Clients' history not updated

[deborah-ponzio]

Hello, I wish to point out that I came across several cases of client's history not updated, where past and ongoing jobs and reviews are not visible, although they appear in the information snippets of their profile and job posts. I see this as an issue, as such information is important for me when I evaluate the history of prospective and current clients, and the reviews from other freelancers, before and during a contract.

Is there a bug in the system? Can this be sorted out? I would appreciate your advice, thank you. 

[759e32fa]

Hi Deborah,

Could you please share more information about the issue that you're experiencing? Could you please provide screenshots so we can investigate further?

[deborah-ponzio]

Sure, shall I share the client's screenshots publicly here? Or via pm?

[ArjayM]

Hi Deborah,

Could you please send me a PM with the client details you're referring to? I'll have that reviewed and assist you accordingly. We look forward to your response.

[deborah-ponzio]

I will, thank you!

[deborah-ponzio]

Hello Arjay, I shared 2 examples of clients with you via pm over the last few days. Please confirm if you received them, and kindly keep me updated with developments, thank you. 

[mila_ay]

Hi Arjay, 

I am having the same issue with every client's profile. Last jobs I see are from oct-nov 2023 and nothing afterwards, although I see number of active hires is changing. Plus I see some freelancers have active jobs with the client in their profiles but they are now shown in the client's history.

Can someone please solve this issue 🙏?

[mila_ay]

Sorry "not shown"

[PradeepH]

Hi Mila,

Thank you for your message. Could you please click on my name above this post and send me a private message with the job link and the screenshots of the issue you have shared above? 

- Pradeep

[daniellehs]

Same here, I can't see jobs and reviews for several clients, the point is how can I evaluate if I want to invest my time applying for a job or chatting with a potential client.

[NikolaS]

Hi Danielle,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about the clients you are referring to? If possible please also share a screenshot from your end. 

[igorilin]

+1. I feel like clients' histories stopped updating sometime in Oct-Nov. Really wish this could be fixed promptly because being able to view the accurate history is so critical when deciding to apply for a job.

I dmed a couple of links to Nikola, if anyone else wants to take a look, let me know. But it's not just some isolated incidents, it looks like it might not be updating for all clients. At least it's not the first time I'm noticing this.

The "Other open jobs by this Client" section is inaccurate as well, it always shows some jobs from 3-4 months ago that have long been closed

[xrmsquared]

Related to this, I'm noticing a lot of broken links when browsing clients' profiles & previous jobs. Jobs for which the title is a link – so I should be able to navigate to the job summary page and read the post – are quite often broken when they're a few months+ old.

This didn't used to be the case; I've been noticing it more and more over recent months.

I would think only very old jobs shouldn't be navigable in this way. 

One reason this is important, is that if a client is repeatedly posting the same or similar job spec, but not hiring or not being successful in their relationships with freelancers, then that's valuable information in my decision to avoid. It does require the job detail to see if this is the case.

[nathaly_t]

I am also experiencing the same issue. The client's history and work in progress are (clearly) not updating since at least two months ago. It is strange because after so long, you would expect it to work by this year. 

[xrmsquared]

It's actually extremely poor how outdated the data is becoming on clients – this part of Upwork is now seems thoroughly broken.

Jobs which are closed & completed are not showing on clients' profiles & scores and reviews aren't showing (only older stuff showing, but this flow now doesn't seem operational).. The information & 'intelligence' which freelancers have on clients is degrading fast on the platform – what are Upwork doing about this?

It is particularly concerning when a recent update to freelancers' JSS now places more emphasis on public feedback, whilst freelancers themselves find that clients' public feedback is increasingly impenetrable & unavailable; these two positions taken by Upwork are diametrically opposed.

This has to be a competely known issue. Will Upwork be putting out an update on the forums recognising this issue, and sharing with us what steps they are taking to correct this broken functionality & data with regards clients' completed jobs & freelancer feedback?

Obviously this greatly affects how, on what & who freelancers spend their connects. Once more there is a whiff of conflict of interest going on here with Upwork in this regard, which could be put to bed by first communicating, and then swiftly fixing this broken part of the platform.

Yours in hope.

[deborah-ponzio]

Update: I sent several links as examples to a moderator who required it some time ago, and never got a response. It would be good to have an update on this issue, thank you!

[f74cdfab]

Unfortunately, the issue still persists, and it's been unresolved for months now. Clients' past records haven't updated since around October 2023. Freelancers who've ended their contracts are still listed under 'jobs in progress,' while new freelancers haven't been appearing for some months. Could the moderators please address this issue? We're eagerly awaiting an update and resolution. Thank you.

