May 16, 2021 01:47:01 PM by Nichola L
Moderation is going to pot without Petra at the helm. What has Upwork done to her?
May 16, 2021 01:51:17 PM by Christine A
Yes, the forum hasn't been the same without her. Lots of questions with confusing and/or incorrect responses (if they're read at all).
Free Petra!!!
May 18, 2021 01:12:55 PM by Claudia Z
Christine A wrote:Lots of questions with confusing and/or incorrect responses (if they're read at all).
Free Petra!!!
Can you please provide an example? From what I've noticed Upwork's customer service are doing a pretty good job.
I check occassionally the forum and often find it awkward that Upwork's customer service answer is lost in the thread, browsing several pages just to find the "official" answer, sometimes that's what it really matters. It's like some forum members are in competition with Upwork's CS. The impression created that a member is more valuable then CS is only because a member may be answering in the forum faster then a CS does.
May 20, 2021 12:20:41 AM Edited May 20, 2021 12:24:58 AM by Christine A
Claudia Z wrote:
Christine A wrote:Lots of questions with confusing and/or incorrect responses (if they're read at all).
Free Petra!!!
Can you please provide an example? From what I've noticed Upwork's customer service are doing a pretty good job.
I check occassionally the forum and often find it awkward that Upwork's customer service answer is lost in the thread, browsing several pages just to find the "official" answer, sometimes that's what it really matters. It's like some forum members are in competition with Upwork's CS. The impression created that a member is more valuable then CS is only because a member may be answering in the forum faster then a CS does.
I PMed you some examples - since you asked - but in any case, my post wasn't intended to bash the moderators, but more generally comment on the fact that very few (if any) other community participants have Petra's in-depth knowledge of Upwork combined with freelancing experience. I don't think that either the moderators or forum participants see themselves as competitors; as I see it, we have very different roles. The moderators' job is to, well, moderate - delete any comments that go against the ToS, encourage us to play nicely, and generally facilitate the conversations. And obviously, some questions, e.g. "Why was my account banned?" "Why haven't I received my payment yet?", technical issues etc. are things that only moderators can help with. On the other hand, requests for advice about handling difficult clients, how to write effective proposals, how to juggle multiple projects etc., are questions that one's fellow freelancers are probably better positioned to answer. I don't think that the forum is intended to just be a place in which Upwork employees provide customer service.
May 20, 2021 06:01:31 AM Edited May 20, 2021 06:02:35 AM by Ioannis T
Christine A wrote:I PMed you some examples - since you asked - but in any case, my post wasn't intended to bash the moderators, but more generally comment on the fact that very few (if any) other community participants have Petra's in-depth knowledge of Upwork combined with freelancing experience. I don't think that either the moderators or forum participants see themselves as competitors; as I see it, we have very different roles. The moderators' job is to, well, moderate - delete any comments that go against the ToS, encourage us to play nicely, and generally facilitate the conversations. And obviously, some questions, e.g. "Why was my account banned?" "Why haven't I received my payment yet?", technical issues etc. are things that only moderators can help with. On the other hand, requests for advice about handling difficult clients, how to write effective proposals, how to juggle multiple projects etc., are questions that one's fellow freelancers are probably better positioned to answer. I don't think that the forum is intended to just be a place in which Upwork employees provide customer service.
Additionally, there are many questions, that moderators cannot answer by default, because of their role (it's forbidden for them in some way).
For example questions starting with:
"What would you in this situation, with that difficult client?"
In general questions that need some freelancing experience and have significant level of subjectivity
May 20, 2021 08:14:52 PM by Claudia Z
Thanks Christine for sharing the three examples. I think the answers provided by moderators were appropriate.
Example #2 shows exactly the interfering with moderators responses. The moderator responded based on an actual fact, the moderator didn't assume anything, and probably would have followed up after OP clarification if there weren't others interfering. That client lost the opportunity to receive a canned answer with links to TOS and resources that could help to understand how the platform actually works.
May 21, 2021 02:26:33 AM by Maria T
Claudia Z wrote:Thanks Christine for sharing the three examples. I think the answers provided by moderators were appropriate.
Example #2 shows exactly the interfering with moderators responses. The moderator responded based on an actual fact, the moderator didn't assume anything, and probably would have followed up after OP clarification if there weren't others interfering. That client lost the opportunity to receive a canned answer with links to TOS and resources that could help to understand how the platform actually works.
So, what you really think is that no one other than mods should reply on the forums?
If so, the only thing we would end up having are open tickets and links to help.
There are many freelancers here who have helped me and who have helped others because mods don't always appear.
So I hope that those who really know how this site works will keep "interfering" for a long time.
May 21, 2021 02:09:51 PM by Claudia Z
Maria T wrote:
Claudia Z wrote:Thanks Christine for sharing the three examples. I think the answers provided by moderators were appropriate.
Example #2 shows exactly the interfering with moderators responses. The moderator responded based on an actual fact, the moderator didn't assume anything, and probably would have followed up after OP clarification if there weren't others interfering. That client lost the opportunity to receive a canned answer with links to TOS and resources that could help to understand how the platform actually works.So, what you really think is that no one other than mods should reply on the forums?
