Buyer got all the work and disappear without paying the full invoice
It's been 6 to 7 days I've worked for a buyer and after I delivered him the work with full invoice he disappeared. He did saw all the msgs of the work in chat box but then he didn't show up after that. I've experienced this issue 2nd time but the first time I faced this issue customer support did recovered the full invoice but this time when I talked to a customer support agent he's message was something I wasn't expecting he clearly said that he'll release escrow amount in 16 working days that was positive but when I asked him what about my full payment he said that " By sending multiple messages within the ticket, the ticket goes lower in the waiting list. " So I'm disappointed that he should atleast tell me that they're trying but he clearly said that I should not message him again for my right. Please tell me what to do in this case as I'm hopeless as the amount in escrow was less than the half amount of the complete project.
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Official comment
Hi there,
We can see your ticket in the system and that a member of the payments team has been in touch. You will receive your payment after the clearing period has passed - this is typically 14 working days.
Any questions, please continue to speak to support.
Best wishes,
The Community Team
Comment actions -
PPH seem to have stopped sending messages out. Is anyone else finding this?
We used to get an email if we had an invoice to pay, a message or a proposal to send. Now we don't. It could be possible this client is unaware he has an invoice to pay until he logs in.
But yes, if no response long term, PPH won't reimburse the full amount. You'll just receive the amount held in deposit.
@PPH can you sort out this messaging system please? Nothing seems to have been done.
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I have noticed problems with the messaging. I wondered if they have changed the defaults again and decided that certain types of messages (like about invoices or correspondence about a project, or a private message about a new project) are not essential and require changes to the account settings.
I had an issue with a buyer disappearing near the end of a project, where I had only asked for half the amount in escrow. This was years ago when I was still fairly new here. I asked PPH how they went about collecting debt and they just said that if the buyer doesn't pay the balance, you don't get paid. I asked PPH to give me the contact details of the buyer so I could recover the debt myself and they refused, saying it was data protection. That annoyed me because either the buyer is my client and they owe me money, or the buyer is their client and PPH owe me money. I found them on Linked In and sent them a recorded delivery letter asking them to come back to PPH to sort out their invoice, which they paid. I learnt my lesson after that and always ask for the full amount in escrow before I start a project. -
@ Nancy I've the buyer had clearly seen my invoice as I remember when I sent him invoice after work submission the text box shows message seen and yesterday he saw my new messages as well so it's clear that he is very well aware of the invoice, he just doesn't want to pay the invoice as he got all the work
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Simon is right, especially whenever dealing with a buyer that has zero jobs before and is brand new to PPH, I always put the full amount in the escrow, rather than the 30% advised by PPH.
If they have a few jobs under their belt then I assume are more trustworthy, but the usual PPH safeguards and common sense, apply.
It may mean me losing out on a job, but if the buyer favours freelancers with a low escrow, then alarm bells should ring.
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Mr. Colin, if I put my experience that I'm facing right now then you will change your mind as I'm experiencing same thing with my other project as well and that buyer worked with 16 to 17 freelancers and he's not responding to my messages as well. The good thing is I haven't send this buyer complete work after my previous experience in here. The message I got from this buyer is work is incomplete even though I sent him screenshots of all work is done but he's not responding as well
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AR. Soban - you win some, you lose some.
You just have to get the balance right that works for you.
If you're expecting a buyer to pay the full amount after they've walked away, you only get the escrow.
If you never want to lose money in the future, then always set your escrow to the full amount.
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