re: "Client cancelled in the middle of the project"
That is fine.
A client may cancel a contract at any time.
A freelancer may end a contract at any time.
re: "Client cancelled in the middle of the project and didn't pay anything"
It seems unlikely that a client didn't pay you anything. Unless you did something wrong. Let's dive in to the details...
re: "I hadn't clocked in the one measly allocated hour because we were still in sketching phase, but my client ended the contract after a couple days of silence."
A client may end a contract at any time.
A client does not need to provide advance notice before they close a contract.
It is a freelancer's responsibility to log their hours.
If a freelancer doesn't log their hours, a client doesn't have to pay for those hours.
I have hired dozens of artists on Upwork, including artists for whom preliminary sketches are an important part of their work. As far as I know, they always log those hours. Most of them do their preliminary sketches on a computer using a tablet, such as a Wacom tablet. They usually log their hours using the desktop time-tracker application. But I allow artists to log time manually. If they use manual time, then the log their time immediately after every work session.
re: "but my client ended the contract after a couple days of silence."
There is nothing wrong with a client being "silent" or a few days. Clients are not required to communiate with freelancers. I get paid the same amount of money whether or not clients communicate with me. I have worked for clients for months without hearing from the client.
re: "I had already passed the hour in our contract but I figured to finish the work before punching it in"
This was a tactical error on your part.
re: "which I think anyone would have done in this situation."
I have hired dozens of artists on Upwork. As far as I know, none of them have taken that approach. I have observed their work diaries. Nearly all of the artists I have hired use the desktop time-tracker to track their work. And for the artists who don't use it (including artists who work in purely physical/non-digital media), they log their hours promptly after every work session.
Moreover: Even if 99% of artists work the way that you described, it doesn't mean that it is a tactically sound strategy. You should work in a way that protects yourself, even if you suppose other people work in a way that doesn't.
re: "It would make no sense to be asked for payment in the middle of an active contract in which they only give me an hour."
On the other hand, some people might say that it make sense to log your time, because this is an hourly contract. If you were planning all along to do the work no matter how long it took, and only log one hour of time, then that is your choice. That is not how Upwork intends for their system to be used. But you won't get in trouble with Upwork for doing that. But you could still log an hour of time after working for an hour, and then you could continue working until you finished the project.
re: "I believe the client still owes me compensation for the work I did."
You are welcome to retain that belief.
However Upwork does not share that belief.
And Upwork will not do anything to support you in your belief.
re: "I don't see any option anywhere to report a client or have any staff review the job."
There is no option to report this client for what happened. Because the client has done nothing wrong.
There is no option to have an Upwork staff member review this job.
re: "Everything here seems so closed off."
The Upwork Community Forum is open 24 hours a day is populated by a large number of regular Forum participants who answer questions around the clock.
re: "The fact that a client can so easily pull the rug out is ridiculous."
That is your opinion. I really am sorry that you had a disappointing experience. But your behavior may strike some people as ridiculous. What would you say to somebody who said that you didn't show respect to the client because you failed to log your time promptly. What would you say to a person who observed that your behavior was "ridiculous" because it resulted in you not getting paid for your work?
The good news is that we are only talking about ONE HOUR of work.
You didn't get paid for ONE HOUR OF WORK. You can learn from your mistakes here with very little penalty. Yesterday I read a post from a freelancer who worked for seven days straight and didn't get paid for his work. One hour is not that big a deal.
re: "We should have some protection against people like this."
We do have protection against people like this. All we need to do is log our time using the desktop time-tracker, or log our manual time promptly after every work session.
