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jaymondal
Community Member

Where can I file complaint against Upwork work ethics?

Hello,

Recently I started to work as freelancer but I was being screwed by a client and ultimately by Upwork. Upwork has a dumb and stupid rule that if a client files dispute claim and the freelancer logged time manually within weekly hour limit (Upwork hourly contract) Upwork throwaway all manually logged time and ultimately handover client a win and refund all the money. This is the dumbest and stupidiest rule ever!!

Here's what happed: I was helping a client on a document, and I got it ready and have them delivered right on time as discussed and agreed. There was nothing wrong with the document, everything was great and they accepted it. Two days later I sudenly received an email notifying me that client disputed entire 30h of work. That was a sudden sock for me. Then I reached out to the client but he never responded me back. 

Finally Upwork refunded all 2100$ to the client stating that I logged work hours manually and they don't count manually logged hours. What a dumb and stupid rule!!! So I wasted 30h of hard work for nothing?? And the client got all done for free??? Not everyone works in **bleep**ing IT and writing codes  so they don't need to be online all the time, and Upwork should know that!!!

 

I want to file a complant against this. Where can I file this complaint? 

24 REPLIES 24
petra_r
Community Member


Jay M wrote:

 if a client files dispute claim and the freelancer logged time manually within weekly hour limit (Upwork hourly contract) Upwork throwaway all manually logged time and ultimately handover client a win and refund all the money.   


It's a rule you were informed of. 

 


Jay M wrote:

I want to file a complant against this. Where can I file this complaint? Probably federal level?  


It would ridiculous to do so. On what basis? You can't just launch legal action just because you haven't read and don't like terms of service. You'd be laughed out of court after spending thousands on even getting it there. You're not even in the same country.

Well, what about people working offline? How can they track time? Not
everyone needs to be online to get the work done.
To me it looks like Upwork only cares about the clients and not the
freelancers?
Mine was just one example, but I would assume there have been thousands of
similar cases!!

re: " Well, what about people working offline? How can they track time?"

 

There are indeed some types of work which can NOT be tracked using the time-tracker. If a person is photographing bridges, or painting a book cover in watercolors, or baking a cake to be photographed... None of these things can be done online. The freelancers who provide these services either use fixed-price contracts, or they use manually-logged time while understanding the risks.

 

re: "To me it looks like Upwork only cares about the clients and not the freelancers?"

As somebody who primarily uses Upwork as a freelancer... I HOPE that Upwork cares primarily about the clients. But I also appreciate the fact that Upwork also cares about freelancers.


re: Mine was just one example, but I would assume there have been thousands of similar cases"

 

I am certain that there have indeed been thousands of cases in which freelancers logged manual time, and then clients disputed those hours and the freelancer was not paid.

This does not negate the fact that for the most part, clients who use Upwork are honest and pay freelancers as expected. And there are thousands of Upwork freelancers who use manually-logged time exclusively or extensively, and are successful in doing so.

 

It's all about knowing the rules, and using them to one's advantage.

 

A simple-enough solution for freelancers who work offline is to limit the time they spend working for new/unknown clients, until those clients demonstrate themselves to be trustworthy.


Jay M wrote:
Well, what about people working offline? How can they track time? 

They may use fixed rate contracts or avoid disputes. I've logged over 14,000 hours and never, ever had a client dispute a single minute of that.

 

Jay M wrote:

Yes, I will stop using Upwork within a week. It's not worth using. 


Because of one poor experience? Bit dramatic and drastic, wouldn't you say? "Throwing the baby out with the bathwater" springs to mind.

 


Jay M wrote:

Yes, I will stop using Upwork within a week. It's not worth using.

Well, I have an account but I hardly used. Lately I have been trying. 

 

So far my impression about Upwork: 

>99% clients are looking for really cheap labor. I mean really cheap labor. 


This is not my experience, but the good clients paying the good rates do make it worthwhile. Of course, you will have some issues attracting them with your discrepancy between your inflated profile rate compared to what you really work for consistently.

tlbp
Community Member


Petra R wrote:

Jay M wrote:

 if a client files dispute claim and the freelancer logged time manually within weekly hour limit (Upwork hourly contract) Upwork throwaway all manually logged time and ultimately handover client a win and refund all the money.   


It's a rule you were informed of. 

 


Jay M wrote:

I want to file a complant against this. Where can I file this complaint? Probably federal level?  


It would ridiculous to do so. On what basis? You can't just launch legal action just because you haven't read and don't like terms of service. You'd be laughed out of court after spending thousands on even getting it there. You're not even in the same country.


