Any reason why we can't contact support anymore?

[ottavinidesign]

So, my Top Rated status got randomly removed (even though I feel like I'm eligible as I've been on 100% JSS for a while now even though I'm still in contact and working with a long-term client and a couple of upcoming new clients aswell...however since payments have been a bit "slower" this last period (for obvious reasons) Upwork decided to pull the plug until I get the next payment, but that's beside the point of this thread really...

I decided to head to Customer Support to ask about this whole situation but my "Get Help" button is greyed out and their new automated bot is utterly useless...basically functioning as a fancier (and much clunkier) search bar, just like the one that's up top on the "Upwork help" page.

Am I right to think that since I'm no longer Top Rated I can't contact customer support AT ALL? (since that's listed as a unique feature for the badge-owners) Because that's ridiculous...as someone who was Top Rated up until yesterday...and for some shanenigan about payments and such I INSTANTLY lost that feature basically means I have to solve my own issue (which honestly means waiting for my next payment so it "triggers" the automated "Oh, this guy is actually top-rated?" response to whatever system they have in place detecting it right now...).

That's so dumb imho...customer support should be offered to everyone, especially people who did have said benefit not long ago (in the case they want to ask clarifications on why these benefits got removed etc). Gosh, I remember when everyone used to have that privilege...

[AleksandarD]

Hi Davide,

I'm sorry to hear about your Top Rated badge. One of the requirements to be eligible and after, maintain the badge is to have 12-month earnings of at least $1,000. As you are not meeting that requirement anymore, the badge was removed. However, once you meet all the requirements from this help article, the badge will start showing on your profile once again.

Regarding your problems with contacting the support. There are many ways how you can get help. You can find the “Get Help” button at the bottom of every help article and the search results page. You can also get help from our chatbot by clicking the “Chat with Support Bot” button found in the help center. It'll ask you to type in your question, then offer possible solutions. If those solutions don't fully address your question, you can scroll down past them, click "Contact Support" and select your question's category. Once you click "Continue," you should see your support options. You can also send us a message on any official Upwork social media channel. You can find the links in the footer section of the Upwork Community or Upwork platform as shown in this screenshot. As you already know, the Community is always open for help and discussion!

Thank you.