upwork account blocked due to negative feedback

Quigalo

I woke up this morning to find my upwork account has been blocked for new applications and I can appeal after 6 months. I have been on upwork for over 10 years and been top rated for most of it. I havent been working on it much the past few months, and there were 2 instances of negative feedback. One person was a misunderstanding and changed it. I think the issue might be that I havent closed many projects and these 1 or 2 are standing out. About to reach out to customer service....does anyone have any experience with this type of block, or had any sucess fighting it? I really cant be off the platform for 6 months. thanks!

Vladimir

Quigalo
I'm sorry to hear about your account suspension. First thing is first, was the reason for the account suspension communicated with you? Are you guessing it's feedback-related? If it hasn't been communicated, reviewing other suspension cases won't be of much help. Don't start submitting multiple tickets but do try to follow up with support and find out the reason for the suspension. If it's something like Milos experienced and shared here, it can be resolved.

I doubt it's feedback-related but your only way is to speak with support, in a calm and respectful fashion.

As Lisa mentioned, there was a shot-term issue recently but I'm fairly certain your suspension isn't related, since it lasted only for a short while and didn't really prevent account access upon refreshing.

Keep us updated and feel free to share your profile link here, regardless if it's currently unavailable.

Lisa B.

That's insane! Did you log in after an absence? Because recently many freelancers were told their account was blocked, but it was just a glitch in the system.

Quigalo

Lisa B. Thanks for responding Lisa, I'm freaking out over here! Yes!! I did log in after an absence if I understand what you mean. I was away on vacation, and always in the app, but I probably wasnt logged into website for 1.5 to 2 weeks. I just logged in last night, sent a client a fixed file, and then this morning got the "youre blocked email" When I log on , it does show I'm blocked as of now. I havent heard back from help yet....do you have any details on what happened with those other freelancers or when? I searched the forum for blocked before I posted but didnt see anything...thanks!!

Lisa B.

Vladimir recently posted about it in this forum: https://freelancer.forum/public/d/273-upwork-scare/6

And there was a lengthy thread in the Upwork Reddit with many people also freaking out. I don't know how to find it over there, but maybe there's a search option.

I don't think they got emails, though—it may have been a pop up window or something.

Perhaps Vladimir can clarify.

It seems doubtful you'd get banned with a 10-year positive track record and only two negative reviews.

I've also been on Upwork for around 10 years with tons of open contracts. So don't think that's it either.

Lisa B.

Here's one of the Reddit threads:

Quigalo

Thanks @Vladimir ...for your info and advice. It seems like it is feedback related based on the message..here is my profile link if you'll be able to view it
https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/danq

Quigalo

I responded to the ticket that advised me of block requesting to discuss it, the ticket is marked as open and I'm waiting for support to respond

Vladimir

Okay thanks, so it's def. feedback related. Just to double-confirm, you can still access your account and work on your existing contracts, if you have any?

Quigalo

Yes that's correct

Vladimir

One more note, you mentioned one of your clients recently changed their feedback. While they can edit their public feedback, private feedback can't be changed.

Bottom line:

State your case in a structured and clear way, noting the contracts in question and especially highlighting the client with whom you had a misunderstanding, and any subsequent communication.
If your access remains limited, try excelling in your existing contracts, completing them successfully and getting great feedback. That will improve your chances once you try submitting an appeal after six months. That doesn't carry any guarantees but I'd advise on that approach.
If the client/clients from your active contracts are your long-term clients, with whom you have a good relationship and with a good hiring history on Upwork, you can consider asking them to contact support after completing your existing contract, requesting your access be fully reinstated so they could hire you on another contract. There are a lot of "ifs" here but this can help, even before the 6-month period is up. But thread carefully and make sure everything lines up.
Think hard about trying a different platform or setting up your own online presence, as plan B in case the suspension stays in place.

mainframebird

Scary, were you able to get back on?

mainframebird

Also just fyi a full refund will be like the contract never existed and review will vanish, so maybe thats worth trying

Vladimir

mainframebird Nope, if a full refund is issued the client's public feedback will be removed but not the private one.

Plus, the problem here as shared by Upwork isn't one contract outcome but supposedly more than one in a certain time frame. That's why the feedback change from one client the OP mentioned didn't affect how that contract is perceived internally by the system, based primarily on the private feedback that client left, which can't be changed.

mainframebird

If you refund the entire contract I think it is as if the contract never existed though?

Lisa B.

No, it's absurd but the private feedback still remains.

mainframebird

Lisa B. 😢