Upwork is not protecting freelancers from scams

[tearsinheaven]

That's it! I'm leaving Upwork !

This website keeps getting worse and worse, Let's remember.

First you created this connects system, and forced us to PAY to get them, then you made jobs require more connects not just one (2,4,6 connects)

And you have this nonsence Job Sucess Score which no one actually knows how it works, One freelancer here was talking about having two jobs completed with 5 stars review and yest his JSS was low !!

For me everything that i said was really annoying, but what made me decide to search somewhere else is Fraud !!

We are supposed to be here because it's a safe place to get paid, and Upwork is supposed to be protecting us from those scams.

My last job was an hourly job and the client was in a hurry (now i know why), i worked on his job from 8 PM to 3 AM while my 2 month old child was sick and i CANT cancel the jobs because of this stupid JSS, and the client doesn't want to wait.

After finishing the job i say the $320 i my account in Pending mode, then they disappeared adn money was (reversed)!!

I contacted support and (as usual) they were useless, 

They said " we found evidence of potentially fraudulent activity by a client you’re working with"

I wonder what "Payment Method Verified" means on upwork !!, aren't you supposed to verify his payment method and make sure it's not stolen or something ??

I was expecting upwork to repay me or AT LEAST apologize, but in stead of that they said "if we see future work between you and any client that involves violations of our Terms of Service, your Upwork account may be suspended."

So you are Not protecting me, Not verifiyng clients' payment methods, Not paying me for what i worked, Not even apologizing for all of that but instead threatening me of suspending my account if i got scamed again !!!!!!!!!😡

[luqman_mak]

What was the jobs description? or what did you have to do for your client?

[tearsinheaven]

He needed some 3D graphics to be modeled and rendered

[luqman_mak]

The payment protection, for hourly contracts seems to be better but has more requirements that have to be fully met - logged work diaries, enough activity in the tracker, screenshots showing you actually working on the project etc - even if all that is done, it also caps the protection at your profile rate.

All the responders above have more experience on UW and based on what i can understand from their responses - its more of a blue pill/red pill situation. 
Be patient.

[35dc7172]

Yeah that's a load of crap. I just got $500 reversed a month and a half after the project was done. I had only .5 enter in as manual because it was a phone call and I forgot to enter it in. But all the others were screen captures and 100% legit. But according to upwork, I didn't write in any memos?!!! So they gave this scammer a full refund?!! Actually it was a chargeback. And they were force to get money from me because upwork refuses to lose money although they took 20% and now 10%. The crazy part.. I was telling people to sign up for upwork.. Never again. They don't protect freelancers.

[luqman_mak]

I am sorry about your kid, i hope everything is okay now

[tearsinheaven]

He's ok now, thank you very much for asking 🙂

[colettelewis]

Abanoub wrote:

if we see future work between you and any client that involves violations of our Terms of Service, your Upwork account may be suspended."

______________________________

This is something that struck me in the OP's complaint and I think it needs an explanation. 

Although manual time is not protected, and the OP will not be paid, the "client" appears to have  issued a chargeback, but Upwork has threatened to suspend the OP's account, which seems to me to be entirely unfair. So, If I am not mistaken, I wonder if a moderator could comment on this.

Why are freelancers warned of suspension by Upwork, if  a fraudulent client violates the ToS by issuing a chargeback? And how on earth is a freelancer supposed to know that this is the "client's" intention? 

[feed_my_eyes]

It wasn't a chargeback, it was an hourly contract with most of the time entered manually, and the rest not eligible for payment protection - so if the client disputed the manual time and there was insufficient activity or anything suspicious about the tracked time, they wouldn't have to pay. He was charging more than double his hourly rate as well. So we don't have the complete story and I doubt that a moderator will disclose anything further, but I've never heard of Upwork threatening to suspend a freelancer because a client didn't pay.

[moonraker]

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Abanoub W wrote:

That's it! I'm leaving Upwork !

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OK

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Abanoub W wrote:

and forced us to PAY to get them,

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Nobody is forcing you to pay for connects.

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Abanoub W wrote:

My last job was an hourly job

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GREAT.

Then your payment is protected - provided you used the system as you should have.

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[pgiambalvo]

"I wonder what "Payment Method Verified" means on upwork !!, aren't you supposed to verify his payment method and make sure it's not stolen or something ??"

It means they sent a couple of small charges through to make sure the card was active. It does mean they made sure it wasn't stolen. They do not verify that.

