Has Upwork removed the Chat support?

[nirveek_ghosh]

Hi,

Till now I've been taking help of Upwork chat support but I don't see that now. Has Upwork removed it?

I'm an exclusive freelancer and also associated with an agency. When a new job is awarded, how do I understand which account has the job been awarded to?

Can anyone help me with this please?

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Nirveek,

If on the offer you see "Staffed by.." and then the name of your agency business manager, it means that the offer was made under the agency, which is the case with your pending offer.

Chat support isn't available for all users at all times, but you can click on the "Get Help from Upwork" button to access help options available to you at the moment.

[nirveek_ghosh]

Hi Valeria,

That's what I was also guessing when I saw the 'Staffed By' thing mentioned in the offer. I've requested the client to revise the offer and send it to my freelancer profile.

There's another question though and I'd appreciate if you can help me out.

When I switched to an 'exclusive freelancer' from a 'agency member', I was expecting I'll have complete rights in terms of what my profile shows. But I still see my profile is linked with the agency profile. Is there a way I can share the freelancer profile link directly with the client, and tell them to award any jobs there? The agency I was associated with is cold for now, and I'm operating on my own. I do not want the hassles of sending the payments to the agencies account, and then get transferred to my account.

Look forward to your feedback.

Thanks,

Nirveek

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Nirveek,

When you apply for jobs, you can choose if you apply under the agency or not. If you applied to the job via the agency, the offer that client sends to you will be through the agency as well.

If you want to receive direct offers from clients as an independent freelancer rather than through the agency, please go to your Settings> My Teams and change your Default Team to "no default team." If you don't want to work through the agency at all, you leave the team on that same page.

[nirveek_ghosh]

Valeria,

Thanks again for the response, but getting in touch with Upwork support has become a little more complicated, and time consuming now with the removal of the chat support.

As far as the offer was concerned, I had requested the client to send it to my freelancer profile (not agency) and the client now comes back saying he can't see my freelancer profile do don't know how to award a job at it.

I'm risking a business here and I don't know how long should the client wait for me.

Could you please help me out? All I need for now is that the offer should be awarded to my freelancer profile, so that on succesful completion I can withdraw the funds directly instead of going through the agencies account.

Thanks in anticipation.

Nirveek

[vladag]

Hi Nirveek,

You can share your freelancer profile link with this client and they can send you a direct offer from your profile.

[nirveek_ghosh]

Hi Vladimir,

Thanks for a quick response.

That's what I had done actually. I had shared my profile URL https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01f79caedc495b0818?viewMode=1 with the client, and the client says they have awarded the job following the link only. But still I see the job is awarded in the agency's account.

When I tried opening the link myself, I didn't see any option of choosing between my freelancer profile and agency profile, so I'm assuming the client got confused in that itself.

Look forward to your feedback.

Thanks,

Nirveek

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Nirveek,

The client made you an offer related to the same job posting. Since you originally sent your proposal for the job post under the agency, the offers sent in relation to that job post will also be under that agency.

[nirveek_ghosh]

Hi Valeria,

This is a project that we (me and the client) have been discussing for a few months. When I submitted the proposal I was a part of the agency, but since then things have changed and the agency no longer is in operations. Hence I'm working as an exclusive freelancer now.

Unfortunately when the client agreed to start the project, things this side have changed, and I've been awarded the job in the agency's account.

I've explained the things to the client also and they are open to award it to my freelancer account, but aren't getting any options to do that.

What can be done in such a case?

 - Nirveek

[kochubei_valeria]

Nirveek,

As long as the client chooses the related job posting when they send you an offer or send it via the interview room, it will be under the agency since the original proposal was under the agency.

The client can try to go to your profile, click Hire Now and send a direct offer not linked to the original posting.

Additionally, if you are not planning to work with the agency anymore you can always leave it under Settings> My Teams.

[serafindesigns]

I have an issue Valerie that only a rep can handle. You said it's only available at certain times, but chat was always there for me.

Chat was a great way to get things fixed and now it's gone.

