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soumyanalam
Community Member

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ACCEPTED SOLUTION
wendy_writes
Community Member

Soumya,  my 2 cents: 

 

CS should be castigated for giving you the response they did.  A simple yes or no would have resolved it.  That is the most blatant "pass the buck 'cos I don't know my job" I have seen.

 

As a FLer - I wouldn't touch the buyer for all the money in the world.

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11 REPLIES 11
tlbp
Community Member

I wouldn't try to work with a client after I had reported them to Upwork. 

petra_r
Community Member

Whether you want to work with the client or not is up to you, as long as you work with them on Upwork there is no danger of being suspended.

 

Whether you want to work with someone who may or may not have worked out that it was you who reported them, is another question.

 

If clients suggest working outside Upwork, I explain to them that I only work through Upwork and as long as they agree, don't report. I'd rather educate them than report them. I certainly don't work with people I reported...

 


Soumya N wrote:

 

a. How does the above statement make any sense considering the job posting is suspended. Do I work with them or not without risking an account suspension?

b. The client has 3 other job postings that still remain active. Is suspension for circumvention at the job level or account level for clients?

c. Our Message Room still remains accessible. Is this ok?


What makes you think the client was suspended? They probably got a slap on the wrist and had to promise never to do it again.

a) No risk of account suspension (whatever for???)

b) The client is not suspended.

c) Whyever not?

 

petra_r
Community Member


Soumya N wrote:

Thank you, Petra. I reported it to Upwork like I was asked to per: https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211067628-Why-Shouldn-t-I-Pay-or-Get-Paid-Directly-


Yes, but unless Upwork pays me to police their clients for them, I only report when the client is clearly being naughty, rather than innocently or negligently making a mistake.

 


Soumya N wrote:

 

So, either I'm missing something or things have changed. 


Chances are the previous client was a repeat offender.

If the current client can hire you on Upwork, they were not suspended.

 

I still would not work with a client I reported.

petra_r
Community Member

**Edited for community guidelines**


Theoretically and strictly speaking we agree to do so in the terms of service.

Practically I am pretty sure Upwork won't slap us for educating such clients and bringing them back on the site and making them spend lots of lovely money on us.

 

lysis10
Community Member

Yes, I know it's in the terms. That other poster showed me. And I'll say it again -- stupid rule that I'm not gonna do.

kat303
Community Member

You can on here asking for advice. Petra, Jennifer and Tonya all gave you advice. I don't understand why you feel that you're never going to bother reaching out for anything ever again. Is it because we didn't agree with what you wanted us to? Is it because we are just freelancers and don't have the authority to do what you want us to do? Advice was given. not rudly, not snarky, 

AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Soumya, 


I wanted to clarify the Customer Support Team's stance on this ticket, and I do apologise if it was confusing on your end. While they have confirmed that actions have been taken against the client's account, both our teams are unable to share more details about what actions were taken against the client. However, if the client is still able to reach out to you, or hire you directly, it will be your decision whether or not to work with them on Upwork. 

As the team has confirmed, working outside of Upwork is a violation of the Upwork Terms of Service. Working with this client through Upwork will not put your account at risk for violating any terms as you will be working with them within the ToS guidelines. Hopefully, the client does the same. 

If you have other questions, you can let me know, or you can post it here, and the Community will be happy to help. 


~ Avery
Upwork
lysis10
Community Member


Soumya N wrote:

Thank you for the clear answer. That's all I was asking. Considering I reported them, not sure why I would violate your T&Cs and jeopardize my account. All I wanted to know is whether it was safe to work with a client like this on Upwork. Now that I know I can treat it like any other contract, I'm good.


lol you've reported him and he got hate mail from Upwork. You coulda enjoyed the money and everybody wins that way, but instead now he's got hate mail from Upwork because of you. lol

petra_r
Community Member


Soumya N wrote:

"enjoy the money working outside Upwork" to risk an account suspension, Jennifer?


That is NOT what she said. At all. Ever. She said that in such situations she tells the client that she only works through Upwork, gets the client to hire and pay her via Upwork, and is done with it.

 


Soumya N wrote:

 

For some reason, the rules do apply to me and I'm following them. My question was more to do with the quality of CS and their response to my query.


To be honest, I am not sure what you found so objectionable about their (CS) response. They clearly told you that it is up to you whether you want to work with the client or not, as long as it is via Upwork.

What is ambiguous about that? What else did you expect them to say?

 

What action they took as far as the client or their job posts are concerned is nothing to do with you, they won't (aren't allowed to, quite rightly) tell you. If the client can hire you, their account is not suspended, so obviously you could work with them if you wanted to.

 

Frankly I can only imagine that the CS person was completely stunned by the question. Who would turn a client in by reporting them and then consider working with them? That does sound crazy.

 

Your mistake was that you assumed the client had been suspended, based on the fact that the job post had been taken down, but that still doesn't explain what all the fuss is about...

 

The whole thing is a huge storm in a teacup.

 

 

lysis10
Community Member


Soumya N wrote:

"enjoy the money working outside Upwork" to risk an account suspension, Jennifer? No, thank you. The fact that the client was aware of circumvention considering they clearly said "let's work directly to avoid any additional charges" via LinkedIn Messaging was reason enough to report them.

 

For some reason, the rules do apply to me and I'm following them. My question was more to do with the quality of CS and their response to my query. Have a good weekend!


As Petra said, that's not what I said at all. I always get them to create a contract on Upwork and just move on with life and enjoy the money instead of reporting it. Upwork is shooting itself in the foot with this rule, and your story is exactly why. So now you're concerned about bad feedback. You might lose out on the contract, and I would bet some clients get pissed and go somewhere else. It's lose-lose for everyone.

 

Most clients are not even aware it's a rule, so it's dumb to immediately pounce on them with hate mail over this when freelancers can freely just get a client to create a contract on Upwork.

wendy_writes
Community Member

Soumya,  my 2 cents: 

 

CS should be castigated for giving you the response they did.  A simple yes or no would have resolved it.  That is the most blatant "pass the buck 'cos I don't know my job" I have seen.

 

As a FLer - I wouldn't touch the buyer for all the money in the world.

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