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colettelewis
Community Member

Where is the captain?

Moderation is going to pot without Petra at the helm. What has Upwork done to her? 

20 REPLIES 20
feed_my_eyes
Community Member

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!!!

 


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.


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.


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

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. 


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.


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......


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. 

 

 


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.


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.


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.

m_terrazas
Community Member

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?

rverang
Community Member

Tried to visit her profile and it said...

 

"This profile is no longer available."

 

Smiley Surprised

e6e1c3fa
Community Member

She is working on Reddit 🙂

battershall-ramo
Community Member

Is Jennfier still around? She might not have been the most helpful contributor, but she was certainly the funniest!

Jennifer is on Reddit, too. 

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.

How bad customers!
They don't let you play? Smiley Very Happy

petra_r
Community Member


Nichola L wrote:

What has Upwork done to her? 


Absolutely nothing 😄 - Just having a bit of a breather!

Hi Petra.
Ok, take a break, but we miss you Smiley Wink

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