UpWork
reviews and complaints

I'm the owner and lead developer of a Bulgarian company that specializes in WordPress and WooCommerce solutions. Recently, I tried to create an agency/client account on Upwork, and let me tell you, it was quite the experience! I'm sorry if this review is a bit long, but if you're a freelancer or representing an agency (or even a client), you should definitely read this before joining Upwork.

At first, I tried to create an agency account using my main company email. After I finished the initial setup, I realized that their system was forcing me to create a freelancer account, and all account URLs were redirected to this screen. Due to my misunderstanding, I believed that I created a freelancer-profile account by mistake. I tried to contact their support to clarify this, but they don't provide direct support for freelancers (at least non-approved ones, not sure what happens with working accounts). Unable to communicate with their support, I probably made the mistake of canceling my account in order to create a new account from scratch.

After reading their help pages more carefully, I realized that creating a freelancer profile was a prerequisite for the agency profile. So, after knowing what I had to do, I tried to create a new account with the same email... this was not possible, my email was blocked. Again, access to their support was not available, so I used an alternative company email, and I finally managed to create the second account and set up all the information.

My profile featured a legal company based in Bulgaria, a WordPress-specific overview and skill set, 8 years of WordPress themes and plugins authoring experience (12 total in web development), a portfolio containing lead web development work on 6 commercial WordPress themes, several high-profile client projects, all my work history, and I also took my first WordPress test with a 4.8/5.0 score. Without intention to brag about my skills, I consider myself an expert in my field, and this was far from obvious in my Upwork profile.

The next day, I got a generic profile rejection which caught me by surprise. Again, no support chance to ask what the problem is. After a while, I received another notice that they rejected my VAT number. Since this was not wrong in the first place, I tried just to resubmit it... it was rejected two times. I updated it again, only this time I added the BG prefix... their system warned me that this might not be a correct one, but allowed me to submit it. I also updated my company name, changing it from English to Bulgarian in order to help their "smart" script to verify the data with the EU VIES system... zero progress.

The final outcome: after spending two days of my life preparing my profile and trying to guess how to solve issues with their system, I get, out of the blue, an account rejection message. Even if they didn't provide a single valid reason for their decision (they just said it was a term violation), it was clearly an indication that my account was considered a fraud case! They didn't even bother to ask me... that was the first shock!

Since this was the first time they contacted me via a support message on the account panel, I got the chance to write a response, in order to let them know that all their anti-fraud alarms were a product of my struggle working with their dysfunctional system and unreachable support, and that I will be more than happy to provide them with any type of proof or official documentation.

How naive I was, expecting a human answer! Unfortunately, I received an instant automatic reply that they were not willing to revise their decision (so they had already predicted my response, but they simply don't give a damn!). Well, I have used and partnered with several web services, this is the first time I was treated like this. I wasted so much time and effort on this, and they didn't even have the courtesy to allow me to access their support. I was totally shocked!

I was so upset with their unacceptable behavior that I had to take a day off to calm down. Today, I tried to do a little research on their reputation, and my guess was confirmed. Agencies, freelancers, and, most importantly, clients are absolutely frustrated with their service. If they treat professionals like garbage, why would someone expect that clients will get better treatment?

Finally, I'm quite happy with the outcome since providing client services via unreliable partners is a recipe for disaster. For sure, I got my lesson... I should have done my homework before getting involved with them in the first place.

I recently had a terrible experience with Upwork that I feel compelled to share with others. I lost a total of $1450 due to the abuse and fraud of Upwork. It all started when I posted a job with a detailed description and a fixed price of $1000. However, after the freelancer asked for more, we agreed on $1150 with the bold point that it needed work on Framework React/Angular for frontend.

Upwork initially provided great support during the progress, and I had no bad impression about them. They even recommended a high-rated freelancer with a good reputation to me. After the freelancer agreed, he started working on the project, and I paid Upwork $1150.

Two weeks later, the freelancer showed me a sample via a link to see the admin page and front page style. However, he did not work on it via Framework for frontend like we agreed before. So, I asked him not to waste time anymore and do it like we agreed with the framework frontend via React.

After three months, he promised to deliver the same design frontend and admin like the file that I already sent to him two months before. But after waiting for two months, he showed me the same page and admin page like when he showed it to me for the first time without React.

