I had hired a freelancer to Design a logo for my company. I hired him and had to pay him ₹1500($25 approx). I selected the payment method as Paypal which was accepted on their website, a receipt was generated for ₹1500($25 approx) and I paid. After the payment was successful suddenly I realised that ₹100000($1534. 80) were debited from my account instead of ₹1500($25 approx).

I immediately emailed and chatted with the customer service of Freelancer and they said they will refund, but after 2 days had passed nothing happened. I again contacted them and they said that they have refunded the amount back to my Paypal account and even gave me a receipt for the refund. After another 2 days the balance dint show on my Paypal account, I again contacted Freelancer and they said that the fault is because of the Paypal service. I contacted Paypal and they said that no refund was initiated from Freelancer and if they do have refunded they(Freelancer) have to call Paypal and sort the matter. I told the incident to Freelancer and they then agreed that they had held up my payment and wont give it back until I called Paypal and tell them that I dont want a refund as it destroys the reputation of Freelancer and also makes 'matter complicated'. I called Paypal again letting them know that Freelancer wants to me close the dispute. Paypal strictly advised not to close the dispute as then refunding my money will be next to impossible.

I have till now mailed Freelancer over 25 times and every time they blackmail me by saying closed the dispute and then we will see how much and when to refund. I gave them a warning that Ill go to court and still they dint agree, after I was adamant that I will not close the dispute and will move to court, they are now for over 4 days keep replying me the message saying that my case has been transferred to another department and I will hear from them within 48hours. Its been many days now and since the start I have been jumping from talking to their department to department (chat, refund, Verification, billing and more).

Freelancer has now even limited my account and are threatening to block it and not refund the money at all. After searching on the net I found thousands of other similar cases where Freelancer debits money or doesnt refund the left balance of a customer back to them. Freelancer even agreed to the mistake of by fault debiting $1500 instead of ₹1500, but isnt refunding.

Iam a very small man compared to this billion dollar company and I dont know what to do. These guys dont have any phone number\email of management\Address in my country. Please help me, I can provide with any proof you like. I even have saved all the chats and emails.

Thank You
Varun Anand

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I had hired a freelancer to Design a logo for my company. I hired him and had to pay him ₹1500($25 approx). I selected the payment method as Paypal which was accepted on their website, a receipt was generated for ₹1500($25 approx) and I paid. After the payment was successful suddenly I realised that ₹100000($1534. 80) were debited from my account instead of ₹1500($25 approx).

I immediately emailed and chatted with the customer service of Freelancer and they said they will refund, but after 2 days had passed nothing happened. I again contacted them and they said that they have refunded the amount back to my Paypal account and even gave me a receipt for the refund. After another 2 days the balance dint show on my Paypal account, I again contacted Freelancer and they said that the fault is because of the Paypal service. I contacted Paypal and they said that no refund was initiated from Freelancer and if they do have refunded they(Freelancer) have to call Paypal and sort the matter. I told the incident to Freelancer and they then agreed that they had held up my payment and wont give it back until I called Paypal and tell them that I dont want a refund as it destroys the reputation of Freelancer and also makes 'matter complicated'. I called Paypal again letting them know that Freelancer wants to me close the dispute. Paypal strictly advised not to close the dispute as then refunding my money will be next to impossible.

I have till now mailed Freelancer over 25 times and every time they blackmail me by saying closed the dispute and then we will see how much and when to refund. I gave them a warning that Ill go to court and still they dint agree, after I was adamant that I will not close the dispute and will move to court, they are now for over 4 days keep replying me the message saying that my case has been transferred to another department and I will hear from them within 48hours. Its been many days now and since the start I have been jumping from talking to their department to department (chat, refund, Verification, billing and more).

Freelancer has now even limited my account and are threatening to block it and not refund the money at all. After searching on the net I found thousands of other similar cases where Freelancer debits money or doesnt refund the left balance of a customer back to them. Freelancer even agreed to the mistake of by fault debiting $1500 instead of ₹1500, but isnt refunding.

Iam a very small man compared to this billion dollar company and I dont know what to do. These guys dont have any phone number\email of management\Address in my country. Please help me, I can provide with any proof you like. I even have saved all the chats and emails.

Thank You
Varun Anand

asked by Varun A. on 4/27/15

14 Answers

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Lydia P. · Answer 1 · 2015-04-27T06:56Z

Lydia P.

on 4/27/15

Dispute it with PayPal! Another beautiful example of why everyone hates Freelancer.

