Peace of mind with Upwork.

[ahsan16ali]

If you are subscribed to Upwork subreddit or following any social media, you'd come across "Upwork banned my account permanently" at least once every week. And usually Upwork doesn't even tell what the reason is and you get automated replies.

Some of these stories are pretty strange too. Like this dude used a shared PC for verification at a co-working place and got suspended. This other dude was working with a client and the client was involved in some illegal activity and Upwork suspended his account too, and he had nothing to with that illegal activity -- according to him anyway. And this other dude couldn't verify his bank account despite having all the valid documents.

Some clever people might say "don't put all your eggs in one basket" and that is true. But it's hard to build your profile everywhere. Usually, only one site will work for you. 

How can you be so sure that one day you won't wake up to “While we understand your concern, we can’t share specific information on why your account was suspended.” email?

[prestonhunter]

All you need to do is unsubscribe to that subreddit. Problem solved.

[robin_hyman]

How do you know so many people suspended?  Have you been suspended?  It's usually for good cause.  There are thousands of freelancers on this platform and a given number of clients.  Clients are what drive the revenue.  If there are freelancers doing sketchy things they need to be suspended.  

Just follow the rules and you shouldn't have a problem.  Is it that hard?  

[petra_r]

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Ahsan A wrote:

Like this dude used a shared PC for verification at a co-working place and got suspended.

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That guy lied through his back teeth and changed his story.

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Ahsan A wrote:

This other dude was working with a client and the client was involved in some illegal activity and Upwork suspended his account too,

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I know for a fact that he got his account reinstated.

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Ahsan A wrote:

And this other dude couldn't verify his bank account despite having all the valid documents.

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How do you know the documents were valid?

[moonraker · Accepted solution]

You should always take whatever you read online with a pinch of salt; people are often dishonest and try to cover up their short-comings. Some are just plain bitter because they couldn't make it work for them. Others are just not very smart. 

That said, it is wise to diversify anyway. I don't expect Upwork or my account to disappear any time soon, but I am keeping some eggs in different baskets just in case. Personally, I have a side project on the go that I hope will eventually become my main project. It should at least help to pay the bills in the unlikely event that I wake up tomorrow to find that Upwork is no more.