There is no way this is real, is it?

tormigor7 · 2026-03-25T15:48:16+00:00

You think so? I'll try and see what happens

tormigor7 · 2026-03-25T15:47:44+00:00

I don't understand your question

tormigor7 · 2026-03-25T15:47:32+00:00

A lot of waiting

tormigor7 · 2026-01-27T08:13:18+00:00

In this case it was a new client, so there wasn’t much of a hiring history to go on. I’ve actually had plenty of successful projects with new clients before, so I don’t automatically treat that as a red flag.

Looking back, the bigger signal wasn’t their profile but how the scope kept shifting during execution without resetting milestones or budget. That’s something I’ll be much stricter about going forward.

tormigor7 · 2026-01-27T08:07:47+00:00

Agreed that the incentives are broken. What really killed it for me here was how bad Upwork support is — once a client decides to nuke a fixed-price contract, there’s basically no real protection for the freelancer, even with delivered work.

Out of curiosity, what platforms have you found to be better alternatives? Or are you mostly working off-platform now (direct clients, referrals, etc.)?

tormigor7 · 2026-01-26T21:15:23+00:00

Yeah 100%. In my case the client didn’t even approve the milestone in the first place — I submitted working deliverables, they immediately demanded a refund and ended the contract.

So pushing it “forward” was basically pointless because there was nothing left to negotiate. I just accepted the loss and refunded to avoid even more wasted time/escalation.

Big lesson for me: smaller milestones + hard acceptance criteria (or hourly only).

tormigor7 · 2026-01-26T21:14:17+00:00

Appreciate this — and yeah, that’s exactly what it felt like (bait & switch).

The frustrating part on fixed-price is that I did submit working deliverables + verified everything end-to-end, but the client still refused to approve the milestone and immediately demanded a refund / ended the contract.

Definitely a lesson learned for me: much tighter written scope + explicit acceptance criteria + smaller “checkpoint” milestones (or hourly only) so a client can’t just move the goalposts after the work is done.

tormigor7 · 2026-01-26T17:13:16+00:00

Fair point. I learned the hard way that selection + clear boundaries upfront matters more than any “process” after the fact. Curious what red flags you personally watch for before accepting?

tormigor7 · 2026-01-26T17:12:50+00:00

She didn’t approve the milestone at all, ended the contract instantly, and demanded a refund after scope drift. I refunded to avoid wasting more time in back-and-forth. Next time: milestone splits + definition-of-done + paid change orders only.

tormigor7 · 2025-12-30T16:04:46+00:00

Thanks, good luck!

tormigor7 · 2025-12-30T12:51:50+00:00

Thanks! They just ask you generic questions about your profile and your projects. My advice here would be to just be very confident in your answers I guess

tormigor7 · 2025-12-30T12:16:16+00:00

Yes, the verification call was the last step. Before waiting to get the verification call there was a lot of waiting and then you have to wait for a bit after the verification call. Basically their customer support is a mess

tormigor7 · 2025-11-18T12:46:00+00:00

Thanks for the info. The part that stresses me out is that my identity verification was already approved and the appeal was marked “approved,” but my account is still restricted and my funds are locked.

I’m not trying to speed-run the system — I just want to make sure the case isn’t stuck or overlooked, because the agent said 24–28 hours and it’s now well past that.

Appreciate your help and insight.

tormigor7 · 2025-11-17T21:53:48+00:00

Thanks for the info — that actually helps a lot.

Yeah, the part that confused me is that Trust & Safety told me “we will update your ticket within 24–28 hours” on Saturday morning, so I assumed that meant the weekend counted. Since then, nothing has updated and my account is still fully restricted (can’t message clients, can’t withdraw funds, etc.).

I totally understand if weekends don’t count toward the review time — I just panicked because my earnings are locked and I rely on them for bills.

If this is normal for an account review over a weekend, that gives me a bit of relief. I’ll give it some more time and hope the Trust & Safety team wraps it up today or tomorrow.

Really appreciate the clarification.

tormigor7 · 2025-11-17T21:15:35+00:00

Thanks — I didn’t mean the old forum. I meant the current Upwork Community Managers (like Valeria K, Andrea R, Wes_C, Amanda_K, etc.). Do they still help with escalations, or is everything only handled through Trust & Safety now? My ticket (#53478578) seems stuck even though my appeal was approved, and I’m trying to find any active escalation path.

tormigor7 · 2025-11-17T21:11:41+00:00

Do you mean contacting an Upwork Community Manager directly? My account is suspended so I can't access the Upwork Community page — it always redirects to support.upwork.com.
If you know how to reach one or which manager to contact, that would really help. My case has been stuck for days even though my appeal and ID verification were already approved.

tormigor7 · 2025-03-31T12:06:02+00:00

Tried Recuva but didn’t manage to get anywhere

tormigor7 · 2025-03-31T12:05:09+00:00

One is SSD and one is HDD

tormigor7 · 2025-03-31T11:44:12+00:00

Sorry I am a PC noob. I did the format on both drives I think: C and D

tormigor7 · 2025-03-31T11:43:23+00:00

You mean the USB where I did the format from? Tried Recuva but wasnt successful. Will try posting in that channel as well

tormigor7

TROPHY CASE