You would be surprised at what people can file federal cases over. I recommend he hire a Harvard graduate--they make all the best arguments. 

petra_r
Community Member


Tonya P wrote:You would be surprised at what people can file federal cases over. I recommend he hire a Harvard graduate--they make all the best arguments. 

He isn't hiring anybody. He never had any intention to file a federal case.

He thought threatening to do so might scare Upwork into paying him his manual time. 

Same with the "I'm leaving Upwork within a week" dramatics.

Petra,

You are right, I would not be going after any legal actions as it would be just waste of money and time. I don't have financial resources like Upwork do.

But, certainly, I'm leaving Upwork within a week for sure. There are two clients I am helping and should get all done by then. Then I'll delete my profile. I've made my decision.

 

If I spend same amount of time for real, professional and serious clients I'd be able to make 5 times more and I don't have to go though all these **Edited for Community Guidelines**. So why should I sell my time and energy cheap? Most importantly, I won't be scammed or defrauded. 

 

Upwork is good for freelancers working in IT, digital technology and writing blogs and simple documents.  But not for professionals like me, so why waste my time and energy for nothing or little? Anywho, thank you for letting me know your thoughts, they were helpful.


Jay M wrote:

....If I spend same amount of time for real, professional and serious clients I'd be able to make 5 times more and I don't have to go though all these **Edited for Community Guidelines**. So why should I sell my time and energy cheap?

Why indeed? If you can command your rate on some jobs, why accept those where you cannot? I'm not sure where you're expending all your time, and in particular where you would spend less time for the same (or better) results. I have real, professional, and serious clients, and they come to me. I haven't had to go looking for them for some time—although for years I did, and the invitations do ebb and flow.

Upwork is good for freelancers working in IT, digital technology and writing blogs and simple documents.  But not for professionals like me, so why waste my time and energy for nothing or little?


Upwork can be good for IT workers; it's not particularly good for most writers—writing is a very competitive field, with a lot of crap clients paying crap rates for crap content. Writers can succeed here as well as anywhere, but it requires sticking to professional standards and ignoring clients one doesn't want and "competitors" who aren't. The time you bemoan wasting here might be better spent re-examining why it's wasted, learning more about the marketplace, and approaching your client search more strategically.

lysis10
Community Member

An expensive lesson to use the tracker.

prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "Where can I file complaint against Upwork work ethics?"


If you have a complaint about Upwork as a whole, and not about one specific user, then you have three options:

a) You may come to the Community Forum to discuss the issue. You can even advocate for changes that you believe will make Upwork better.

[or[
b) If the "issue" is actually a result of a knowledge gap on your part, you may learn how to use Upwork properly.

[or]

c) You may stop using Upwork.

 

re: "I want to file a complaint against this. Where can I file this complaint? Probably federal level?"

 

You may well be able to find a website or a phone number through which you can "file a complaint." This will accomplish absolutely nothing, and just waste your time. You can read more about filing a federal compaint against Upwork here.

Yes, I will stop using Upwork within a week. It's not worth using.

Well, I have an account but I hardly used. Lately I have been trying. 

 

So far my impression about Upwork: 

>99% clients are looking for really cheap labor. I mean really cheap labor. 

Jay before you go, take a look at my work history.

My experience is completely opposite.

There are so many super-good clients out there and this platform pushes them to me while I sleep (or eat coconuts).

Actually, Upwork is the most efficient sales channel that I have. So efficient that I don't even consider talking to the second-best clients anymore. 😉


Mikko R wrote:

(or eat coconuts).


Are they fresh coconuts and how do you prepare them?

It looks like a scam from far far away, so manual time is based in "trust" that the client is honest and will not dispute. Upwork should look closer at this system, everywhere where is trust involved there is place for scams.


Amanda L wrote:

Mikko R wrote:

(or eat coconuts).


Are they fresh coconuts and how do you prepare them?




Amanda L wrote:

Mikko R wrote:

(or eat coconuts).


Are they fresh coconuts and how do you prepare them?


I was immediately derailed by the coconuts. I need deets too.


Sarah B wrote:

Amanda L wrote:

Mikko R wrote:

(or eat coconuts).


Are they fresh coconuts and how do you prepare them?




Amanda L wrote:

Mikko R wrote:

(or eat coconuts).


Are they fresh coconuts and how do you prepare them?


I was immediately derailed by the coconuts. I need deets too.


