UpWork
reviews and complaints

They have outsourced their entire management now the result is complete garbage. My wife and I were permanently suspended because their automated system wrongly detected that we were the same person fraudulently creating multiple accounts. We have both worked together there since 2008, identity verified, and earned about $10k each. We are both real people and live together which is why we share the same devices. No discussion is being entertained by their help and support, yet the kicker is the agent holding me accountable for the 10 cent test payment which is stuck in limbo, since neither of us can use our accounts:

Request #[protected]
Accounts suspended over a test payment of ten cents that didn't even go through.

Avatar Nick Mares Yesterday at 11:34
My wife and I were testing sending and recieving payments because we haven't used this site in three years and our payment methods were no longer current. We have had our accounts since 2008. Please don't delete them over a test payment of ten cents that didn't even go through.

Avatar Annelyn Mae B. Yesterday at 13:33
Hello Nick Mares,

I’ve checked your account and regret to inform you that our review committee’s decision is final.

They’ve evaluated all aspects of your account and determined that your account will not be reopened. The policy violation(s) were simply too serious, and I’m not able to reverse this decision.

We wish you good luck in your career.

Regards,
Annelyn
Upwork Customer Support | support.upwork.com
Avatar Annelyn Mae B. Yesterday at 14:16
Dear Nick,

Hi again!

As for your concern regarding your finacial account being put on hold for a negative balance, you will need to settle the issue by contacting PayPal support or you will need to add another verified billing method on file. You can also communicate with the freelancer to refund the amount to you by having the freelancer contact us so we can reverse the amount for you.

I hope I was able to address your concern. If you need further assistance or experience any additional issues, please submit a new ticket using this link and one of our team members will be more than happy to help.

Regards,
Annelyn
Upwork Customer Support | support.upwork.com
Avatar Nick Mares Yesterday at 15:55
I'm confused by your 2 different responses. What exactly was the policy(s) that we violated?

Avatar Nick Mares Yesterday at 19:58
My wife and I do not have double accounts. We have both worked together on odesk since 2008, identity verified, and earned about $10k each. We are both real people and live together which is why we share the same device(s).

I was looking for a job and found this website UpWork which seemed trustworthy enough. I decided to give it a try and made an account and was lucky enough - got my first (and last) project! After work was completed I was supposed to get the payment, but no one ever paid me. Then I contacted UpWork and explained what happened but they did not care. They said they'll try to help and next day I found out that my account was cancelled. UpWork is just a waste of time and it a real scam site! Do not waste you time there as a freelancer!

Hi I was working on an active job and suddenly out of nowhere my account got suspended and there was no case even of Payment Policies not obeying. I didn't have any such discussion. Submitted my request to Support Team couple of times now with no response or update till date.

I am helpless as have no clue what needs to be done next. Is there any better way of communicating directly or else if they can reach to me

Upwork support people, suspended my account and now they will going to close it:

- Problem is with payment outside the Upwork.

First of all, Upwork support people suggest me to go for the payment outside of Upwork.
Second, Payment outside has been made, but not me and not on my account.

They suspended my account just for talking about paypal, without any good evidence. They do not want to admit their mistakes and Upwork support people protect each other, even if they do not have concrete evidence for their conclusion. They just concluded at their own.

Upwork support helper suggest me to go for the paypment with the client outside Upwork. Please find attached documents

They told me that they closed my account because I accepted the payment, at first. But then, after I proofed my self, that I didn't they do not want to change their mind, because they protect them self. They even told me that simple attempt can be enough to suspend account. I tried to ask according to which rule is attempt illegal, but didn't get the answer.

In section of Upwork are working people who do not know how to do their job, people who do not know what's mistake and they do not want to accept their mistakes.

If you do not believe me, please check their test scores on Upwork. Their score is around average or bellow it.