I felt like I was just defrauded by this freelancer. He did not make any progress since two months ago, and he was just smart to explain but did not do any work at all. Also, the fact that he never sent any files to me made me decide to stop wasting my time with this freelancer and plan to find another freelancer that was far better than this one.

So, I asked Upwork how I could end this with this freelancer, and I already explained my issue to them. They said that according to TOS, I must click cancel from the job page, and it cannot be done without confirmation from the freelancer's side. I was really surprised by this funny rule. If the freelancer already sent the files or did the work closely with the requirement, it would make more sense that the freelancer has the right to confirm my dispute. But this one never sent me any files and never did the work closely with my requirements.

So, Upwork did not give me any choice but to wait for confirmation from the freelancer. As I thought, the freelancer refused to confirm my dispute and demanded payment of 50% from the agreement. It shocked me that this freelancer used his chance to go against my dispute and demand payment for nothing.

I rejected it and explained that I offered this job as a fixed price, meaning I could only pay what I wanted based on my description. Do you want to pay for something that you already described but get nothing or see the item is not closely what you want? So, I asked Upwork as a middleman/protection as a side who held my money from fraud freelancers like him. Again, I was shocked that Upwork stated that they were not able to act as a middleman, and there was another party that could make a decision on each issue on the Upwork platform. That party was arbitrary.

When you have an issue with a bad freelancer and want to help solve your issue, you must pay $300 more for the arbitrary fee. Again, I felt like Upwork was abusing and defrauding me since they only wanted my money but did not want to take any responsibility if there was a bad freelancer or bad client on their platform.

So, I paid the arbitrary fee, and finally, the arbitrary decided to pay the freelancer 100%. I was shocked by this arbitrary decision, and I wanted to ask the arbitrary why I had to pay 100% to the freelancer. They have a rule not to have to explain everything to anyone.

This was my first experience with a famous freelancer platform like Upwork, and I felt defrauded and abused. Before this, I never had this experience with other freelancer marketplaces because others were responsible, and they would take action directly for bad freelancers and bad clients. As long as you stay good and clear, you will be safe, but not on Upwork.

I want to make a point or advice from my experience, and you must know this before you use Upwork:

1) Upwork is not responsible for your money as a client from any issue you experience from a job or from any freelancer. They only want your money, and once you pay Upwork, you no longer have rights, and Upwork does not care if you get defrauded by a freelancer.

2) Upwork will not give you any support/help, and they will throw your issue to another party that is completely outside of the relationship between you and Upwork. Remember, the arbitrary fee is $300 upfront. This arbitrary also does not care about your money, and you must explain everything from the beginning to them. They can make any decision they like, and they do not have any responsibility for their decisions.

3) Upwork community and support are not support. They are built by Upwork to build an image that they have a great platform and support (which they do not). You will not get any help or proper support like on other freelancer marketplace platforms.

4) Rather than risking your precious money on Upwork, you better use other platforms that want to take responsibility as a middleman between the client and freelancer. They will not lap their hands to another party, and you do not need to pay more for another party like Upwork.

While it is Upwork's right to lap their hands from any issue inside their platform, we as clients need to be careful with their TOS. It is better to use other freelancer marketplaces like Fverr or Freelancer.com.

This Upwork or former Elance is probably one of the reasons they changed their brand to avoid bad testimonials and try to rebrand themselves as a new company to give customers a better experience. However, they are really worse.

No files, no work, and you lose $1450. This happened on Upwork for real. After the freelancer won, he contacted me by Skype to laugh and mock me, and it just made my day worse.

Be careful, guys.

For proof that I am not boasting, here is more proof that you might be interested in checking:

https://fileholic.com/share/Decision-Arbitrary.png (this is the proof that the arbitrary won the freelancer)

https://fileholic.com/share/Upwork-denied-responsible.png (this is one of the proofs that Upwork does not want to take responsibility for your case even if it happens on their platform)

Probably after this, some Upwork team will try to defend their rights by TOS and blame that the arbitrary decision is the final decision that everyone should accept, even though the fact that the freelancer did fraud is the winner. Also, if you are a freelancer, you can get free money like this freelancer by abusing TOS Upwork. You just need to show a link to your client that seems to show that you are already working. You do not need to send any files. You can also use any link you found from Google and make your client upset. Once your client disputes, challenge him and prepare to win on the arbitrary level for free money. Some good freelancers will not do this, but this method will be used by bad freelancer persons, and in the end, the client must pay when they get trapped.