If so, the only thing we would end up having are open tickets and links to help.
If this hasn't changed, not everyone has the option to file a ticket, the reason for which many come to post here. "We" would end up having open tickets? Who is we? All big companies offer some sort of customer service system.
The forum is a remedy in the absence or limited access to customer service ... I do think some postings should be "allowed" by long time members to be handled by moderators. Mods often appear, even if answered by members there is still a mod answer lost somewhere in the thread.
There are subjective, opinion asking threads, ofcourse I'm not talking about these kind of threads, surely mods may answer or not ... but even those seem monopolized lol, nobody knows better......
May 22, 2021 04:02:44 AM by Nichola L
Claudia Z wrote:
Maria T wrote:
Claudia Z wrote:Thanks Christine for sharing the three examples. I think the answers provided by moderators were appropriate.
Example #2 shows exactly the interfering with moderators responses. The moderator responded based on an actual fact, the moderator didn't assume anything, and probably would have followed up after OP clarification if there weren't others interfering. That client lost the opportunity to receive a canned answer with links to TOS and resources that could help to understand how the platform actually works.So, what you really think is that no one other than mods should reply on the forums?
If so, the only thing we would end up having are open tickets and links to help.If this hasn't changed, not everyone has the option to file a ticket, the reason for which many come to post here. "We" would end up having open tickets? Who is we? All big companies offer some sort of customer service system.
The forum is a remedy in the absence or limited access to customer service ... I do think some postings should be "allowed" by long time members to be handled by moderators. Mods often appear, even if answered by members there is still a mod answer lost somewhere in the thread.
There are subjective, opinion asking threads, ofcourse I'm not talking about these kind of threads, surely mods may answer or not ... but even those seem monopolized lol, nobody knows better......
____________________________
Lighten up Claudia,
My comment was meant to be more lighthearted than heavy handed. However, in my opinion, there is nobody who knows how the site works better than Petra, and her absence is missed (although she must need a break as her input has been indefatigable - exhausting work) - voilà tout.
May 21, 2021 03:43:32 AM Edited May 21, 2021 03:55:07 AM by Christine A
Claudia Z wrote:Thanks Christine for sharing the three examples. I think the answers provided by moderators were appropriate.
Example #2 shows exactly the interfering with moderators responses. The moderator responded based on an actual fact, the moderator didn't assume anything, and probably would have followed up after OP clarification if there weren't others interfering. That client lost the opportunity to receive a canned answer with links to TOS and resources that could help to understand how the platform actually works.
If you think that having to request a follow up, then get links and a canned response, is more helpful than having somebody else "interfere" by giving a clear, one-sentence explanation, then we'll just have to agree to disagree.
Anyway, like I said, this isn't a competition. As long as the person asking the question gets a timely solution, I don't think they care who supplies the answer. And my original post was only meant to express dismay that this is less likely to happen if Petra isn't around. If other people don't appreciate being given sound advice by freelancers with years of experience, they're free to ignore it.
May 21, 2021 04:25:34 AM by Petra R
Christine A wrote:
And my original post was only meant to express dismay that this is less likely to happen if Petra isn't around.
Maybe, but I actually do think Petra needs to be around LESS.
Claudia, I partly hear what you're saying, but maybe remember that this forum is not designed to be Customer Support, it's a discussion forum for users.
May 21, 2021 05:27:55 AM by Jennifer M
Claudia Z wrote:
Christine A wrote:Lots of questions with confusing and/or incorrect responses (if they're read at all).
Free Petra!!!
Can you please provide an example? From what I've noticed Upwork's customer service are doing a pretty good job.
I check occassionally the forum and often find it awkward that Upwork's customer service answer is lost in the thread, browsing several pages just to find the "official" answer, sometimes that's what it really matters. It's like some forum members are in competition with Upwork's CS. The impression created that a member is more valuable then CS is only because a member may be answering in the forum faster then a CS does.
Meow.
May 16, 2021 01:51:38 PM by Maria T
You are right. The forum is filling up with answers a little difficult to digest, not to mention open tickets, questions that seem to have been read and canned answers.
Where is our enlightenment?
May 16, 2021 05:32:15 PM by Renante V
Tried to visit her profile and it said...
"This profile is no longer available."
May 17, 2021 03:20:38 AM by Ramon B
Is Jennfier still around? She might not have been the most helpful contributor, but she was certainly the funniest!
May 21, 2021 05:26:58 AM by Jennifer M
I r here. I troll mostly reddit now but reddit is about to pull the plug on my favorite sub so we'll all probably flood some other platform. I haven't been able to troll anywhere really because I've been extremely busy with work. I've only been able to play Final Fantasy 13 for 5 hours in the last 2 weeks and this displeases me.
May 19, 2021 04:41:09 AM Edited May 19, 2021 08:52:43 AM by Petra R
Nichola L wrote:What has Upwork done to her?
Absolutely nothing 😄 - Just having a bit of a breather!