Best regards,

Toma

I have completed my project with 5 star rating and good review but client refund his payment from upwork. than upwork reversed my whole project payment and give to client.
I want my payment from upwork.

contract id: [protected]
client: avi gal
Contact url:https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~0174214de56052ae13
client skype id:avigaltel1

I used UpWork three times and worked as a freelancer. First time when I completed my work I had some difficulties with receiving the payment, but in the end I got my money. Second time I got only partial payment and was totally ignored by a person which hired me.
The third time I received no money at all. I contacted UpWork customer service and explained what happened and asked for help. They did nothing at all and my issue was never resolved. I sent them numerous emails and then they just blocked me and later deleted my account!
So think twice and better do not use this service.

I was searching for a job as a freelancer and joined www.upwork.com. Then I received a message from a person which said he was working for reputable a company and they needed someone to make a new website for them. I was so happy and agreed. Then I was interviewed on Skype by that person and he said my skills and previous works were great, so he hired me. Few hours later he asked me to go out. I told him that I don't want to go anywhere and he offered me money! He said that he was lonely and wanted to spend a night with me and asked if $500 was ok or I wanted more! This maniac found me on UpWork! Beware!

The way UpWork runs a business is absolutely terrible! I needed to make a website, so I've decided to try this site and I was hoping to find a professional, who would help me. When he finished his job I was absolutely terrified! My site looked terrible and I had to pay and make another one! I suggest everyone to stay away from this place. Upwork customer service doesn't really care how professional their freelancers are, they want only money! As a business owner I will never use this website ever again!

This website looks professional and polished, but later you realize that UpWork is absolutely horrible. This site do not appreciate their freelancers and they will make you feel horrible, even though they get their money from freelancers. Their ranking system is extremely ridiculous and it punishes freelancers if the client doesn't leave feedback's! If you make any mistakes, you will never get Job Success scores. And once you are below 90% you will never get a job again. Their system always crashes and the message system breaks down almost every day! So if you miss a job offer, you will also be punished. Avoid this site at any cost!

They have not refund our $1, 000 back to us for 10 days now. Every time, we call they give us a date for the refund with not money back in our account. They blatantly lie to you on the phone over and over again. They are scan artists. They want to keep the money. They are crooks...WE WILL NOT WORK WITH THEM EVER AGAIN!

I friend of mine recommended me Elance.com and I tried to use it. I was trying to authenticate my credit card, I was charged to authenticate it and now I can't even log in at Elance.com. I always receive the same message saying: "Your Elance account is expired". I made 3 requests at Elance Customer Support and didn't receive any contact from them. I tried to call them and they said they don't know what happened and they will return my contact in 48 hours. That's really a problem because I am about to loose a job opportunity because my boos was willing to pay me by Elance and now my account is expired!? That's seems to be scam, All my requests are ignored and you CHARGED my credit card. That's a shame.

My client recently sent me my weekly payment through elance. So, like the usual, I went ahead and made a withdrawal. Now ive been monitoring my request for funds transfer which didnt happen and so on the 2nd day I sent them a followup. I was told that I would have to wait for 24 hours so I did. Now its been more than 24 hours and still no transfer. My balance shows that its available but when I click withdraw, my account shows that I have zero balance! Why?! Where did my hard earned money go? Its just not fair for them to keep my money and make me wait! The process takes too much time and I needed the money for tuition fee! U guys dont know how to keep ur word!

Hello Sir, My name is janki Joshi and I am working on Odesk Platform,

I was working on an Hourly project and There is Someone Ms. Elle in Odesk risk Management team who not only suspended my account, But also has reversed payment to client of 1 Month. Now client wants to pay me but wants to paay via odesk.

Ms. Elle is not replying to my complaint as she has marked it closed. Odesk mentions Hourly meter work is always secured yet payments have been reversed, This is Bad On part Of Odesk.

I would Like you to take this matter Up and Revert me back for anything. I am looking forward of escalating this matter Up seriously that what right Ms. Elle has to reverse back the payments. Why will people work with Odesk whereas Other portals Like freelancer Never do such type of things.

The client never complained, It was Only Ms. Elle, who has suspended my account and also reversed payments. This way Odesk is a bad source of working.

