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cinderscript
Community Member

Profile Picture Rejected For Glasses

Okay, so this is a story I've found is, unsurprisingly, a VERY common one. I'm new to Upwork, coming from Fiverr and my own private contract work. Voice Actor, Writer, that fun stuff.

 

This isn't the first time I've run into automated systems mistakening glasses for sunglasses, even without glare. I've attempted to contact customer support directly, but unsurprisingly I've also run into the problem of there being no reliable way to submit a ticket. This has not worked, as its only given me the option of going to the community. I've discovered that the option is only available for "all clients and most freelancers," with the given criteria being quite confusing as it would seem folk such as myself (those without active contracts or recent earnings) would be the most likely to need customer support. Not that I blame the designers, my own work in customer support would certainly have been easier if I could have forced people to go to the forum. So while a fair chunk of my time is wasted, its pretty much worthless right now so I'm nothing more than a little annoyed.

 

Regardless, as this is my only option to getting my account active and to professional standard, I'm requesting a bit of support. Please and thank you for your time. A copy of the photograph is attached. To clarify the profile picture on the forum account is messed up, clearly, and my account has been denied activation over the profile picture.

23 REPLIES 23
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Corey, 

 

I'm sorry to know that your chosen profile photo was rejected. You profile photomust be a clear, headshot-style photo. Sunglasses, other individuals, logos, or photos of anything other than your face are not allowed. You may want to check this blog post to know how you can create (or choose) the best profile photo for your Upwork profile. 


~ Avery
Upwork

Okay, I'm sorry, but that felt incredibly copy-pasted. I am aware sunglasses are not allowed. I have no other individuals, logos, photos, or anything else. My photo is clear, and is a headshot.

 

Frankly I'm not seeing what the problem is. The blog post has not helped any. Can you please be direct, I know how much guidelines usually dissuade from doing anything but giving the textbook response in first contact, but as I've pointed out the textbook response has not helped. I do apologize if I sound annoyed, but frankly I've just started on this site today and I feel like I've been given the runaround three times already with very little concrete information on what exactly you guys want fixed. Its not very reassuring toward the idea that this is a professional organization worth putting years of time (and earning a fair chunk of money) for. It may seem obvious to you, this is certainly not the first time you all have dealt with this, but I have neither the experience with this particular system nor the intuition born of said experience.

 

I do not mean to be anything but professional, and want to work with you to solve this issue. In the meantime I'll be doing what I can to get the automated system to work, so perhaps I'll get lucky with the bot. Thank you very much for your time.

Hi Corey, 

I'm sorry if you feel that my response was copy-pasted. I have included the information and the link on my reply because I feel like this would've helped given you an idea on what profile picture would be accepted. 

There are a lot of users in the Community who have their profile pictures with prescription glasses. I would suggested that you try a picture that doesn't have you with a hat on. Try also facing the camera much like how you would pose for a passport photo. Hopefully this helps solve the issue for you. 


~ Avery
Upwork

Apology accepted. It looked almost identical to what has been repeated to me multiple times now, and frankly I've been at this for so long that my patience has been a slight bit frayed.

 

If the current attempt to get it through doesn't work I'll try what you've suggested. I'm finding it odd that such attire would be viewed as taboo, but if the automatic approval system is as strict as I'm presuming I wouldn't be surprised. Odd though, I've seen multiple accounts on the front page of the voice talent pages with profile pictures that are either logos, have much more head tilt than my picture, or are wearing other apparel such as headphones or hats. I suppose that's the problem with automated systems however, they're reliably unpredictable at wide scale image recognition until you get to the sample and iteration levels of Facebook or the like.

 

Thank you for your time Ms. Avery, whether or not these work through I'll reply with an update and more information in the morning. Hopefully it all works out by then.

 

Update: Alas, it did not. Same reason. Is there any way I could get in contact with the support staff, or place a ticket with the staff directly?

What if the person is blind? They all use sunglasses. How can they deal with it? Or if the prescription glasses are made in the form of sunglasses? It's a bit racist don't you think?

Hi Volodymyr,

 

I would like to clarify that we do have a separate process and exceptions for visually impaired users. I checked and could see that you already created a support ticket regarding your concern.

I reached out to the team handling your case and one of our agents will follow up with you on your support ticket as soon as possible to provide more information. 

 

Thank you for your patience,

~ Nikola
Upwork

Thank you for clarifying your policy, Nikola. Take care.