I hope I have given you a point and warned you before you get "trapped" on Upwork. Seriously, use other freelancer marketplaces. There are a lot of alternatives out there.

They decided to cease accounts of ordinary Russians and Belarusians. Thousands of people will be left without their jobs because of this so-called cancel culture. No one cares that ordinary people are not responsible for this so-called "special military operation". If you naively think that they chose this or voted for this, then you are terribly mistaken because totalitarian regimes don't work that way.
If you think that everything is so easy, then you are lucky you live in a democratic country where human rights are respected.

It only means that you know nothing about Russia and Belarus, how these people live, and how they are frightened to death by their government. You know nothing about this? Well then find and read something about protests in Russia and Belarus and learn what the police do to these poor people.

I am sure you don't even know where Belarus is located.
I doubt you even knew about this country.
I doubt you know that it's actually a country.
I bet you had no idea that Russians and Belorusians are two different nations.
I doubt you know something else about Russia except for vodka and balalaika.

But yet you judge.

Such actions will not lead to an improvement in the situation in Ukraine, yet they can significantly worsen the situation in Russia with regard to respect to fundamental human rights.

Think of ordinary people, please. Don't be so one-sided.

These actions on the part of ISPs and OSPs provide a specious and convenient pretext for the Russian government, which has been working for two years to create their own, closed and isolated “sovereign Internet”, both technically and via media, to justify their actions by referring to their own statements about the threat of Internet shutdown, and swiftly complete the process of isolating people of Russia from the rest of the world.

These absolutely reckless actions are only blown to all progressive forces that advocate peace and good neighborly relations and oppose Russia's self-isolation from the outside world.

This will harm both the Russians and the Ukrainians themselves, as it will smother all anti-war voices in Russia and citizens will be deprived of trustworthy information about current events.

Please hear us! Please understand that these restrictions and prohibitions in the form of censorship and blocking cannot contribute to the dissemination of unbiased information, dialogue between peoples, and building an inclusive, development-oriented, and people-centered information society premised on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law.

STOP THIS TERRIBLE DISCRIMINATION!

FRAUD ALERT

This is a fraudulent charge. Your help section is useless to file fraud chgs.

I got charged $37.08 fraudulently by one of your workers. - neekjuni choudhary.

Ps your phone no appears bogus also.

I will not be using UpWork again since you purposely make it extremely difficult to file a complaint when logged in.
Kevin

Kushtrim Beha charged me for work that was never done, and instead of working on the project for which I paid (under the terms and conditions agreed upon in the contract he signed), he worked on other people's projects. That constitutes THEFT, and it's not reasonable for me to wait for a project that Kushtrim Beha charged me for but didn't deliver.

To be clear, he charged me for work that was never received.

On the 8th of April, Kushtrim Beha stated, "Let's get started the project. In the case I won't satisfy your requirements, I will give you full money back.", thus there is no excuse for receiving a full refund in good faith from Upwork.com but they have not refunded me, so I called my financial institution.

Because he had been billing me without presenting any work for 3 weeks, the contract was paused. Then on the 26th of April, Kushtrim Beha had the audacity to ask me to resume the contract so he could continue charging me for work he never intended to do, as he states, "Hello, can you please resume the contract this week?".

I have asked to see the work and progress, but he only makes excuses for zero evidence he has of performing any work. Everything about his behavior is one of a con artist. When his profile was still visible, his "Job Success" was less than 39%.

I wrote 3 emails to Upwork.com advising that Kushtrim Beha failed to keep his part of the agreement and hasn't been forthright about this process, and encouraged them (upwork.com and Kushtrim) to do the right thing in good faith, and return all the money [$2050.00] in a civil fashion.

Kushtrim Beha hasn't performed any work during the time afforded him and didn't deliver after the week extension. Even after addressing this in a civil fashion, in attempts to rectify the situation, he failed to act in good faith on the contractual agreement. Yes, he signed a contract and I can prove everything, so beware of Kushtrim. He's a scam artist and a thief.