[xrmsquared]

It would appear, through this ongoing inaction, that Upwork is actively protecting clients from freelancer feedback on this platform.

One has to decide not to act.

[f74cdfab]

Unfortunately, the issue still persists, and it's been unresolved for months now. Clients' past records haven't updated since around October 2023. Freelancers who've ended their contracts are still listed under 'jobs in progress,' while new freelancers haven't been appearing for some months. Could the moderators please address this issue? We're eagerly awaiting an update and resolution. Thank you.

[PradeepH]

Hi Carlo,

Thank you for your message. Could you please confirm if you are referring to a specific job posted by other clients? 

- Pradeep

[f74cdfab]

Hi Pradeep,

Thank you for your response.

I'm referring to all clients I've seen thus far. All of them have unupdated information about their freelancer history. Before I accept a job offer, I always check their recent history to determine if they are worth my time. However, since around October 2023, I've noticed that this information hasn't been updating properly, which is causing inconvenience for many freelancers.

I hope this clarification helps in understanding the issue better.

Regards,

Carlo

[PradeepH]

Thank you for sharing additional information about your concern, Carlo. We aim to provide updated information on all job posts. Could you please try again after clearing Cookies and Cache on your browser? You can also try using a different browser. Feel free to message us if problems persist.

- Pradeep

[f74cdfab]

Hi Pradeep,

Thank you for your suggestion. However, this issue has persisted for several months now, despite attempts to clear cookies and cache and trying different browsers. Many freelancers, including myself, have been encountering this problem consistently. I've also provided a link to an outdated thread where numerous freelancers have reported the same issue without receiving updates or resolutions:

[Link to outdated thread: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Support-Forum/Clients-history-not-updated/m-p/1532030#M138930]

It would be greatly appreciated if you could escalate this matter for further investigation and resolution.

Thank you for your attention to this ongoing concern.

Regards,

Carlo

[PradeepH]

Thank you for following up, Carlo. I will share your report with our team and one of our agents will reach out to you using a support ticket to assist you further. You can access your support tickets here.

- Pradeep

[xrmsquared]

Is there a list of issues with the platform which are being addressed, Pradeep, along with their status?

Because what I tend to find with platform issues which become support tickets with individual freelancers, is that the communication dries up very quickly indeed and the ticket is left to hang for weeks or months without any updates.

Platform issues which affect all users, or a whole class of users, ought to be listed for all members to see, imo.

Treating these issues as if they are a single issue being experienced by a single freelancer, appears to give rise to the belief that they do not need to be treated with any urgency nor seriousness.

[LuiggiR]

Hi Anthony,

I understand your concern regarding issues users may experience, and I want to assure you that these don't go unnoticed. When you see us escalating individual tickets for users, it's because the issue experienced is best handled by the customer support team directly, and it may not currently be a known bug with the platform.

That said, you can find a list of the current issues with possible workarounds on this page. 

[deborah-ponzio]

Are  there any updates with this issue? It's still there after a few months, no solution nor information in sight, the inconvenience is becoming increasingly serious. When contacted by prospective new clients I have no way of checking their history and assessing them. Could Support please update us on if, how and when this issue is being resolved? Thank you

[NikolaS · Accepted solution]

Hi Deborah, 

Thank you for following up. I would like to clarify that our engineers are aware of this issue and they are working as fast as possible to resolve it. We will update this thread as soon as we have more information. 

We appreciate your patience and understanding while this issue is being resolved. 

[deborah-ponzio]

Hello Nikolas, being that the issue is still unresolved, could you kindly share an update with us? Thanks for your kind support.

[NikolaS]

Thank you for following up, Deborah.

Our engineers are still working on resolving this issue. I created a support ticket for you and one of our agents will reach out to you directly via a support ticket to assist you accordingly. You can access your ticket on this here.

[protoindex]

I am utterly disappointed with Upwork's poor response to the issues reported by Freelancers. I believe the whole freelance community is disappointed with the level of QA going on in Upwork. 

I suggest CTO and QA head should resign given the amount of issues this platform started facing lately. 

[deborah-ponzio]

Hello Nikolas, this is my update on the support ticket: the issue is still unresolved and there's yet no light at the end of the tunnel. I was required to spend some time on a detailed technical report, which I fulfilled. I was suggested and tried a few technical solutions, such as anonymous navigation and the clearing of cookies. This worked just for one client record, but not for several others. At this point, the Support Team deemed the issue as "too complex" and informed that they would engage their technical team. This happened some time ago and I haven't received any update since. Could you please verify and share your update? Being able to verify the client's history and feedback is very important for us to determine if we can work with them or not. Thank you

[PradeepH]

Hello Deborah,

I apologize for the continued inconvenience and the lack of resolution thus far. I understand how crucial it is for you to have access to your client history and feedback for making informed decisions about your work.

