included links, websites, plug-ins, etc., that are now outdated or not working. What should I do?

It's important to keep in mind that certain work products, such as websites or plug-ins, may not work properly if the technology used to create them becomes outdated or if updates to the technology have been made since the freelancer submitted the work. To avoid any issues, it's always a good idea to discuss this possibility with your freelancer while you are working with them.

My freelancer refuses to finish the work. What are my options?

If a freelancer chooses to stop work before completing the project, any work you’ve already paid for is yours to use. You’re free to end the contract and connect with another freelancer to finish the work. You can also leave feedback based on your experience with the freelancer.