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mage2_pro
Community Member

How can I escalate a violation of Upwork Terms of Service by an Upwork employee?

An Upwork employee said me in a private support request: «client has the right to dispute funds up to 60 days from the last payment».


As I understand, it is a violation of the of the Chapter 7.2 («Upwork dispute assistance») of the «Hourly, Bonus, and Expense Payment Agreement with Escrow Instructions» article (https://www.upwork.com/legal#escrow-hourly).

 

Upwork reserves the right to review the Freelancer’s work for 30 days prior to the date of the request for Dispute Assistance for compliance with Hourly Payment Protection requirements, and in its sole discretion, to make adjustments to invoices, and to direct Upwork Escrow to make appropriate releases to Client if it finds work that clearly does not relate Hourly Contract requirements or Client instructions in the Work Diaries or violations of the Terms of Service during its review of the work.

 

How can I escalate it?

8 REPLIES 8
prestonhunter
Community Member

Dmitry:

What is your goal?

 

a) I want help with a situation that applies directly to me. I believe one Upwork employee mishandled my case, and I would like to work with somebody else.

 

b) I believe I encountered an Upwork employee who provided incorrect information. I would like Upwork to help me inform this employee of the correct information, so that this employee's skills, knowledge and performance can be improved.

 

c) An Upwork employee wronged me. I have evidence of this. I would like this employee punished appropriately.

 

d) Other?

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Dmitry,

 

In an effort to make sure contracts are completed successfully and all the parties are satisfied with the outcome, the team can reach out to freelancers and clients and offer help with resolving the issue. This is not the same as the dispute/mediation/arbitration process outlined in the ToS.

The team will also be further communicating with your via the ticket.

~ Valeria
Upwork

«The client has the right to dispute funds or request informal mediation up to 60 days from the last payment» is a direct citation of the Upwork employee regarding an hourly contract.
Is it legal for him to make such statements in a private request?
If so, then how can it be proved exactly?
I have read the whole Upwork's Terms of Service (https://www.upwork.com/legal) and have not found any mention of 60 days.
If it is not legal and the Upwork employee wronged me, then what is a generic instruction to escalate such cases?


Dmitry F wrote:

«The client has the right to dispute funds or request informal mediation up to 60 days from the last payment» is a direct citation of the Upwork employee regarding an hourly contract.
Is it legal for him to make such statements in a private request?


Yes, of course it is "legal" as no laws were broken.

A support rep being wrong is not a criminal offence.

 

Just politely decline to refund in the mediation matter. Problem solved. No need to get all hysterical because a support person got it wrong.

 

 


Petra R wrote:

Problem solved. No need to get all hysterical because a support person got it wrong.

 

 


I'm not at all sure I agree with this. If, in fact, Upwork staff members are giving out incorrect information that may make a freelancer feel obligated to refund money outside the time frame in which a client can actually pursue a dispute, that's a very serious problem.

re: "If it is not legal and the Upwork employee wronged me, then what is a generic instruction to escalate such cases?"

 

Upwork does not have a form or tool that users (freelancers or clients) may use to report Upwork employees who have wronged them.

 

Nor is there a dedicated generic instruction file or help section document that tells users how to do this.


If this is something that you feel would be helpful to the platform, then this Forum (and in fact, this very thread) would be the appropriate place to make such a suggestion and explain your views.

Moreover, the Upwork's employee used the «Urgent Notification» title and ended his initial request with a bold text «please provide your reply within 2 business days», so it looked like an official requirement despite the hourly contract has been ended at 2019-12-03, 2 months ago, and the 30 days assistance period defined in the Chapter 7.2 («Upwork dispute assistance») of the «Hourly, Bonus, and Expense Payment Agreement with Escrow Instructions» article (https://www.upwork.com/legal#escrow-hourly) is expired.

So I am wondering will the employee be punished for a wrong legal information about "60 days" and wasting my working time on answering such "requests"?

re: "So I am wondering will the employee be punished for a wrong legal information about "60 days" and wasting my working time on answering such 'requests"?"

 

It is possible that the employee will be punished, perhaps severely so, based on your report here in this thread.

 

Unfortunately, Upwork does not currently have an Employee Punishment Satus page.

 

You may wish to use the current Customer Support Ticket opened for this situation in preserving to inquire as to the current status of this employee's punishment. Upwork Community Forum Moderators have traditionally of been very forthcoming about this topic, so I think it is unlikely that they will provide very many details about that here in the Forum.

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