Please Upload My verdict and Voice to Top Officals Of company

Thanks

Janki Joshi

Email ID : [protected]@gmail.com

Hello .. I am Ashish Tiwari from India. A web developer and freelancer. I have been working on a freelancing company called ODesk basesd in California, USA. I worked hard for many years for making my reputation so I can get work. At last I got ripped of by this fraud company called odesk. Heres what happened with me.
I worked with a client named Jason Phegley for more than a year, but analysed at last that this client is not good.. He was taking my work at very cheap cost and delaying my payments for months. I worked on a project in which I had to clone a website and we decided that budget is 300$. I finished my tasks exactly and it was an hourly contract so I logged my hours in ODesk time tracker.. The job was ended successfully on jan 25, 2014 and the client wrote me a 5 star feedback. Now I was working on other projects and I was quite busy. Now this client started mailing me about getting some work done on a site, and I wonder he was asking me to fix issues with no money or charges .. he wanted me to work for free just because I work with him for long time. I was not available for a second and I told him right away that I am not available and can only work when I am available . He started getting frustrated and forcing me to work with him. I refused and said right away I cant work anymore, so out of frustration he told me he will mess up with my ODesk account.

As ODesk system is totally biased and they only listen to client lies and doesnt care for the workers from whom they take their commission that is 10% of totally hard earned money. This client contacted ODesk after 2 months when Job was already done and I recieved a 5 star and you will wonder what comments he wrote in that job.. I am pasting the feedback he wrote me

" He is a true artist and master of his craft. Flying through lines of code like a wizard. Solving problems like Einstein. All with the patience of a Zen Master. He gets the job done every single time, and with the efficiency of a fast food chain. Amazing. Simply amazing. "

Still client complaint on same job and ODesk started torturing me .. They suspend the account without any notification and the money you have earned which is their still and I need to withdraw can not be taken away .. so they grab your money and your profile. I started trying to contact them and they started ignoring me for weeks. I told them that he is telling you lies and his accusations are baseless .. The client told them "The worker is unresponsive".. Anyone please tell me when I am not having any work with him how can I become unresponsive? And if hes talking about that ended job Why he will rate me 5 star and write such comments if I was unresponsive..

On base of this fake complaint after 3 month ODesk is asking me to send him 100$ otherwise they will seize my account forever and I will loose money for my other work which is stuck there and I will be in total loss. my hard earned money is taken away by these fraud ###...

Their own term and condition specify that client can not file any dispute when the work review time is over and the review time is 4-5 days since job is closed .. it can be found at https://www.odesk.com/info/terms/ on point 4 where they clearly mention that.
And they are ripping me off after 3 months since the job is ended and they are also forcing me to close my account on ODesk .. My profile is awsome and I am a very professional and hard worker and I wasted 4-5 years to reach in this state of reputation. My profile can be found at https://www.odesk.com/users/~013a95aa2a30930143

Since I am not based in USA, I am stuck now and feeling helpless .. I want to file a case against them in court and want them to get ripped of too.. Anyone who uses ODesk please BEWARE.. THEY ARE THE MOST FRAUD COMPANY IN USA and they are making workers fool internationally. They will forcefully grab thousands of your hard earned money and become happy. this is the way they run their company .. I want to file case for mental harassment and violating my rights and sue them in court but I am helpless since I am in INDIA. Anyone want to help, please suggest me or help me getting over with these goons.

Sincere Regards
Ashish Tiwari

I am working at odesk as a coder for more than a year. I was frustrated by the fact that my financial account was suspended. I have an active contract at the moment, no disputes or anything similar. I was asking them for a specific reason, but support (they probably don't even have an office :) just a home-people) simply told me twice about some misterious "many negative details" on my account.
This suspension happened without any notice and violates Odesk's 2.10 TOS, where we can see following:
"Without limiting oDesk's other remedies, we may suspend or terminate your account, use self-help in connection with our rights to reclaim any available funds, and refuse to provide any further access to the oDesk Platform to you if (a) you breach any terms and conditions of this Agreement or other written policies and procedures posted on the Site; (b) we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provide to us; or (c) we believe that your actions may cause legal liability for you, our Users or for oDesk."
So here we are - world-class companies breaking their own rules. What's next?