[2a05aa63]

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Stef S wrote:
I have an issue Valerie that only a rep can handle. You said it's only available at certain times, but chat was always there for me.

Chat was a great way to get things fixed and now it's gone.

---

4 years have passed. 

[petra_r]

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Viacheslav K wrote:

---

Stef S wrote:
Chat was a great way to get things fixed and now it's gone.

---

4 years have passed. 

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Chat is available (to top rated freelancers, which you are) after you have gone through the lengthy process of getting there (clicking on the bot icon at the bottom of the page.)

[colettelewis]

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@Nirveek G wrote:

Hi,

Till now I've been taking help of Upwork chat support but I don't see that now. Has Upwork removed it?

I'm an exclusive freelancer and also associated with an agency. When a new job is awarded, how do I understand which account has the job been awarded to?

Can anyone help me with this please?

---

 I wish I could help you. Chat or any kind of communication with customer support is not available to me either, and I am top rated. The interface has completely changed. Perhaps a mod will intervene. 

So what is going on? I suppose I am being punished because I keep contacting  customer support for academic fraud - is that it  Upwork?

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Nichola,

The help center design has changed but definitely not to punish Upwork users. With the new flow, once you click "Get Help from Upwork" button, you'll be selecting the options that best describe your use of the site and the question(s) you have. We can then show the best "self-help" options we have available for these questions or get you to the appropriate support team for help. It may take some getting used to, but we're confident this will improve the overall experience you have when you need to contact us for help.

[colettelewis]

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@Valeria K wrote:

Hi Nichola,

The help center design has changed but definitely not to punish Upwork users. With the new flow, once you click "Get Help from Upwork" button, you'll be selecting the options that best describe your use of the site and the question(s) you have. We can then show the best "self-help" options we have available for these questions or get you to the appropriate support team for help. It may take some getting used to, but we're confident this will improve the overall experience you have when you need to contact us for help.

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 The options I have been given  bear no relation to this clause in the Terms of use:

3. REPORTING AND CORRECTING VIOLATIONS

If you become aware of any violation of these Terms, you must immediately report it to Customer Service. You agree to assist us with any investigation we undertake and to take any remedial steps we require in order to correct a violation of these Terms.

Also, if Upwork has moved the goalposts on chat availability to top-rated freelancers, would you please be transparent and say so.

[kochubei_valeria]

Nichola,

If the options you see don't provide the help you need, please click this button:

Then click this button:

And support options available to you will show. I just checked and chat is among the options available to you.

[colettelewis]

I've just followed all the moves - and yes - eventually I reached support or chat. Sorry Valeria, I know this is not your decision, but why make access to support so extremely difficult and so extremely time-consuming? 

[nirveek_ghosh]

Nichola,

Can you share the moves please? I somehow don't get any clue how to reach the chat.

Thanks,

Nirveek

[petra_r]

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@Nirveek G wrote:

Nichola,

Can you share the moves please? I somehow don't get any clue how to reach the chat.

Thanks,

Nirveek

---

Nirveek, you will not find the Cat Support option, you are not top rated. Submit a normal ticket instead. 

[nirveek_ghosh]

Isn't that a little biased 🙂

With a close to 90% job success score for over 12 months, I'm not top rated (because of reasons unknown to me). And now I've been stopped using the chat support as well for that.

[kochubei_valeria]

Nichola,

I'm sorry you find it confusing. As I explained earlier with the new flow we intend to direct users to best self-help options and if they still can't find answers to their questions, they'll be directed to the best team that can address their concerns. That way most users can actually find answers to their questions faster than before.

[mtngigi]

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@Valeria K wrote:

Nichola,

I'm sorry you find it confusing. As I explained earlier with the new flow we intend to direct users to best self-help options and if they still can't find answers to their questions, they'll be directed to the best team that can address their concerns. That way most users can actually find answers to their questions faster than before.

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"Faster" being a relative term. It was not readily apparent that those of us with access to live chat could still get there, but only by going through quite a few steps. An email (or something) to announce this new process would have been appreciated.