Upwork just stole $10k from me

Exactly the case where Bitcoin could be useful. I remember paying someone 0.6 BTC for a day's work processing a bunch of photos :) As to those sites, Fiverr proved the most convenient, hired a lot of contractors there. They accepted Bitcoin at that time, not sure about now.

I don't see how Bitcoin can fix terrible customer support issues. The problem here is that either:

a) OP is stuck in a cycle where he's inquiries are managed by bots and no human is actually verifying the claims.

b) OP breached the terms in a serious way and UpWork is not being transparent as of why they are deleting his account.

UpWork offers a lot of services for both freelancers and clients (escrow, payment protection, guarantees, etc), that's why they handle the money and keep them on platform until the job are completed. Freelancers know that they will get paid if they get the job done, while clients know that they money are safe if the freelance doesn't deliver. It's a trusted middleman. I don't see how bitcoin can solve any of these issues.