Michelle Z.

As a freelancer, the private and public feedback system is incredibly frustrating and unfair. Clients can leave you positive public feedback but also provide negative private feedback which factors into your Job Success Score. Freelancers have no way to improve their business and/or resolve issues with clients if they don't know what the issues are. Very unfair that UpWork encourages private feedback vs. asking clients to be open and honest with freelancers and then uses this information to bring down their scores and impact their ability to get future work. Also, much of the positive feedback a freelancer receives is excluded from the score unless it meets specific criteria like being given after a contract is ended and within 14 days. Many of my clients have preferred to keep contracts open for ongoing work but then this feedback doesn't count.