Hey Nicola,

I'm being bullied by your support agent. He demands that I should upload a picture without prescription glasses. I don't understand. Didn't you tell me that it's fine to wear prescription glasses? I can find all kinds of freelancers on Upwork that wear glasses. Moreover, you told me that your platform supports freelancers who are blind...

Chris


Volodymyr P wrote:

Hey Nicola,

I'm being bullied by your support agent. He demands that I should upload a picture without prescription glasses. I don't understand. Didn't you tell me that it's fine to wear prescription glasses? I can find all kinds of freelancers on Upwork that wear glasses. Moreover, you told me that your platform supports freelancers who are blind...

Chris


They will help you, but for this you must first upload a photo in which you really appear, not an advertisement for glasses.

I verified my profile several times. I don't understand why should I verify it over and over again each time I make a little tweak on my profile...?


Volodymyr P wrote:

I verified my profile several times. I don't understand why should I verify it over and over again each time I make a little tweak on my profile...?


This..., have you read what I wrote?
The photo must be of you, it is not putting a photo of an advertisement. It's against TOS!!

 

Hi Volodymyr,

 

I'm sorry to hear your issue hasn't been addressed yet. We've followed up with the team handling your case and you should expect an update directly on your support ticket soon. You'll receive an email notification once your ticket is updated.

 

~Andrea
Upwork

Okay. So my response to your reply was marked as spam and deleted. I've submitted an abuse report, but I'll move forward with the assumption that this was a mistake in automation somewhere. It seems to be fixed now, editing this, but I am going to leave this post here as a show of how much I've been fighting to do something that should be very simple. Either way, moving on.

 

The photo was a headshot style photo. I am not wearing sunglasses, I am wearing the prescription glasses I require to see and wear constantly as a result. I have not included any other individuals, logos, photos, or anything else but myself in the picture. I have already checked the blog post, as it has been linked to me twice now by both you Ms. Avery and the automated email, and it did not help. I am being genuine when I say that I require specifics. I have done everything you, the email, and the help center have requested. I would place a direct support ticket, but I do not have that ability, as this issue is preventing my account from being approved and thus gaining access to the support systems.

 

To summaraize: Can you please either give me a specific answer as to what the problem is rather than the checklist that has been the only help I've gotten from any source, or point me in the direction of someone who can? I want to work with you to get this issue fixed as soon as possible, I know you are likely swamped and this is not the first time you've dealt with this kind of issue. Thank you very much for your time.

The current photo we see for the original poster is inappropriate. Photos like this, in which the freelancer appears to be wearing sunglasses, have not been accepted by Upwork for many years.

I am wearing clear prescription lenses in light shade. This should be very clear by looking at the picture itself. I have also attempted to lighten the image, to remove the shade, in hopes that this might get past the bot. It has not.

Hi Corey,


Just to confirm, did you tried uploading a picture without the hat? Our team has also reached out to you via ticket, you can post on your ticket and our team will assist you further. Thank you!

~ Goran
Upwork

The photos have to be recognizable by software.

Your main problem is not so much the hat (it does not "help" as it shades the eye area though) - the main problem is that your stance is such that you have a thick "line" going right through the middle of your eyes.

 

Take a shot either without your glasses, or one which has your eyes inside the frame of your glasses, without reflections and lines touching the eyes.

 

I'm about to just upload a different picture and switch it back once my account is activated. Because the picture edit bot hasn't cared about this picture (the best one I have, and my work photo in most other places to allow for ease of finding me,) but the account authorization one has. Also, I only see the two automated tickets from account activation failure, and both of thim say that they're completed. No open tickets, so as far as I know your team hasn't reached out to me via ticket. I've attached a screenshot of my page following that link, in case I'm missing something obvious. It is very, very late for me and frankly I'm just tired of the run around. Edit: And now its open again, nevermind on that front.

Hi Corey,

I just checked your ticket and can confirm that our team has received your comment. Thank you!

~ Goran
Upwork

Thank you very much. Once this all gets sorted out I'll mark this thread as the solution, and bandy about kudos and the like. For now, its been six bloody hours, and I'm just done with the whole thing until I can get some sleep.

 

Thank you once again for your help, and the help of the other moderators who have tried helping me. You guys don't get thanked enough.

Nope. They just closed my ticket and called it solved without so much as a word to me. And frankly I'm not even surprised at this point. I'm just going with the Shady Sands Shuffle.

Robots can be pretty stupid.

But sometimes we need to deal with them.

Corey,

I've followed up with the team and they will be updating your ticket shortly, thank you for your continued patience.

~Nina
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