Suing Upwork and/or Freelancer

[#1]

Hello Upwork Community- 

I am looking for a possible answer as I have not had any resolve through the proper channels. I recently contracted an agency that Upwork is allowing to scam me. I have tried multiple times over the past several months to obtain a resolution and I was not provided any support. 

I expressed my concerns during the dispute process and was never provided an equitable solution and the case was closed. I am looking to sue the agency for breaking the legal contract that they signed and for not providing the service that was paid for and not delivered. 

My Questions 

Can I sue the freelance company for scamming me and  not providing the service that they claimed to have completed , but was not and I paid for?

Can I sue Upwork for allowing its customers  to be scammed and continuing to allow the company to do business on their platform ? 

[#2]

Hi Tiffany,

I understand your frustration with a contract not going as expected. I see that you already have a support ticket open where one of our team members share more information about Upwork's role as well as the available next steps. You can access the ticket here. 

Thanks!

[#3]

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Can I sue the freelance company for scamming me and  not providing the service that they claimed to have completed , but was not and I paid for?

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Yes. But Upwork may not provide you their contact information without a court subpoena.

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Can I sue Upwork for allowing its customers  to be scammed and continuing to allow the company to do business on their platform ? 

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No - read the Terms of Service.

[#4]

Tiffany:

In the United States, the answer to any question that begins "Can I sue..."

is "yes."

Suing is a matter of filing paperwork.

You can sue anyone or anything for any reason.

You can sue the color blue for not being orange.

A more useful question would be: "Can I successfully sue?"

Another question is: "Can I file this lawsuit without being sanctioned by the court and ordered to pay a heavy fine?"

Another question is: "Will it make sense financing to sue?"

The answer to these questions is nearly always going to be no when it comes to Upwork.

Here are some simple facts:

You can't sue Upwork and succeed.

If you try to sue Upwork, it will cost you a lot of money, and you won't get any money.

Of you are a client trying to sue a freelancer, the chances of succeeding are almost zero. And the cost of hiring an attorney is so prohibitive that it simply doesn't make sense mathematically.

[#5]

It is not necessary to have an attorney in small claims court, which is where this would likely be filed. Some states don't even permit legal counsel at small claims court.

[#6]

This is very bad advice and telling people there is no recourse and you won't win.  Most cases can be filed in small claims and you have a good chance of winning your money back.  If a vendor does not perform, you should get your money back.

[#7]

thats not true upwork promotes federal wire transfer fraud by not checking college education claims on resumes.

[#8]

The State's attorney's office is the place to start. Upwork is headquarterd in CA. However, I know for a fact that Upwork is being investigated for fraud. I have also heard rumors of a class action lawsuit being filed. But, to initiate the process, one would contact their local state's attorney. They have had more than enough complaints, they have been asked numerous times to take down their fraudulent job posts. They also claim that they will not tolerate slanderous or false claims. Yet, they will let clients that are fraudelent to continually run scams on their freelancers, then post negative feedback on their accounts. This is allowed even after the freelancers win their arbitration and  prove that they were not the party who was in, "breach of contract." The bot generated responses regarding their "double-blind" feedback system is not justification for them to blatently defy their company code of ethics. They do not care about their clients and it is sad. At one point, Upwork was a good company. Their only goal now is to make money and they do it without a shred of morality! Upwork, at the very least answer your clients and pay attention your platform because it looks like garbage. It is a mess and I would be ashamed if were the CEO of this company. What do they do all day?  This is a quote straight from the CEO, "Brown has said that these changes were made to improve the quality of freelancers and freelance work available on the platform, but they also led to increased financial gains for Upwork and its investors." Upwork is only concerned about their profit margin and investors. NASDAQ shares continually decline on the daily and it is due to the way they conduct business. Hayden Brown, what are YOU doing? Step up and fix your company. Hayden, do you need some help? I will gladly fill you in on what has been going on and what you need to fix.

