Overview

• Gig economy introduces the concept of creating an income from short-term tasks.
• Gig economy companies allow people to work without the bound of time and encompasses workers who are full-time self-employed such as consultants who work by driving for Uber or Lyft and usually the economy is driven by technology.
• The workers or these companies found themselves fragile from having their account suspended if they violate some terms that set previously by the companies, below are some cases of account suspension appeal:

1. Upwork

• Upwork is an online freelance market where freelancers can seek for jobs.
• When Upwork notices a freelancer has applied for too many jobs but has won too few contracts and earns nothing or earns in small amounts, Upwork will consider the freelancer has no demanded skills and this can lead to account suspension.

Appeal Process

• If a freelancer's account is suspended, the freelancer will receive an email telling that his/her account has been decided to be suspended and telling them that he/she may appeal to such decision by sending an email to Upwork at marketplace-appeals@upwork.com.
• The response or reply should contain an explanation on why he/she wants to appeal to Upwork's decision and provide as many details as possible.

Questions that are asked during appeal process

• If the freelancer has additional education, any skills, or work experience that are not included on the profile? Any copies of relevant documents that verify such education, skill or experience?

The appeal follow up & reply period

• Each mail containing an appeal to Upwork's suspension decision will be reviewed manually by Upwork's Trust & Safety team to decide if the account can be reinstated.
• If the appeal has already been declined, then the latest Upwork's decision is final and the account will remain closed.
• Any questions can be raised in the question ticket section.
• According to the community forum of Upwork freelancer, the reply to each appeal is different. A testimony from a former Upwork employee states that he appealed to Upwork but received no reply. He didn't update the case so that there is no surety that Upwork will eventually reply to a protest.
• Few other testimonies claim that they received a reply quickly from an Upwork moderator explaining why his account suspended.

2. Airbnb

• Airbnb accommodates people to become a host to rent their houses or apartments to guests.
• People may sign up as a host and provide their best service to satisfy the guests and the guest, in the end, will provide reviews and satisfaction impression ranging from one to five stars.
• The hosts' listings may be suspended if they fail to meet the basic requirements of overall rating, response rate, accepted reservations, essential amenities, or cancellations.

Appeal process

• If someone's listing is suspended, an email will be sent from Airbnb that their account is permanently suspended and all bookings were canceled.
• The listing won’t show up in search results and the host is no longer allowed to receive bookings during the suspension period.
• After the suspension period, the listing will be reactivated. The suspension period is different for each case.
• If a host receives a 30-day suspension period, the host may appeal by completing the Suspension Appeal Form.

Questions that are asked during appeal process

• How was the guest feedback in the past 30 days?
• Are there any unclear negative feedback that affects your overall rating?

The appeal follow up & reply period

• After a host whose listing is suspended, he/she can file an appeal by completing the Suspension Appeal Form. The Airbnb team will review the appeal and decide whether the suspension is acceptable or not.
• The reply email will be the final decision.
• According to the Airbnb host community forum, if a host requires further clarification, the Airbnb team is not obligated to provide an explanation of their final decision.
• All appeal will receive a reply and usually, there are no complaints about the waiting time of the reply, indicating that the reply is immediate.

3. Uber

• Uber provides a platform for drivers to connect to the passengers so that they can get paid for their service for transporting the passengers.
• The passengers will review the experience of their trip and a bad total review will lead to account suspension.
• Suspension decision is said to be taken after careful consideration and acts in accordance with the Service Agreement with Uber B.V.

Appeal process

• If a driver is suspended, an e-mail from Uber will be sent, in order to notify the driver. 
• If a driver whose account is suspended and he/she doesn't agree with that, he/she can provide further information at Help Desk at help.uber.com and Uber team will review that.

Questions that are asked during appeal process

• Uber explains that if a driver is not online for the last 90 days, the account will be automatically suspended. The question that may appear is "Were you online for the last 90 days in Uber app?"
• Some people are suspended when their documents are out-of-date. The question that may appear is "Have you updated your driving documents?"
• If drivers get bad reviews, the drivers will be asked to take the 7x7 course.
• The question that may arise is "Do you think your driving skills are good enough to get better reviews? Why not take the 7x7 course?".

The appeal follow up & reply period

• The information regarding the follow up is limited in the public domain.
• The reply to the appeal takes time and it can vary from one person to another. One of the drivers whose account was suspended appealed and did not get a response even after 3 weeks.