Financial suspend during the dispute of refund

[vladimir_paliy]

Hello, Upwork Community!

I have a huge problem with our financial account suspension due to violation of the terms of disputes.
The situation is even deeper - I couldn’t reply to the dispute in time physically because I had vacation and I didn't enough good check my emails at the same time I’m the only one having access to the Upwork account. So I didn’t violate the terms by intent. It was a force majeure, and I’m terribly sorry for this and firmly understand your position.
The Agency has 20+ open contracts and responsibilities to the current clients and the Agency’s staff waiting for their salary. Regarding the dispute - we’re solving the issue with our client and will find a way to close the dispute and reach the agreement. As, thank God, we could connect via LinkedIn with him. BUT I cannot do anything with the financial account being suspended, specially in case I will have to refund his money.
Since Friday, I tried to get help via Support, but it keeps silent. Please, force the solution of my problem in order not to multiply the difficulties with all the current clients and the one waiting for the dispute solution.
Please, show understanding of the situation and unblock my account for further work. I’m proud to be a part of your greatest Upwork Team and want to continue working on the platform. I always keep all the rules and Upwork Terms of Service and if not the force majeure I would never delay the reply in the dispute.
Let me come back to the normal workflow and solve the dispute with the client. I understand that any future violations will result in my account being suspended and won’t let it happen again.

[AndreaG]

Hi Vladimir,

I'm sorry to hear about this. We followed up with the team handling your case and you should receive an update via support ticket soon.

[vladimir_paliy]

Thank you Andrea for your answer. I look forward to getting this case off the ground

[vladimir_paliy]

Thank you for support, the issue was resolved by agreeing to fulfill the client's requirements without compromise. We have done the required refund.

In this regard, questions for those who know:
1) How does an Upwork protect earnings when working on an hourly contract? Can the client request any amount through a dispute, or only for the last week?
2) For what reason can an Upwork suspend a financial account in a dispute? Can all financial accounts of all teams in agency suspend, or only for the one for which the financial transactions of the dispute were?

Thanks for answers in advance

[AndreaG]

Hi Vladimir,

You can find all of the information about Hourly Protection here. As for your second question, please refer to your support ticket with our team and feel free to ask them any further questions you may have about your case in your private conversation with them.