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cheridoyle
Community Member

Is there a way to report a (current, not potential) client for asking to take work off of Upwork?

I occasionally am asked by prospective clients to take work outside of upwork, and of course decline, and report their job posting. but what can I do when it is a client I am currently working for, who asks this AFTER some hourly work has been logged? I don't see anywhere within the contract to report a client for this behavior. Also, the request was made via text so there's no record of it on Upwork. What to do?

9 REPLIES 9
abinadab-agbo
Community Member

Tough spot to be in!

Consider NOT reporting them until after the contract has ended.

If you report them and Upwork warns them about it they'll know you are the one who reported them and will likely leave a terrible review.

 

Re:  Also, the request was made via text so there's no record of it on Upwork.

 

Do people still text lol. Anyway, it's for this reason that it is advised to keep, or at least reference all comms on Upwork messages.

65dab6ce
Community Member

Some clients don't know that asking such is a literal violation. I've had clients ask me this and I simply explain to them that it is against the TOS and I could lose my account (read: livelihood). They usually apologize and we keep going on Upwork.

 

Some clients think they're doing you a favor by asking so that you get all the money and not have to pay fees. Some are just looking to get the work done and not pay you, (how would you ensure that you get paid without the 3rd party protection offered on Upwork?)

 

So Cheri, I'll say let your client know the consequences and he should understand. If he still insists, you might have to run.

 

 

 

shefen
Community Member

I had a client do that, offer to pay me outside of Upwork after we had started working together, and some payments had been made. I declined the offer, explaining how Upwork handling payments is useful to me, and that was that.

 

This is basically a good client and I got the impression that they made the offer as a favor to me, sort of a bonus. Maybe they said that outright, I don't recall. I've continued to do work for them.

 

Not sure I would do the same for other clients.

If I had a CURRENT client who asked me to take work off of Upwork, I would just say no and continue earning money from him through Upwork.

tlsanders
Community Member

Why would you not just say, "Actually, Upwork's TOS require us to work through the platform for two years." ?

 

 

JoanneP
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Cheri,

 

Can you please send me a Pm with more information so I can check this for you? Also, you can flag any activity that looks suspicious or seems inappropriate by clicking on the flagging option. Please check this help article for more information. Thanks.

~ Joanne
Upwork
ptw_gj
Community Member

i dont know how to flag the activity, but i was contacted a while ago by an organization that already hired mass talent off upwork, they are all working for "free, unless the kickstarter makes"

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Roger,

 

You can click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your report. I'll be sure to escalate it accordingly. 

 

Also, you can check this help article for more information on how to use the flag option found on each job post or message to report any suspicious or inappropriate content.

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork
ptw_gj
Community Member

Hello Bojan, 
when i try to message you i get this:
You do not have sufficient privileges for this resource or its parent to perform this action.

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