Upwork sent me my client's weekly billing...

[anima9]

I have the screenshot, but obviously Upwork mods would remove it. I want people to know in case they panicked like I did.

Anyway, I was notified thru email that my client's charges this week for featured posts (amounting to $30) was charged to my account as HIRING MANAGER.

Two things:

1. I'm not a hiring manager.
2. I wasn't supposed to receive that email.

I notified Upwork support and felt relieved that they know it's a bug and I won't be charged anything. They said they were also fixing it and will notify me of any news.

I asked them if I should notify my client for this apparent BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY and discouraged me.

Now, does this validate our worries about Upwork security failures despite premium fees?

[AveryO]

Hi Robert, 

I would like to confirm that the affected users will be notified separately by the team, with more information about the bug. Rest assured that the team is working to resolve this issue. 

[gilbert-phyllis]

I received the same email this morning and accidentally deleted it before scrutinizing it. This is troubling.

[jmccpa]

I am told that "support" is aware of this issue.  I received an email this morning from UW with a bill for $29.99 as "Hiring Manager" for one of my clients.  It refers to a "Featured Post". I understand that I am not the only FL that received this kind of bill.

I am in no way a Hiring Manager for a client.  The breaching of the "wall" between Freelancers and Clients when it comes to money is a great concern to me.

I am waiting for a response from my Client but he may not even be aware of this.

Mods - any knowledge of this or response. 

Joe

[jmccpa]

I contacted Customer Service via Chat.  They said:  "

Fred A.

Hi Joseph!

I'd be happy to assist you on your concern about the notification you have received.

First, we want to apologize fro the inconvenience it has caused you.

The notification you have received is a mistake and should be for Client."

Joe

[colettelewis]

It is interesting that no mods have responded to this rather serious breach - commented on several hours ago.

[jmccpa]

Avery did respond as per above but no email yet from U to each of us that got the bill.

[shetani]

I received a client's entire weekly bill showing 4-5 freelancers working with them, their project names, their weekly limits, and how much they worked/charged during the week.

New low for Upwork & its incompetent IT team. What a s***show.

[palecia123]

I know many people who hire can pay to have a featured post, but I have a notification that says that, as a freelancer, I have a charge of $29.99 as "Hiring Manager". I am a freelancer and I opened an agency this month, and I payed $20 for it, that's all I know I had to pay. I URGENTLY need an explanation. I attach the notification I got in my feed and the email Upwork sent me. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Raul,

Rest assured you were not charged for anything else besides your membership plan. You were affected by a bug and received the notification by mistake. Our team is working on resolving this as soon as possible, thank you.

[kochubei_valeria]

Ines,

I checked and it looks like you do have Hiring Manager permissions for some of your clients' accounts so you would be getting that information by design for those companies.

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi All,

To clarify, a billing summary for posting one or more Featured Jobs was emailed to some users by mistake. Unless they posted a Featured Job they have not and will not be billed. No billing information (credit card info, banking details, etc.) was shared and those not already authorized to view the billing information were not able to access it.

We do understand that receiving these emails caused confusion and concerns, and we apologize for that. Our engineers are taking steps to make sure this doesn't happen again. If you've been affected by this issue, you'll be receiving an email with more information shortly.

[bcf23d93]

I have to confess, I work with the web and have been advising clients on their web platforms for much of my career. Upwork is a great concept and platform - but it has the worst and most confusing billing display / process I have ever come across. It would appear from a simple search on the issue that many users have been reporting the same issue for more than 4 years. It would save so much time and frustration if Upwork changed the way it displays billing to a simple list showing a headline of amounts actually paid with a list of how these are then made up below. The answer that users can filter to get a clearer view is not helpful - why not pre-filter to only show payments made then allow people to click for a breakdown? Yours constructively....

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Grant,

Thank you for your feedback, I will share it with our team.