Hi Everyone,
I just learned that I have zero support as a freelancer on Upwork unless I allow Upwork to have access to my computer. I tried it once, it opened a vulnerability and a potential client on a screen share hacked my computer to the black screen of death right in front of me and I had to immediately go buy a new computer. No support was offered by Upwork for that incidence, regardless of what they say they will do for the time tracking.
I will never use their tracker again, regardless of what they say and apple has told me to avoid it as well.
So... I have no rights, and Upwork does nothing to reduce scams and relys on the freelancer solely to manage and to report anything scamming or nagative by a job poster. They have told me that directly, when I've tried to escallate for help. I have also been told this site is only escrow.
If I contact them for any help, they flag MY account for the attempted scam by the client and penalize me, with nothing more than a slap on the wrist (at best) to the scamming client.
The clients know this and use this information to their advantage. So, basically, Upwork is encouraging scams at the expense of their freelancers. I also have zero employee rights as a freelancer with the government and at least 2-3 times a year I am not paid due to scams. I have also endured more sexual harrassment than I have ever experienced in my life. Along with people trying to force me to work on commission only by putting me down to encourage me to prove my ability. Didn't California pass a law, Freelancing is not Free. This company is based in Cali. That I just don't understand. Then there's the constant hacking attemps and phishing on any platform they can find me. Watch out for your Google Drive, people.
Anytime I report issues or make a comment in this community, Upwork sends their secret shopper police to lure me into further violation so they can kick ME off this site.
I have also experienced a flood of clients that were clearly just trying to drag down my reviews and hurt my profile which makes me wonder who was behind that? Maybe other freelancers, or the bot companies on here. I've been on this site for 5 years. I would get so many invites and offers I had more work to do than I could and rarely looked for work. Now, I can barely get any attention on this site. I've been told by my clients I am one of the most qualified for what I do and I do not charge the highest rate. I'm trying to be fair.
I'm curious if others have had this experience. This feels like some kind of exploitation, after charging so much just to apply for jobs that may or may not even be legit (I've seen posts to hack a phone even), then Upwork takes a huge chunk of your income and holds your money for sooooo long to gain interest before they pay you. Then the government takes a huge chunk and what's left? This site is seems to have a rather negative impact while Upwork does nothing to set a standard or expactation with their job posters. Upwork has told me themselves they do it like this because they don't want to discourage people from posting jobs on this site. Where is the support for the freelancers, here? What are we paying for?
I've been on this site for 5 years and it was once just ok. Now its worse and just an excuse to charge for everything and leave breadcrumbs for the person creating not only the commerce for this site but for many companies.
Tell me, have you had a similar experience?