[#9]

It's true, their incomes are really growing. Last year I spent about $200 on connects, this year the same amount per quarter. 😸

To be fair, I have to say that I used to have a job here and now I'm just wasting time doing nothing. This platform is becoming useless. Yes, it's fun, gambling with boosting, full of scammers, cool forum bages, correspondence with support for months... Of course I can do the same at the casino. But with business there are huge problems.

[#10]

Upwork hasn't seen any profit since Q4 2020, and even that was a blip. So yes, they are profit-seeking. Investors have kept the company afloat for the hundreds of millions of dollars in net losses year over year - and it is (proportionately) the same story for Fiverr and Freelancer. Their public records filings tell the story, so look for yourself. If none of them become profitable, then the marketplaces with over a combined half of the marketshare will vanish.

[#11]

Please help me and contact me on here. Upwork has no proof of why my ratings have fallen and their holding my monies! I need help and I just keep getting the run around. Please reach out to me, if time permits for you. I'd greatly appreciate it. This is appalling and I can't believe without proof Upwork is holding my hard earned monies and not doing anything to help me or give resolve to this in any way!! I need your help and expertise. Please and thank you.

[#12]

Hi Crystal,

Thank you for reaching out to us here in the Community for assistance. However, I see that you've reached out to our support team and raised a ticket about your concern. Please allow our team 24-48 hours and you will be getting an update on your ticket here once your case is thoroughly reviewed. We seek your patience and understanding while sorting this out for you.

[#13]

I wrote a post on this thread.  My profile has a defaming testimonial on it and even after I sent recorded audio to prove that the story this person told was completely fictitious, Upwork refused to take it off of the platform.

[#14]

I have just been scammed by a freelancer who clearly was here to scam people. UpWork is riding along their percentage of the scam, and hiding behind their terms of service to avoid recovering my money. **Edited for Community Guidelines**

[#15]

Unless you are an Enterprise Client and the Freelancer was recommended by a Talent scout, then you have zero legal recourse. Upwork provides a marketplace, with no vetting of freelancers or clients. You interviewed/vetted the Freelancer, then purchased their service. They failed to deliver. That's between you and the Freelancer. It doesn't matter if you met them on Upwork, Craigslist, or your local Chamber of Commerce. In addition, by using Upwork, you agreed to the Terms of Service, which expressly waive all liability by Upwork for any damages resulting from your interactions with Freelancers on the platform.

Upwork's fee is not for the delivery of freelancer service, but for the marketplace, contract room setup, messaging, and billing services. Thus, they are not party to any "scam". In fact, it is in their best interest if nobody gets scammed on the site, because scams only degrade trust in the platform and result in less usage of the platform, which results in less overall revenue.

[#16]

This platform needs to be shut down for the scams that are going on here. **Edited for Community Guidelines** The time for "oh-we're-just-the-marketplace" is coming to an end.

[#17]

Same here because of the gross mistake of the freelancer, Upwork should be liable because they promoted those individuals and take money a %  comission.

[#18]

Hello Tiffany, 

Thank you for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you're facing with the agency you found on Upwork. It must be frustrating. I've escalated your community post to a support ticket. One of our agents will be in touch with you soon to assist.

Thank you for your patience.  

[#19]

I've exhausted support tickets regarding an issue with Upwork. Despite the project not being completed, Upwork released payment to the contractor without my knowledge. Upwork acknowledged the terms weren't met but claims it's beyond the protection timeframe. The contractor deliberately extended the contract and didn't finish. Could you guide me on filing a small claims court against Upwork?

[#20]

Where can I serve Upwork?

[#21]

If you sue them, I will join you.... outrageous what they are doing.

[#22]

Hi! I also need to file a claim. Did you end up taking action? Can I join? I am totally being scammed by Upwrok and they're giving me the runaround.

[#23]

Tiffany what was your resolution? I'm looking for help as well and would love to know if you went the legal route.

[#24]

Same here. I've just been scammed of over $11,000 on upwork 😩😩

[#25]

is anybody thinking about a class action suit against upwork? I was scammed out of $3500 from someone who stole the identity of a southern California attorney and was masquerading on here as an attorney. After I was scammed, I reported the individual to the California bar association. It was the bar association that determined This lawyers identity had been stolen. I believe Upwork share some liability.