Upwork allows fraudsters to post jobs that do not exist. If you apply for their jobs they contact you and send you fake contracts to sign and then use your info to defraud you with identity theft or by asking you to pay for things.

I've been with Upwork about 10 years in all. Upwork decided every worker needed a security badge. I can see the usefulness in knowing there's no fraud going on. Beginning mid-Oct we are all to have a video call with them and upload a picture ID to prove who we are. I don't have video calling but I sent a video of myself, told them some facts about myself and showed my ID. I uploaded my ID to show them. No not good enough. My account is frozen, I can't get paid or take jobs. I said okay, fine, I can understand that, so I ended all my contracts with employers--there's no sense in working if I can't get paid-- and tried to close my account and leave Upwork. They won't let me have my earnings or leave.

Desirable Resolution: I want to leave with the $170 in earnings I worked for.

Hello .My complaint is a web site.I work freely.I want to complain at Upwork.com.
What is my complaint?

I've been working at Upwork.com for about 2 months.
I am a specialist in my work.No client was unhappy with me.One cheat cheated me and opened up a fake profile for my step on Upwork.com.As soon as I knew it was a fake profile, I immediately informed Upwork.com.But Upwork has blocked my original work profile.I was unaware of the rules of Upwork.Most importantly, I was a new employee.One cheat cheated me.I sent a lot of evidence to the Upwork team about this.However, they did not leave my profile.I didn't open the fake profile.I didn't really know the rules and was deceived by the fraudster.Upwork has violated my human rights.If a person is ignorant of the rules and is deceived, it is not his fault!If I want, I can send proof.

Sorry if the spelling was wrong
Thank you!

Hello there,

Here I want to inform that again and again my account has been permanently suspended because of a client. Let me explain the case.

I have created this account and I approved this account after trying several times. Then I have worked with so many clients successfully and my job succeed value was 94%. But because one client I have confused. He just wanted me to contact outside of Upwork. I ignore SEVERAL TIMES and I requested him to send me an offer several times but he didn't do it and he asked me to send my bank details. I ignored it more than twice and finally he force me to send and then I sent. That was the only option was.

after that, I complained to the upwork about this issue and you guys suspended my worth account. I am a fresher to upwork and I beg you just kindly refer this matter and give my account back to me. I never ever beg this much if I did this purposely. But this is not my fault. That is why this much begging. I have attached all the screenshots regarding this issue. I am now in suicide mood. I cant earn at least 1 dollar. Even there is no chance to create any other account as well. My designs became just worthless for you guys. Why suspended my account because of another client.

I'm kindly saying this. Beyond the rules please just think about this matter, please. This is the very 1st time. Why you guys cant consider the work I have done with the other clients. It was done by my mistake as a fresher beginner it is normal for everyone. I am 100% sure and I promise this will be the first and last time. I am telling this much because I never ever wanted to cheat on you guys.

Last year you have given a permanently suspended account to a girl like me who faced the same situation. But why you can't do it for me. I am damn poor at this time. I never thought this kind of thing will happen to me. I never ever thought to cheat you guys. I never want to work outside. I need to improve my account and in future, I need to work with you guys. I am so satisfied with Upwork system and I am so much like this platform other than everything. So please give my account back kindly.

Chamika.
Thank you!

Hi SIr,

I want to bring to your notice that Upwork suspended my account on the ground which was totally unfair. I had been passed approximately 1 year in this platform and done 24 jobs completed, earning 2k+. Last 2 weeks I had 90 hours to work in my account. 1 week later they suspended my account and cannot tell me about my suspension error. Just one text repeated to the help center mail.

I was not applying to the jobs for a long time. They never even once raised the issue that I have applied to the max. a number of jobs. I just got invitations job and get jobs from clients invitation. But as soon as I landed and completed my first week 90 hours job on Upwork, then suddenly a mail for suspension.

I sucessful verification they asked me to verify my identity through video call which was also successful. After that, I received their e-mail they have suspended my account permanently. I have also Identity verification successfully. My transaction and billing method all are ok. You can see my account. I don't ask the client for 5 start review. I don't work outside of upwork.

So, why I am suspended. My one year working is on down in one second. I worked hard and keep patient for growing my account in here.

This is absolutely Unfair, not giving me a chance to appeal against by permanent account suspension.

I request you to cancel this unfair suspension of my account and activate my account.