Helpful (5)

Adebayo O. · Answer 2 · 2015-04-27T03:41Z

Adebayo O.

on 4/27/15

If there is anyway you can get your money through paypal please do. Dont cancel the dispute. This company is a fraud company. They used to be very professional in the early days but have become more or less a fraud company.

Helpful (2)

Eddy C. · Answer 3 · 2015-04-27T03:35Z

Eddy C.

on 4/27/15

Ye s you are fully right. I did it over my Bank and not over paypal. And they, bank return my money back. So if anybody be scamed on freelancer, and has paid over paypal but from credit card, just go to your bank and ask for refuund as you were scamed. Show this review site about freelancer scammers and they will return your money,. The bank. You have for each transaction up to 180 days for return over the bank.

Helpful (2)

Ping A. · Answer 4 · 2017-06-20T06:08Z

Ping A.

on 6/20/17

This Website is a total fraud and should be brought into investigation.
SO risky to work with this site. I cannot count the scammer in this site. Working for the contest so hard but suddenly the contest was deleted and it was tolerated by the site. #guaranteed but in the end it was not totally guaranteed.

Helpful (1)

Talha H. · Answer 5 · 2015-12-08T01:05Z

Talha H.

on 12/8/15

Freelancer is scam

Helpful (1)

Carmen F. · Answer 6 · 2015-04-28T01:25Z

Carmen F.

on 4/28/15

Don´t cancel the dispute. They are limiting your account and they will never again lift this limitation. They only send you stupid messages and will never refund you. It´s my experience from Freelancer and many other had the same experience. This company is highly fraudulent. All what they want is your money.

Helpful (1)

Ruslan M. · Answer 7 · 2015-04-27T10:15Z

Ruslan M.

on 4/27/15

Well, from my experience on freelnace.com, i can tell you only good luck, because i never got my money back. It wasn't lost same way as yours, but you do have a chance to refund through Pay Pal itself. On Freelancer.com you can forget about it. They scammers. Thanks God i don't work thorough them any more)) Good luck.

Helpful (1)

Wazid Q. · Answer 8 · 2015-04-27T10:13Z

Wazid Q.

on 4/27/15

Freelancer is a bullish site. They are cheaters file case against these stupids.

Helpful (1)

Delphine d. · Answer 9 · 2015-04-27T08:17Z

Delphine d.

on 4/27/15

I feel for you. I believe their business model is to confuse, mislead and obfuscate. It is not an honourable business. They hold their clients on contempt and will do what they can to take your money. They know the Internet is like the Wild West used to be - what recourse do you have to a court of law?

I'm so relieved you got your money back from the bank. Block Freelancer and tell your story. Life's too short to have your energy taken up by crooks.

Helpful (1)

Shashidhar K. · Answer 10 · 2015-04-27T06:50Z

Shashidhar K.

on 4/27/15

Go to paypal and dispute there. You can find option on your payment section.

Helpful (1)

Melissa L. · Answer 11 · 2015-04-27T03:18Z

Melissa L.

on 4/27/15

Varun, Did you pay through a credit card through paypal? Or directly out of your account? If it's a credit card, you can dispute the charge with the credit card and they'll handle the dispute on your behalf. I'm surprised PayPal doesn't do that for you? Ask them if you can dispute the charge.

Helpful (1)

Karl E. · Answer 12 · 2018-01-12T12:31Z

Karl E.

on 1/12/18

So far, every freelancer site I have tried is a scam. I am looking for private freelancers that will work hard and dedicate themselves to building a "Twitter" clone with some modifications. Work must be done and accepted before being paid. I will pay better than any freelance fraud site. I`m at jihad_countermeasures at yahoo dot com.

Helpful (0)

Lesly L. · Answer 13 · 2015-12-07T03:11Z

Lesly L.

on 12/7/15

I really hate freelancer.com, recently they reversed $255 for a project I had spent weeks working on. They claim that the client violated their terms of services. It's also unfortunate that I had deposited some money to that account now I am worried they may start deducting all that's left since I can't withdraw now till 17th dec.

Helpful (0)

chandan s. · Answer 14 · 2015-04-27T08:47Z

chandan s.

on 4/27/15

Why dont you just call your bank and request a charge back, tell your bank that you have been scammed and you paid only 25 but rest money had been automatically deducted, indian banking system is very strict with this site. Try it... i have been at the same stage. My banker helped me and i got my money back... these people are real crook dont close dispute with paypal or the freelancer keep fighting, but tell bank also or email me i will tell you how to get the money back from these $#*!ing people

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