How to fix the situation on Upwork?

Question

Freelance

I really wanted to hope that there is a place where you can work normally and not be afraid that some factors that have nothing to do with you will spoil all the raspberries (no need to laugh, you can’t forbid dreaming :)). I saw upwork as such a place. I am just starting my journey there, but I have already made a dozen orders, the reviews are good. I take my work seriously. In short, seek and you shall find. But it was not there ). The pre-pre-last client seemed suspicious to the upwork. After he made payment for the work performed, I received the following message.

Hello ****,
Unfortunately, we had to place the financial side of your account on a temporary hold while we review a certain issue on your client's account. You still have access to your contracts to continue working on your existing jobs. Please be assured that we are working as quickly as possible to resolve this issue and will update you when we have more information.
In the mean time, could you please clarify how you met your client, *****, and describe the work are you doing for them?
Your patience and cooperation is much appreciated.Regards,

"And there is a hole in the old woman," I thought, deciding that the client was the local Ostap Ibragimovich. I will draw conclusions for the future. Surprised by support questions like "where did you meet him?" and "what kind of work was done for him?". After all, all the work was done through upwork. Full ordering information, including chat correspondence, is on their website. I'm sure support has access to it. There is only one explanation - a mess)). The same idea, by the way, is prompted by constant problems with the site itself. I've already memorized all of their "funny encyclopedias" that pop up every time a resource fails to function properly. There is no feeling of reliability and seriousness of the office, but nowhere to go.
Continuation of my story.
The culprit didn't go anywhere. He replied that for the first time he was on the upwork and was cooperating with his security service, confirming his own identity.

Hi ****, this was my first time using UpWork. I need to send them identification that is why they paused my account. I'm doing that today I apologize for the delay.

Another funny detail: despite the fact that the order was blocked, after a while I saw that the payment was verified and even the amount of upwork tax was deducted (!).
Despite the fact that mentally I had already come to terms with the possible scam, the fact that the client had not disappeared pleased me, but that was not the case. Time passed, and the payment remained blocked. I could not achieve anything intelligible from the upwork ... Solid

"We appreciate your continued patience and cooperation...."

The continuation of the story was lousy. Once I saw when logging into my account:

"Financial transactions for *********** have been limited. Please check your email for additional information or contact customer support."

I wrote to the support, and again without any positive changes.

"October 29, 2015 08:47 Hello ,Thank you for your continued patience and cooperation. We are currently looking into this issue for you. We will let you know as we have an update"

Currently, another payment has been verified. The order has nothing to do with that "bad" client, but I can't withdraw it either. Thus, ALL my transactions are blocked. I don’t see answers from upwork ... they write general phrases.

"We are trying to clarify inconsistencies found on your client's account and this includes your contract with him. Please note that we are limited in the amount of information we can provide regarding our review. While this may not be ideal for you, we've taken these precautionary measures to ensure that users cannot employ this information to circumvent our detection systems."

Why are payments from other, "good" clients following the "suspicious" ones blocked, why are the "suspicious" ones also listed in the payments that passed the check? There are no answers. Statuses of calls to support - "Solved". What is the point of working further if everything earned is not available to me. Despite the fact that the upwork did not voice any claims to me personally.
What to do?
Thanks

Answer 1

To anyone who is interested: the situation has been resolved. Thanks everyone for the advice!
Yesterday I wrote another letter to support, also created a topic on the forum. This morning I received several emails from support. The first started with the line:
I nervously laughed (or cried, I don't remember anymore) because the message I received 10 days ago started exactly the same way! :)

Oct 25, 11:41 AM Hello ***Unfortunately, we had to place the financial side of your account on a temporary hold while we review a certain issue on your.....

But then I saw another letter:

Hello ***,Good news! I'm pleased to let you know your appeal has been reviewed and approved....

Conclusions: it is not clear how to insure against such "fun" stories. I plan to request identity verification in order to at least somehow "confirm the purity of my intentions" for the future. However, as I understand it, no one guarantees anything to anyone. It is also obvious: you should actively (and correctly) defend your position. Do not wait passively, because the terms of consideration are rather sluggish. Perhaps 10-14 days is the standard time frame in such a situation.

Answer 2

The situation is unpleasant, patience to you!
Philosophical question "What to do" :) You already know the answer yourself. If you still have the strength and desire, politely resolve the issue with the support, try to describe the problem on the official page of the upwork in the social. networks, let them understand publicly. If there is no desire to "butt" with cold tech. support, look for other job options, other exchanges, look for customers directly, without exchanges.

Answer 3

There is a stick with many ends,
Try to wait well and look for contacts of someone higher than the support.
Keep in mind that Odessa development is located in Ukraine (2 or 3 offices), and who knows where the support is located, i.e. no need to wait for some special out-of-box responsiveness.
And such frames - carding - a scourge for all online services, especially the one that allows you to launder 90% of the amount.
It's hard to deal with it - preliminary data is easily faked (this explains the sudden blocking, for example, by Pioneer, of new accounts registered through Odessa), and more or less you can be sure only by looking at history. But in your case it doesn't.
"Identity verification" unless with a passport at the face in an online chat is useless here. Therefore, in order not to lose a job, it is better for support not to take the initiative. That's how they live.
Wait and watch on TapTalk, for example

Answer 4

alas, there is no way to speed up and just wait

Answer 5

I was also recently blocked in the same way. And he asked the same question :) Unblocked, parasites.

Answer 6

If you are ready to go through our not the easiest selection procedure , let 's join us at Toptal . Our support will find you and tell you everything :)

Answer 7

tell me, please, where to write a question to them in upwork? I don't see any contacts for direct support..
or can you help? Is it possible to create two accounts from one IP? I am an illustrator and my husband is a video artist. Can we have two accounts from our home computer? or all skills in one acc to pour? thank!

Answer 8

The same situation as described above. Blocked my account for a month now.
Every day I write and argue with them. Most importantly, all payments were blocked.
The customer is not responding.