Beware of the client called Angela Love (Cairo, Egypt) with oDesk ID 710750. I was new and she tricked me by giving job in the message window (it should have shown up in "My Jobs") and didn't make any payment for it even after asking her to do so. She never replied. I spent nearly 4 hours on that job. For all that hard work I got nothing. I had Live Help Chat with oDesk about it and they were very sorry about that, that’s it. They pointed out that I should have checked “My Jobs” first (very helpful indeed). In oDesk discussions, they would not publish the client’s name on their page and instead they will put **removed by admin** What’s the point of complaining then? I’d rather talk to the walls (may be I did that).

I have reached the minimum payout of upworkptr.com few months ago which is $20, 000. I've got a total of $24, 000 on my total earnings page. I was so excited thinking I hit a jackpot considering this huge and easy money over the net. So I immediately went to the request payout link. To my dismay, it gave me a message that I have not yet reached the minimum payout limit of $42, 750.0000 for standard members. I contacted support (no live chat nor forums available) which only replies through email. I was then told to wait for 30 days so I waited for 30 days. I did the same step 30 days after and there it goes again, I still have not reached the minimum pay-out (I already have $54, 000 total earnings). I started to think my suspicion might be true, this website may be a scam. To give them benefit of the doubt I emailed support for the 4 time, asking why I still can't request for payout when in fact I'm over the payout limit for standard members and had passed the wait time (according to them which is not on their terms of service.) I got the same reply, I HAVE TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER 30 DAYS TO REQUEST PAY-OUT and INSISTED THAT I UPGRADE MY ACCOUNT. So I responded that I'm through with the waiting time, and never would I upgrade my account without getting the payment first. I have not heard anything again from them since...

Earnings
Total Cash Earnings: $ 42, 750.0000
Total Point Earnings: 0

Account Transactions Summary
Cash
03/16/2013 15:26 Paid Mail Earnings 40, 950.00000
03/13/2013 09:53 Paid To Click Earnings 1, 500.00000
11/09/2012 14:13 Sign-up Bonus 300.00000

Points

Odesk sucks.. they suspend your financial account with no grounds at all. And their customer service can not even answer your questions... much more when you ask them on how to resolve such issues. They do not even know where to contact those people who gave the ticket. I do not know what these customer services for. Odesk has no right over our hard earned money. They are only a mediator and they took 10% of what we get from working hard. They can not get what is rightfully ours..Because it is never theirs...
They keep on charging our clients without paying us.. now that is what you call FRAUD! THEFT!

VICTIMS OF SUCH... You can file your case here...on this site.

http://www.ic3.gov/contact/default.aspx

I'm a new user of odesk . Recently I've got a job . It was a hourly job the contractor has a verified payment meythod, he posted a job named template design . In this job there was 75 applicants . I applied for this job and got reply from that contractor . He invited me for his job . He send his skype ID . I've contcted through my skype ID .
I've work for 1 week . 28 february when I open odesk team application there was a mistake . Instantly I contact with odesk live chat . They told contracts account on hold .Since then they have suspended my financial account without notification . About 10 time i contact odesk live chat but there is no improve in my account . Unfortunately 7 mar they've permanently suspended my account when there was $1120 earnings in my account.

It looks great when you first try your hand at finding work here. But let me tell you, after getting my first job via this service, I quickly discovered how easy it is for people to scam you from this site. I spent many hours working on something for a client, and, due to the nature of the job, the little "guaranteed payment if you use this tool!" wasn't something I could use. Since I couldn't use it (again, due to the nature of the job), when the client refused to pay for my hard, perfect work, when I turned to eLance to help get paid, they result of the dispute was not in my favour.

Stay very far away if you want to be paid. The scams are very easy to fall into. And while you're bidding on these jobs, you're being undercut by overseas people who can afford to undercut you to below what minimum wage per hour would be.