I am a "Top Rated Plus" freelancer and my account got suspended

[#1]

Hi,

I received an email at 10:19 PM telling me that my upwork account has been suspended because, allegedly, my account is connected to other upwork accounts. 

In the email, two different account creation dates were mentioned and Upwork team were asking me which account do you want to keep? 

As I have only been using a single account since 2014. I had no idea where they had gotten the second account from. They did not give me any warning before suspending my account. Just to remind you again, I am a "Top Rated PLUS" freelancer. This award was given to me by Upwork for my years of hard work. Yet, I still wasn't given any warning or I wasn't asked any questions prior the suspension. 

I wish they had asked first because when your account gets suspended, all the bids that you have put on different projects are automatically withdrawn. You cannot withdraw money from you account. You cannot bid on any new projects. All this could be avoided if they just asked me directly about this other account.

After investigating myself, I came to know that the other account was my elder brother's account. He started using his account recently and we live in the same house. I remember during the verification phase, I submitted a photo of myself holding my government issued ID card. I am sure my brother must have done the same. One person cannot have two different government issued ID cards. If they thought our faces are similar, this is because we come from the same mother and father. 

It is 3:33 AM in my country and my account still has not been restored. I contacted the help support and they said that it may take upto 48 hours. All the proposals I sent and our precious time could've been saved if they just asked before taking such a strict action. Let me remind, once again, I was awarded "Top Rated PLUS" freelancer badge and I have been treated like that. I, now, feel that this badge does not mean much. All those years of hard work trying to get this badge did not mean much. 

I have already uploaded my government issued ID card during the verification process and my brother has uploaded his as well. If that is not enough to prove that we are two separate individuals using our own separate accounts, then we will provide any other document that is needed.

Once proved, that we are two different individuals using our own separate accounts, what will a fair compensation be for the damage that has been done to us? 

Regards
Taha Farooq

[#2]

Hi Taha,

I understand that it's very important for you to have this addressed as soon as possible. Rest assured the team is reviewing the information available. We've also followed up with them about your situation and the concerns you shared. They will be updating you about your account via your support ticket.

[#3]

Thank you for the follow up. 

I did receive another message from them. They said that they are terribly sorry for the delay and inconvenience caused and they are actively reviewing this case and they cannot provide an ETA right now.

It is 9:54 AM,  almost 12 hours have passed since they suspended my account. Saying that you are sorry is one thing, doing something about it is another. They expect me to believe that they are terribly sorry for the delay and inconvenience caused and they are actively working on it when they cannot even give me an ETA. 

Comparing my government issued ID card number with brother's should prove that we are two separate individuals. If that is not enough, we can provide more documents proving the fact that we are not one, but two separate individuals. There would not have been any "case" to review, in the first place, if they just expressed their concerns prior to suspension. Even now, I do not understand why is it taking so much time to confirm that I am not using two Upwork accounts, we are two separate individuals with two separate accounts.

[#4]

Just in case any reader is wondering about what happened next. I just got my account restored. Upwork has realized their mistake and they apologised and offered a one month Freelancer Plus membership for free.

I do not think this compensation is fair as the damages were more than a 15 USD worth membership but I appreciate the fact that they realized their mistake and offered a compensation as well. 

I hope any other "Top Rated Plus" or "Top Rated" or a regular freelancer does not go through this unannounced suspension for no reason at all in the future. The most disappointing part was that no trust was shown by Upwork to a "Top Rated PLUS" freelancer at all. 

Anyway, we must keep moving, keep working hard.