Don’t give up! I’m back after a denied appeal and a "permanent" hold.
I wanted to share some hope for anyone who thinks their Prolific journey is over.
I was only able to use this lovely site for a couple of days before my account was suddenly put on hold, and I was devastated. Like many of you, I feel this is one of the few platforms that actually treats participants like people and pays what we deserve. I’m currently not working due to mental health reasons, and with student loans and cost-of-living expenses piling up, this site has been a vital lifeline for me—until it suddenly wasn't!
I filed an official appeal, but Prolific support actually denied it. I honestly thought I was completely done for and felt so discouraged.
My hold was triggered by too many rejections. As a newbie, I was still learning the ropes, but I have been so careful to read every instruction thoroughly. Even so, I ended up with 3 rejections against 80 approvals, which I know isn't great (and I still feel some were unfair). Even though I thought my account was gone forever, I thankfully messaged the researchers immediately before my account was put on hold—which was lucky, because the message tab disappears once you are on hold. I sent a very polite message to all of them, explaining it was an honest mistake and asking if they’d let me Return the study instead.
I didn't hear back for 20 days until one researcher finally saw my message and flipped the rejection to a 'Return.' Literally right after that happened, my account hold was lifted! I wasn't even aware until I started getting emails from Prolific again! Even though Support said no to my appeal, it seems that getting my approval rate back up fixed whatever was triggering the system hold.
I’m currently in a bit of a slow patch with studies while the system refreshes my status, but I’m just so grateful to be back.
Moral of the story: Always be kind to researchers. That one polite message literally saved my account! Has anyone else experienced a 'slow start' right after a hold was lifted? How long did it take for your dashboard to get busy again?