Amanda L, Sarah B: I'd love to send you some!

 

This is the new measurement of freelance success: how many coconuts a year you consume. 😛

 

365 being the optimum. 😉


Mikko R wrote:

Sarah B wrote:

Amanda L wrote:

Mikko R wrote:

(or eat coconuts).


Are they fresh coconuts and how do you prepare them?




Amanda L wrote:

Mikko R wrote:

(or eat coconuts).


Are they fresh coconuts and how do you prepare them?


I was immediately derailed by the coconuts. I need deets too.


Amanda L, Sarah B: I'd love to send you some!

 

This is the new measurement of freelance success: how many coconuts a year you consume. 😛

 

365 being the optimum. 😉


I'd PM you my address, but then how would you give Upwork their 20% of coconuts?

wlyonsatl
Community Member

Jay M.,

 

That's not a fair way for the client to treat you, but it is very clearly described in Upwork's Terms of Service that manual time is not covered by Upwork's excellent hourly payment protection policy.

 

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211062568-Upwork-Payment-Protection

 

Never use manual time tracking if you don't know the client well and trust them completely.

 

The person who committed fraud here is the client, who may have purposely taken advantage of your lack of knowledge of Upwork's operating procedures. But if the client doesn't pay Upwork, you can't expect Upwork to pay you if you don't follow the rules.

 

Your only recourse is to take the client to court, which is probably not worthwhile if you and the client don't live in the same city. And maybe not even then.

 

Good luck on your future projects!

ashrafkhan81
Community Member

Any complaint you file with any authority will not accomplish anything! Everyone you approach will go by the written rules, and the written rule is Upwork does not guarantee manually logged hours!  So why waste time, efforts, energy and possibly money? 

 

You have an account with decent earnings and good reviews, why be impulsive and throw away an additional source of income? Just because of one bad experience? 

 

Stay here, utilize the system and make money! I almost always go for fixed-price contracts that are escrow funded. Try that...

 

 

 

 

 

NikolaS
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Jay,

 

I am sorry to hear about your experience and the frustration it caused you. We won't be able to share more details about your dispute here in the Community but I checked and it seems that our team is communicating with you and that they shared all the available information.

 

We are sorry to hear about your decision to leave the platform. Please know that if you decide to continue working on Upwork we'll be glad to advise on any questions you might have and offer guidance regarding contract types available on the platform.

 

Thank you,

~ Nikola
Upwork

Look at it this way.  If you accuse someone of something, you need to have hard evidence.  With manual tracking, you have no hard evidence of the time you spent.  It's your word against theirs.  Before using any platform for any reason, you should familiarize yourself with its Terms of Service before you commit.  You didn't.  Game over.

wikichaudhray
Community Member

Upwork become just a scam and their team become scammers. A client came to me he bought my services that was an hourly project and the project was going very well then the client asked me that he needs some YouTube Monetised Channels i thought i can earn some money from this deal too so i told him i can provide you and he asked me to provide 2 monetised channels and he paid their money as a bonus payment on the same hourly project we was working on so i give him the both channels after getting the channels and changing the complete details he just opened a dispute and took all the money from upwork and i was got really really depressed because i bought both the channels from someone else to get some profit. Now after 10 days i was just waiting to withdraw the hourly payment and he opened that dipute too and Upwork give that money too the client too. What was my mistake because i was using upwork that's it? You guys are just a scammers nothing else i will file a case agaist your site to ban in our country

Hi Waqar,

 

I'm sorry to hear about what happened. I checked your account and it looks like one of our agents is already assisting you directly via a support ticket. Please allow time for the agent to review your case and get back to you on the same ticket. You can access the ticket by going here

~ Joanne
Upwork


Waqar Y wrote:

Upwork become just a scam and their team become scammers. A client came to me he bought my services that was an hourly project and the project was going very well then the client asked me that he needs some YouTube Monetised Channels i thought i can earn some money from this deal too so i told him i can provide you and he asked me to provide 2 monetised channels and he paid their money as a bonus payment on the same hourly project we was working on so i give him the both channels after getting the channels and changing the complete details he just opened a dispute and took all the money from upwork and i was got really really depressed because i bought both the channels from someone else to get some profit. Now after 10 days i was just waiting to withdraw the hourly payment and he opened that dipute too and Upwork give that money too the client too. What was my mistake because i was using upwork that's it? You guys are just a scammers nothing else i will file a case agaist your site to ban in our country


That will be going well! But if you are willing to spend the $$$ money and have nothing else to do, why not. 

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