Remove the call option from Upwork

[alphazomgy]

We all know you can't have a "successful" phone conversation with someone through Upwork.

(I've never heard of ANYONE being able to.)

Yet Upwork continues to pretend that you can call people via the Upwork platform.

I'm raising the issue because I received an offer from a client who just joined Upwork (they literally just joined a couple days ago, haven't ever hired on Upwork before.) 

The problem? This client wanted to call me to discuss their offer... THROUGH UPWORK!

(Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnn)

Yeah, as soon as they told me that, I knew what was coming. This is what I said: 

"Great! So fair warning, while Upwork has an amazing platform, the one feature they've neglected over the years is their phone option."

I also said: "If we can't get it to work, I'm happy to have our call over our regular phones, skype, zoom, whatever you use. Have a good night!" 

The next morning (today) the client tried to call me...

This is an exact quote of what my client said, "Yes, you're right- this thing is crap. haha. Can I just call your cell?"

As a long-term freelancer and investor in Upwork, I don't like to see people saying anything about Upwork is crap, unless it's a crappy client or crappy freelancer.

At this point, it would be better for Upwork to remove the call option. It's not like anyone uses it anyway, all it does is cause customer disatisfaction/dissapointment.

I hope this issue receives attention from the right people.

[michael_skaggs]

I've only tried to use it once or twice, but glad it's not just me that has issues with it. Here I was thinking there was something wonky with my setup that kept it from working!

[prestonhunter]

Alexander/Michael:

Although I have never been able to use it successfully (and I have tried on many occasions), I HAVE seen sporadic reports here in the Forum that the tool has - under rare circumstances - worked for actual users.

[michael_skaggs]

What would you guess is the ratio of successful Upwork calls to, say, legitimate Hangouts interviews.

[petra_r]

I tried three times. Success rate 0.

I will never try again.

I have, however, seen a post or two where the poster did say they managed to make it work...

[AveryO]

Hi Alexander, 

While we understand that the video and call on Upwork have issues, we appreciate that you took the time to share this with us. I'll go ahead and share this with the team. 

In case you can send me more information, such as a screen grab of what happens when you click on the call button, please do so that I can send it over for the team's reference. 

Thank you, Alexander!