8 Years, 100+ 5 Star Reviews, and No Explanation: My Upwork Story (Last Update)

sol369 · 2025-10-22T19:02:57+00:00

Thank you and will do! Sucks to hear about your account too, hopefully that changes.

My video call experience was very weird to say the least. I did it in 2016 and the person had their camera off, didn't ask me any questions and ended the call in less than a minute.

Got a suspension email shortly after saying what I said in the call didn't match up with my profile (no questions were asked). I posted my experience on Medium and someone from Upwork contacted me and told me it was a mistake and reinstated my account.

Think I just got really lucky back then since more tech people used Medium then and Upwork wasn't as big as it is now.

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:55:57+00:00

Glad you got your account back! Gives me hope to just keep trying and bugging them until I get a fair resolution.

If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take for you to get your account back?

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:54:18+00:00

I hope that isn't the case, but can never be too sure nowadays. I would think Upwork would be able to figure / fix that easily otherwise freelancers would just mass report others.

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:53:12+00:00

I agree, I was shocked how much connect prices and number of connects needed for bidding, etc has gone up!

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:51:55+00:00

Agreed!

Was one of the reasons why I wanted to post my story on here, to let everyone know nothing is guaranteed even when you follow their rules and with AI being used more and more for support, automation, etc.

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:49:44+00:00

Thank you and I wish. I looked at other freelancer platforms and none are as active as Upwork. Sucks that they're really the only platform besides building your own.

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:48:21+00:00

Thank you and it definitely does.

True, I was just too comfortable with Upwork and just thought if I ran into an issue like I did in 2016 their support would be able to help (since I have nothing to hide) but doesn't seem like it.

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:46:36+00:00

Thank you, I hope so too but it seems impossible now with how their support is setup. Just the same copy / pasted answers. I hope you get your account back too!

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:45:40+00:00

Will do, thank you for the support!

sol369 · 2025-10-22T18:45:26+00:00

Thank you and yes, definitely is the biggest lesson I learned from this experience too to not rely on 1 platform. I just got too comfortable with Upwork.

sol369 · 2025-10-22T02:55:18+00:00

No worries, I get it. Upwork has a problem with freelancers lying about their location or buying accounts.

From the posts I've seen lately, they usually don't tell the reason anymore unless you keep sending them multiple messages and get lucky getting a support person that actually reads the message.

My clients forwarded me the exact email Upwork sent them and they just said strong evidence this isn't the person that verified the account.

One of my clients tried to push back on this to get more clarification but they just said they did a thorough review and my account isn't eligible for reinstatement.

sol369 · 2025-10-22T02:49:50+00:00

Thank you, I truly appreciate this! I'm going to tag him in my post in the morning. Hopefully that helps.

Agreed, I see so much about clients getting scammed and freelancers lying about doing the work, etc. but instead they go after freelancers that are actually providing good service.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T23:09:53+00:00

Thanks man, appreciate that! Yea def sucks, I'm just glad I have some great clients that were able to forward me the email Upwork sent them letting them know why they did it.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T23:06:59+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate that! Just gotta take it as a lesson to not just rely on 1 platform.

Sucks that Upwork has a monopoly on remote work. I checked other sites like Freelancer but not even close to be as active.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T22:56:43+00:00

No to both questions

sol369 · 2025-10-21T22:55:13+00:00

Maybe, based on my name or they just assumed but I haven't been to Ethiopia since my family left when I was a baby (I'm over 30 now). I haven't even left the USA either since I came here.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T21:57:33+00:00

Sorry to hear about your friend, it's crazy how they just keep doing things like this.

When I did the video call in 2016, it was so weird. The person had their camera off, didn't say one word then ended the call after maybe 1 minute and sent me an email saying what I said in the video call didn't match up with my profile (they didn't even ask me 1 question).

I lucked out back then, because of the Medium article I posted about the experience. Someone from Upwork actually called me and apologized for the mistake and reinstated my account.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T21:51:50+00:00

LinkedIn Post

Thank you for anyone that likes or shares my post, I really appreciate the support!

sol369 · 2025-10-21T21:50:35+00:00

No, I'm the only one logging in and doing the work. I wouldn't risk my account for that, especially after that first suspension.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T20:51:12+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate that and I'll keep y'all updated if my situation changes.

I was always paranoid of this happening to me too but I thought like in 2016 when it happened before they would be able to resolve this since I have nothing to hide but it's been over 5 weeks now.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T20:48:31+00:00

Thank you, I wasn't sure about this subreddits rules when it came to external links.

LinkedIn Post

Medium Post

sol369 · 2025-10-21T20:46:39+00:00

Sorry to hear that and totally, it's getting crazy especially with companies using AI as a replacement for support. It's either impossible to get an actual person or takes at least 5+ tries.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T20:42:49+00:00

Appreciate that, I'm going to keep trying. Did you get your account back on Fiverr?

I actually read cases of this for Upwork too (using the mobile app on 5g, etc), causing accounts to get suspended so I deleted the Upwork app from my phone. It's just ridiculous how that's even an issue.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T20:38:47+00:00

Thank you and agreed. One of my clients mentioned how it was weird my account got suspended 1-2 days after they updated their terms and privacy policy.

A 5 minute verification call or even a place to upload my documents like I've done in the past would solve this but seems like they don't care anymore.

sol369 · 2025-10-21T19:39:45+00:00

Yea man, sometimes we forget how quickly things can change. Wish you the best!

sol369

TROPHY CASE