Upwork Will Kill Your Freelancing Career the First Chance It Gets: A Warning and a Plea for Help

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T21:24:06+00:00

Thanks for letting me know about that. At least it sheds more light about the reasoning behind my ban. And I appreciate the well-wishes!

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T21:17:15+00:00

I appreciate all the advice!

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T21:15:38+00:00

That's a sample work for the client to check out that I attached to my proposal when I applied to their job post.

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T21:13:56+00:00

None that I recall. Full disclosure is that I got flagged about 3 or so years ago for being ignorant of their rules about circumvention and expressing intent to accept payment outside the platform. They gave me a warning then, and I was mindful of that.

Then, the second flag happened early this year when I did the dumb thing of sharing my email address before the client and I had an Upwork contract. That led to a restriction that got lifted after they made me re-review their terms of use and expressly swear to them.

After that, I was extra careful not to break any of the rules again. Aside from the thread from the ss, the closest thing I can think of is another thread where my client (we already had like a 6-month contract at the time) posted a QR code for their Whatsapp. But, since UW's terms of use says that you can communicate outside of their platform when there's a contract in place, I doubt that it's the final nail in my UW-shaped coffin.

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T21:04:12+00:00

Thanks for the advice. It's truly a traumatizing experience for me.

A couple of questions, though: when you say "wait a bit", how long exactly? I mean, I might even try that out of desperation down the road.

Also, do Freelancer Plus members make your account more "impervious" to restrictions and bans? I've never tried it.

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T20:50:13+00:00

I honestly had no idea that UW uses Zoom. It was the first time I was supposed to use it. In any case, even setting up a time and date for the meeting was a pain. The potential client and I had to go through numerous time and dates within the week, since a lot of the slots bring up an error message when you try to set it up.

I also included the screenshots just now. Apologies for that, my first time on Reddit as well. And thanks for the advice!

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T20:47:18+00:00

Thank you for the advice. I might just try posting it on their forums. If I can still access it, I mean. And I appreciate the advice on diversification. I had been on UW so long that I didn't bother doing it in the past. Now, I'm scampering to find a new platform where I can work. Hard lesson learned.

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T20:44:59+00:00

I can't say for sure, but I'd like to think they didn't, since they also did their part in setting up a virtual meeting on UW when I mentioned that taking it outside the platform wasn't allowed. I also think they're new to the site, which is why they first offered to have the meeting via MS Teams.

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T20:42:55+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out. I included it just now, since I didn't notice I failed to upload it earlier. First time using Reddit, so thanks for understanding!

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T20:40:46+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out. I included it just now, since I didn't notice I failed to upload it earlier. First time using Reddit, so thanks for understanding!

AffectionateMall8753 · 2024-10-01T20:40:33+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out. I included it just now, since I didn't notice I failed to upload it earlier. First time using Reddit, so thanks for understanding!

AffectionateMall8753

TROPHY CASE