Rest assured, I'll follow up with the team handling your request to obtain a clear update on the progress of their investigation and one of our team members will respond to you as soon as possible.

- Pradeep

[protoindex]

I am following up on this thread with the hope that we will have a solution soon, but I am extremely disappointed with the lack of attention Upwork is giving to this serious matter. On the other hand, Upwork has made significant design updates after freelancers reported this bug, yet the concerned team failed to acknowledge how important it is for us to have accurate client history.

Furthermore, Upwork has already started charging up to 23 connects for bidding. Is it fair to charge such a large amount of connects for incorrect client history?

Also, Upwork marked this solved despite being aware that the issue has been ongoing for several months now. 

Don't mean to be hard but this started affecting freelancing a lot. 

[khushbu_gohil]

Absolutely agree and client affects too..might possible they have now higher rate like 100% but it's still showing there 77% which is updated on oct 2k23

[j_yankowski]

I had felt hopeful a few days ago when I could see that clients' histories were slowly being updated, but it seems now it's reverted back to the same outdated versions. Is there any update on this? I find it unfortunate that clients get full transparency when it comes to us freelancers, but we have not been given the same courtesy for months upon months now, and it's caused a fair amount of distrust, to say the least.

[eldarh78]

It's a worry that Upwork can't fix seemingly a basic functionality on its website for months by now. Where's guarantees that the same "funny" problems won't start tomorrow with the payment system and not just reviews on client profiles?

OP posted about the problem in early Dec 2023. More than 3 months later a moderator's canned response (in the "we're working on it" style) was posted and marked as "resolved". In the meantime, moderators are asking people to send them specific profile links - a pointless exercise as they are fully aware that it's a system-wide issue, not an issue with some accounts.

I'd also say that these problems started before Oct 2023. In early September, a client of mine closed the contract and left me a good review which I could see in my own account but it wasn't listed on my profile for 11 days. After 11 days, I contacted Upwork support and told about the issue, and only after that they manually added this contract/review to my profile page. In January this year, another client closed the contract and it's listed on my profile, but today I had a look at that client's profile, and my contract is still shown as ongoing.

It's been more than half a year of these problems by now, I believe. It's a worry that a large company can't fix it in such an extended time.  

[khushbu_gohil]

More than 6 month...I hired by client which is not listed in clients history as well that will definitely impact on client hiring rate might possible they are now 100% hiring rate still showing less. And It's simple how they update review in freelancer profile which is actually more than clients on this platform still they manage so why not client's profile update!

If client hire me for this task and I keep delaying and not giving update client will ask for refund because they can't wait 6 month or more for this simple issue...they have to updated dataset and it's complex then they can announce in official!

[ae125c83]

Correct. If they can start charging more and more connects, then why they are not resolving these simple issue?

Just 1 Year Back, Connects to apply for jobs were 2,4,6. In 1 year only, they have raised connects so much that some posts require more than 20 connects. If they can charge higher connects from us, at least we can expect this much transparency from Upwork. 

5 months back, I gave a client 1 star and bad feedback, Still, it's not showing in his profile. If a new freelancer is going to work with him, Is it not necessary for him to see that 1-star feedback? There should be transparency and real-time update of Clients profile also as Freelancers profile do.

[ae125c83]

I've been encountering an issue that I believe many of you might have faced as well. As freelancers, we know that our profiles are updated in real-time. This means any job completion or new review we receive is reflected immediately on our profile. This transparency not only helps in maintaining a fresh and accurate account of our achievements but also aids potential clients in making informed decisions.

However, it seems this isn't the case on the client side. For example, I've noticed that a job which ended four months ago still appears as "Work in Progress" on the client's profile. This discrepancy prevents us from seeing the latest feedback from other freelancers, which is crucial for us to assess before accepting a new contract. This issue isn't isolated to one client; it's a common problem affecting how we view all client histories on the platform.

Understanding the status and feedback of clients is as important for us as it is for them to see our updated profiles. This lack of real-time updates on client profiles can lead to a gap in information, potentially affecting our job selection strategies and expectations.

I am curious to hear if others have experienced this and how it has impacted you. Also, if there are any insights or workarounds you’ve found helpful, please share! Moreover, it would be great if the Upwork team could look into this matter and ensure that the update mechanisms applied to freelancers' profiles are equally mirrored on the client side.

This synchronization is not just a matter of convenience but a significant aspect of trust and transparency in the Upwork community. Looking forward to your thoughts and any responses from the Upwork officials!

**Edited for Community Guidelines**