The only way your payments are protected is if you use the time tracker 100% correctly for hourly contracts. Fixed price and manual hourly contract payments to you are not protected if the client's card is later discovered to be stolen, or if the client issues a chargeback. You will not be paid for those and if you have already withdrawn the money, you will have to pay it back to Upwork yourself. As for protecting us from scams, they do their best to try to filter them out but many slip through to our feeds anyway.

[m_terrazas]

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Abanoub W wrote:

...................................

My last job was an hourly job and the client was in a hurry (now i know why), i worked on his job from 8 PM to 3 AM while my 2 month old child was sick and i CANT cancel the jobs because of this stupid JSS, and the client doesn't want to wait.

................

If you used the time tracker correctly, your payment is protected, because Upwork will pay you.
Did you record the hours worked or was it manual time?
If it is the latter and your client was a scammer, you will not see your payment.

[tearsinheaven]

I added 4 hours manually and 2 hours was using the recorder .. Upwork didn't pay me for any!

[feed_my_eyes]

Payment protection covers your usual hourly rate, which your profile says is $25. You were trying to charge this client more than double your rate. (And obviously, manual time isn't covered at all.)

[m_terrazas]

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Abanoub W wrote:

I added 4 hours manually and 2 hours was using the recorder .. Upwork didn't pay me for any!

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Well, that doesn't clear anything up for me.
Manual hours are not protected.
The recorded hours are only protected if they meet specific requirements that I don't know if they have been met.
And, you're charging way above your hourly rate. If Upwork paid you for meeting all the specifications, it would only do so at your hourly rate, not what you charged the client.

ETA- Here are instructions on how it works, in case you haven't read it:
https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211068288-Hourly-Protection

[pgiambalvo]

Did you ever get any money?

[the-right-writer]

"That's it! I'm leaving Upwork !"

That is your right.     

First you created this connects system, and forced us to PAY to get them, then you made jobs require more connects not just one (2,4,6 connects)

Why is this a problem? Everyone pays the same amount.

"And you have this nonsence Job Sucess Score which no one actually knows how it works"

Upwork says if they told us exactly how the JSS is calculated, some would game the system. They are probably right. Look at the disaster the free connects for interviews has caused.

"One freelancer here was talking about having two jobs completed with 5 stars review and yest his JSS was low !!"

Private feedback can be different from the public view. People often don't want to leave bad public reviews. Also, there are other factors than just the feedback.

"For me everything that i said was really annoying, but what made me decide to search somewhere else is Fraud !!"

What has Upwork done that merits the term fraud?

"We are supposed to be here because it's a safe place to get paid, and Upwork is supposed to be protecting us from those scams."

That is how Upwork "protects" you. An hourly tracked job does have protection.

"They said "we found evidence of potentially fraudulent activity by a client you're working with"

OK.

"I wonder what "Payment Method Verified" means on upwork !!,"

It means when the client first posts a job, Upwork runs two or three tiny charges to the card to ensure it is valid. However, the scammers use stolen cards before the victim or bank has canceled the card. Then after the freelancer does the work/nonsense busywork, they find the money was never really there. The truth is that a verified payment really means nothing.

"aren't you supposed to verify his payment method and make sure it's not stolen or something ??"

At the time the card is presented, it registers as valid.

"I was expecting upwork to repay me or AT LEAST apologize, but in stead of that they said "if we see future work between you and any client that involves violations of our Terms of Service, your Upwork account may be suspended."

It sounds as if Upwork thinks you did something wrong as well.

"So you are Not protecting me, Not verifiyng clients' payment methods, Not paying me for what i worked, Not even apologizing for all of that but instead threatening me of suspending my account if i got scamed again !!!!!!!!!"

There is more to this incident. Just getting scammed does not result in Upwork threatening to toss you out. I believe there were TOS violations from both parties.

Upwork is not protecting you unless you used the tracker feature 100% correctly and didn't violate the TOS.

[1bebe0ae]

Abanoub, something very similar just happened to me. I worked a couple of hours for $40 per hour for a total of $260 and was expecting to get paid. However, the client abruptly cancelled the contract and left a 1-star review. A few days later I saw that the amount was refunded to the client without even accepting a refund myself. When I contacted Upwork they said the client was fraudulentl and I was not protected by Upwork Hourly Protection (even though the payment method was verified!). Even worse they threatened me with account suspension if I violate their terms and conditions again in the future, which is crazy. This platform sucks and I guess I'll find another ways to get clients.