Red Rabbit

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I'll post the screenshots and the full communication timeline in the next posts.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I’ve decided to share an experience I had recently as a freelance designer.

I’m not going to mention this person’s name.
I’m sharing this because I think other designers and freelancers deserve to know what can happen when you put your trust in someone based on their background.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I'm sharing this because I don't want another designer or freelancer to blindly trust someone just because they have an impressive background.

I'm sharing what happened to me, along with the evidence and timeline, so people can make their own judgment.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I saw an opportunity to work with someone experienced in the creative industry, and I wanted to build a professional relationship.
Instead, I learned a very difficult lesson:
An impressive résumé doesn't necessarily tell you how someone will treat the people who work for them.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

And that's why I can't understand how someone could make a decision that potentially takes away another person's livelihood over a $100 project.
What hurts the most is that I genuinely trusted this person.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

For me, that means losing access to one of my sources of income and losing the freelance profile I had spent time building.
This isn't something as simple as “just make another account.”

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

For those who don't know how Upwork works:
An identity can only be used to create one Upwork account.
So when that account gets permanently banned, you can't create a new account and start over using the same identity.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

The decision to report my account affected my ability to work as a freelancer on a platform that I had spent time building.
I lost opportunities to take other projects.
And I had to deal with the consequences of having my account banned.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I received no response.
Later, communication happened through Upwork again, and Western Union was specifically mentioned.
At that point, everything became much clearer to me.
This wasn't just about a $100 project anymore.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

So I genuinely don't understand why my Upwork account was reported after I had already completed the work and fulfilled my side of the agreement.
When my account was suspended, I contacted this person through WhatsApp and asked them to communicate with me there.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I have the evidence from Upwork, and I have kept the communication.
What makes this especially frustrating is that our payment arrangement had already been discussed from the beginning. We had agreed that the $100 payment would be handled through Western Union, outside of Upwork.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

The bigger issue was everything that happened around it.

During this process, my Upwork account was reported and subsequently suspended.

At first, I didn't know who had made the report.

Now I do.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I eventually had to confront them just to get a response.

The $100 was eventually paid, but only after I repeatedly followed up and pushed for an answer.

By that point, the money wasn't even the main issue anymore.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I gave the project my full effort because I wanted to deliver exactly what she were looking for.
Then I sent my first draft.
And after that, She disappeared.
For almost a week, there was no meaningful communication.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

The actual workload was much bigger than the price suggested: 14 illustrations, one complicated banner, and countless revisions.
I spent around two full weeks working on it.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

The project itself was worth $100.
I accepted it despite the small budget because I believed in the opportunity and hoped it could become the beginning of a long-term working relationship.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

The person I was working with had an impressive creative background.

They had worked with @EpicGames for years, had worked with @MrBeast , and had even been featured by @Forbes .

Because of that, I genuinely believed I was working with someone professional.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I'll post the screenshots and the full communication timeline in the next posts.

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I'm sharing this because I don't want another designer or freelancer to blindly trust someone just because they have an impressive background.

I'm sharing what happened to me, along with the evidence and timeline, so people can make their own judgment

[Red Rabbit @holarhmide]

I saw an opportunity to work with someone experienced in the creative industry, and I wanted to build a professional relationship.

Instead, I learned a very difficult lesson:

An impressive résumé doesn't necessarily tell you how someone will treat the people who work for them.