Upwork Reviews

I hired a freelancer through Upwork in January to help me regain access to my email. Before I released payment of $265, the freelancer assured me there was a 100% guarantee that the work would be completed for the agreed amount or my money refunded. Based on that assurance, I released the funds. After payment, the freelancer failed to deliver the service and instead requested additional payments for “tools” that were never part of the original agreement. In February, the freelancer agreed in writing to refund my money, asked for a few days, and then later reversed his position and refused to refund.

When I contacted support (ticket #**), the AI bot looped me in circles, and the human agent abruptly ended the chat mid-message. Escalated to Trust & Safety? Provided all verification details (UK location, devices, card ownership, business info) on Jan 13 over 30 hours later, complete silence. Now my account has a transaction hold blocking ALL payment methods (cards, PayPal, even small tests), risking my project deadline on Jan 16. This poor service ignored tickets, broken promises of "within the day," and holding my business hostage is unacceptable. Upwork's T&S system seems designed to frustrate legitimate users. Avoid if you value reliability 1/5 stars.

Upwork suspended my account after ID verification, even though the information I entered matches my government records exactly. This was not a mistake on my end, but their system error. Once suspended, I had no way to reach customer support. To report the issue, I created another account — which they immediately suspended for violating the “multiple accounts” rule. This left me completely cut off from any resolution. Emails go unanswered, and even their X (Twitter) channel blocks users from messaging until verification is complete.

The platform is a great idea; however, the company does not act in a professional manner. They will ban your account without an explanation and although the company claims there is an appeal process, there really is not, because they refuse to tell you what term you violated. The site ignores your appeal and closes the communication as case solved when the case has not been solved.

I have never felt this angry in my life! I'm a Dutchman living in the U.S. After bad experiences on other platforms, I finally found a great freelance web developer on Upwork. We were both excited about working together on the project. The project would cost several thousands of dollars, and my wife was hesitant to add such a big amount to our credit card balance. She asked me to get money from my account in the Netherlands, so we could pay off the credit card immediately after paying Upwork. So I mentioned to my freelancer that I had to make several trips to the ATM to get the full amount together, since my Dutch bank only allows me to withdraw $800 every 72 hours. Then I would take the cash to my U.S. bank, pay Upwork with my credit card, then pay off the card. A bit of a time-consuming process.

Upwork is presumably supposed to protect the buyer's interests. In actuality they couldn't care less what happens to the customers after the payment clears. I happened to order SEO service through the platform. The service was horrible and I left a review. The seller got upset and after the payment cleared deleted the work he had done and sent threatening emails. Upwork couldn't care less. Initially they pretended to "investigate", which turned out to be a lie. After 62 emails they said that don't really care what happens after the order clears, refused to assist and eventually ignored my further emails. Looking at the reviews the company is receiving, it seems that I'm not the only one who has been mistreated, and this type of deception and disdain is a practice they engage in quite often. Beware and stay clear!

Hired a company to complete a website. They did not complete the job. Paid $850 with $450 in escrow. Sent messages to Elance indicating the provider was not responsive and did not complete the job. Elance told me if the provider did not agree to the terms no funds will be released. Elance released funds automatically after telling me they would not unless the provider accepted the terms then told me that they would charge me $895 to arbitrate the matter. They ignored the dispute resolution phase which is supposed to be mandatory and said I did not agree to pay the $895 to arbitrate. Clearly Elance did not read the emails and allowed the provider to keep the money because they get paid a percentage of what the provider earns. I sent correspondence from support but nothing.

Two years ago I was hired through Elance. I completed my assigned task and the company transferred the earnings as requested. I am still waiting for the earnings to be made available to me. They said first I needed to add a profile picture which I couldn't do due to an error on their site. Then they said I needed to make an appointment on Skype to verify my identity. The only times which were available were very early in the morning or during the night. So far I have made two appointments, one at 5 am and one at 7 am. I was not contacted at either time. Still waiting for the money which I earned.

I hired a company listed as NYC studios to do my website design for $439.00. The preliminary design looked good and they requested funding to complete and deliver. When funding was forwarded, they disappeared, did not respond to requests for arbitration -- as Elance set up -- and Elance basically washed their hands of the situation saying they were only a "service to get business people together". They also cancelled the offending party's account, so I can't track him down to pursue legal remedy; but of course he showed up with another, undaunted. DON'T USE ELANCE OR UPWORK... THEY WILL NOT PROTECT YOU!

Woohoo. I got back my money from this ** called Elance. I was also frustrated by my Elance account suspension and even after a 1 month of email exchanges they were still holding all my payment amount. And it was more than 6000 USD which is a good amount for me. Finally, I had taken some steps and got all my money from different channel. I just don't want to post the trick here as it may be visible to Elance ** people. If anybody is interested to know, I will be happy to share the trick in personal message.