Thanks,
Md Abjal Hossain.

Hi there,

I want to bring to your notice that Upwork suspended my account on ground which was totally unfair i.e. I have applied to max. number of jobs on Upwork. The most shocking fact was that this account suspension came at a time when I landed and completed my 1st job on Upwork after applying to jobs for a long time.

I was applying to the jobs for a long time. They never even once raised the issue that I have applied to max. number of jobs. But as soon as I landed and completed my first job on Upwork, then sudden need to verify my documents arose and they asked me to verify my documents.

After sucessful verification they asked me to verify my identity through video call which was also successful. After that, on next day I received their e-mail they have suspended my account permanently on charges of applying to max. number of jobs.

This is absolutely Unfair, not giving me a chance to appeal against by permanent account suspension.

I request you to cancel this unfair suspension of my account and reinstate/activate my account.

Thanks,
Pankaj Popli

We worked with marko sipka on different projects

Marko sipka profile:
https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~01deeeb0638389df1e/

Is totally a scam.
He stole money and he should never be trusted.

He is stealing money from clients and employers, used to fake presence and lie.

Do not trust him!
For any reason!

At the beginning looks like a good person but in the end is just a liar!

I used this website for my part-time job. Sometimes I had little issues, but I resolved them pretty fast.
Recently I quit my job to dedicate to a full-time freelance. And of course, I wanted to use the UpWork for a start. But all of a sudden I noticed that they disabled my account for no reason. I wrote several emails, but they are left unanswered. No problem, there're different places, but I have a good reputation as a freelancer on UpWork and I still want to get my account back :(

Excuse me, but can't I decide what to do with my account without your participation, huh?
I can't find a decent job on your website, it takes time to find it. I'm 23 and have no experience, so almost no one wants to hire a young lady. I need to have the rating, and I would love to work for this, but this is an endless story. So why then your website makes everything worse for me. Just leave me alone and don't put a private label on my profile. Please, fix it.

Yesterday got one mail from upwork, that they suspended my account, reason mentioned that i am putting higher bids for projects, freelancing website have same duties that we put bid for getting projects, in my field competition level is quite high, didn't get projects easily, so on daily basis its mandatory to add bid on different projects, for this reason account was suspended, its not acceptable.

I am Sahak Tadevosyan, a top rated web developer on Upwork.

Yesterday they have held my account without saying anything. They wrote to my clients to look for another dev. What is the worse, they do not let me withdraw my money and have taken the last month's earned money.

I do not want to work with such a unreliable partner, I will continue working with my clients another way. But I demand my money back.

How can you help me?

Dear Sir/Madam I want to say that my Account on Upwork 441 Logue Ave
Mountain View
California
United States - 94043 was suspended without any reason.When I call them they are not responding.My request is to take an action against Upwork team as soon as possible for suspending my account as soon as possible.Please activate my account as soon as possible.Thanks
With Best Regards

UpWork was a great place in the past but they have changed a lot in a bad way. I was working on UpWork as a freelancer and received quite a lot of good offers but my recent experience was quite disappointing. I received a job offer, and when I was done with my part of the deal I did not get the payment. They said that I'll get my money within a couple of weeks, but it is now over a month and I keep getting empty promises!
UpWork support promised to help and to contact my client but it doesn't seem like they actually did something to help me.

I was a part of UpWork for a long time but recently I found out that my account was deleted.
I didn't use UpWork for about two months because I had my personal reasons and while I was away the cancelled my account. When I contacted UpWork they were not able to explain what was the reason, and the worst part was when they said that they were not able to get my account back. They said that if I still was interested in their service I could make another account!
With that kind of attitude they clearly showed that they were not interested in helping me. Terrible service!

Hello sir/mam,

2 Month ago Upwork permanent suspended my account. Last 4 years i am working only on Upwork. This is only way my income. I am Loyal member of upwork. I am started working on 2010. Many time i am sending request regarding account reopen but upwork not responding very well.

Upwork not understand any freelancer situation i am sending twice apology mail but it didn't change his decision.

My profile URL:- https://www.upwork.com/fl/hirengohel
Work History
5, 142 hours worked
59 jobs
$30k+ earned

Please reactivate my account asap.

I am waiting upwork positive response.

Regards,
Hiren Gohel

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!