Changes to Connects

Logan K · Apr 3, 2019 12:00:40 AM

for all intent and purposes, one can only bombard potential clients 30 times a month.
I've been with Upwork for many years and have hundreds of hours logged. Not to mention the flat rate jobs. I don't see the point in punishing the real freelancers. It's just another ploy for them to make more money from us, And I think it's pathetic.

Hermann M · May 24, 2019 12:20:01 AM

I don't think this is going to help Tiffany - if you have ever been to places like India or Bangladesh you notice how they have workshops repairing disposable lighters with virtual slave labour - I can just see how some Chap with some money opens a workshop and hires dozens of freelancers and people who get 10 cents per application they write within a joint pot of connects. The Chap financing this will retain 50% or more of the pay. This is a normal business model in those countries.

I come accross more and more clients, when looking at the average hourly pay it is something rediculos like $3.50 per hour and wonder where Upworks is heading....

Robert L · Apr 2, 2019 11:25:48 AM

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Will these connects be refunded when time waster job posters get their job removed (the ones that never hire)?

Otherwise, it's just another reason to move away from Upwork really (I prefer invoicing directly anyway)

Tami B · Apr 2, 2019 11:51:28 AM

I don't hate that idea. I agree that people post and waste our time, I mean how many of us have seen a teenager post for their school project then remove it? I have three jobs just sitting there because someone posted it and never came back.

chirag d · Apr 2, 2019 12:02:51 PM

IMO, I scanned the client profile before start bidding. Same way as the client does. They scan the profile before sending an invite.

Logan K · Apr 3, 2019 12:03:28 AM

No, clients can still post jobs that they have no intention of filling.
Upwork is like "Hey freelancers, pay us and then pay us somemore if by some slim chance the client actually hires one someone"

Khurram J · Apr 2, 2019 10:49:42 AM

And I am sure they havn't yet worked out a way to eliminate the fake job posts or place a panelty for those who post but don't hire.
The freelance platforms are so volatile, For freelancers like me consistent income and maintaining a JSS is already becoming more and more difficult and now with these ever changing policies it seems things will be more difficult to stay in freelance business for long.

Yogesh J · Apr 2, 2019 11:45:30 AM

The FAQ does say that they will refund the connects if no one is hired for the job. So i guess, we won't have to worry about that anymore.

Simon W · Apr 3, 2019 02:06:14 AM

Yogesh J wrote:
The FAQ does say that they will refund the connects if no one is hired for the job. So i guess, we won't have to worry about that anymore.

If the client doesn’t close the job then it never reaches a situation of them not hiring anyone though

Roberto S · Jun 20, 2019 04:31:06 PM

Simon W wrote:
Yogesh J wrote:
The FAQ does say that they will refund the connects if no one is hired for the job. So i guess, we won't have to worry about that anymore.
If the client doesn’t close the job then it never reaches a situation of them not hiring anyone though

I really laughed at Yogesh comment. I opened a ticket last week because I had a submitted proposal (not archived, they are active) from 1 year ago.
I sent a lot of proposal in these years and I only got refunded like 1 or 2 times. Why is this, you ask? Well, clients tend to just leave their jobs open, and if they don't do any action on their job offer for 30 days (maybe 60, can't remember at the moment) that job gets cancelled and no refunds are given.
This is extremely unfair and moreover it is illogical, especially now that we have to pay for connects. In my chat with the support I pointed out more than 10 submitted proposals (out of 20, not archived) with 0 interviews and 0 invites, and the last view by the client was the same day or the day after the job got posted (29+ days before).
What does it mean? It means that a lot of job offers get probably posted not only on Upwork, and that is perfectly logical, I mean I'd do the same if I need to hire somebody online. But the fact is that the client just leaves its job open, and Upwork can't do anything about it. Perfectly normal, you can't do anything about it, but why a freelancer won't get a refund if nobody gets hired because the client is too lazy to close its job?

We need to stand together on this, Upwork has been ignoring most freelancers for months, and the threads on this same forum community are proofs of the growing unhappiness among everybody.

Why can't we get a refund if the job is "cancelled" automatically because the client forgot to pay attention to it
Why can't we see if the client has seen our proposal. A "X viewed your proposal" notification would be the least we can hope to get