Freelancer

I have done a massive mistake choosing freelancer.com I want to give you a warning and tell you ONE EXTREMELY important thing- don't be trusting and naive as i was... Don't rely on freelancers as i did. Be AWARE that freelancer.com never checks their background or info that they show on heir profiles. They'll tell you they re designers, they tell you they do websites etc. I have caught a good few people lying... I have checked a few of them and was really shocked!... Very often they say they do website-but have you notice they don; t even display the address of the website? Why? Because they lie. They could even say and display the url, but it's not always them who did it. Trust me, i was too naive and trusting, wasted so much of my precious time and energy... and got even sick of all this...
I'd say its better to get somebody local to get to complete the job.Al least if things go wrong-you can go and see them. What can happen on freelancer.com is just you loose money. The admin isn't on your side! All they care is to make money! I tough i would get a job at a good price, unfortunately i haven't got anything done, but lots my money, my time and energy!
I use another website... and find it much better that this.
Look after yourself-nobody else will. Be careful what you choose... as you can simply get into situation i did. I hear more and more people are down with their services...
And the last thing. Reviews. Don't hope and thing they are honest. They get reviews from each other, friends and family... Reviews don't guarantee a good job. Unfortunately, but that's the reality:(
Best of luck whatever you do ;)

I am happy we are able to negotiate our prices fairly with the clients and the requirements are flexible to favor the Talents.

Our company has used outsourcing systems for nearly 15 years now. Freelancer appears polished and cutting edge on the surface, but what stirs below is unacceptable. We went through a number of highly rated India developers, who in turn trashed our CMS system. We have since hired professional and skilled developers outside of Freelancer who are not false in describing their skillsets. Sadly, many of the developers on Freelance promise great results, but are less than acceptable. Freelancer attracts the undersided dark realm of developers, many who are dishonest, who claim templates and other projects as their own, who inflate their time on per hour projects excessively. India and Pakistan for example, is rife with these type of developers. Developers will often start with energy, but if the project become complicated, they lay it aside for easier projects won, and weeks later you find yourself listing in the sea of no progress. India developers for one will back away from a project whose manager knows that time is being padded and refuses to accept time extortion and poor results. Freelancer has no effective means of accountability, where project abuse is frequent and not policed properly. Additionally, the system is setup as such as a person is extorted to leave a good review to remain a valid user of the system, where a developers rating often should have been one star. We learned the hard way to not add a credit card or Paypal account for Freelancer access. The process provides no confirmation window during the acceptance of a candidate, where suddenly you find a large fee has been deducted from your funding source as payment for all the milestones, held in the Freelance system without reprieve. Paypal assisted me by reversing the fees by force reversal due to my long history with them and due to the poor reputation of Freelancer, but Freelancer stated it would not reverse the unapproved deduction from my Paypal account. However later Freelancer claimed they kindly refunded my funding, but they actually did nothing but refused to assist. Flee from Freelancer, at great speed to preserve your funds and sanity.

Very Helpful and fast. Thank you Carmen and keep the good Job. I hope Every one of the SUPPORT team is being like this. THanks again..

Thanks, vest side freelancer, I am a happy to work freelancer, If you need any help in the future then do so
Have a nice day,

Avoid at all cost. They closed my account without given any real reason and refuse to realse my funds back to me and claim I gave them no money.

He is a great person who helped me alot in my issue... thanks alot "Josie G"... You are the nice person and I appreciate your work. God bless you...

The reply was so prompt, and they reassured me to continue working on Freelancer.

My experience about freelancer.com really amazing,awesome...

Please remember to always strive for an awesome and fast response time.

Xavier B answered my help request quickly and very politely. I give him 5 stars for that.

I must confess that the support I got from Macall C and the rest of the team is beyond anticipation. Continue in this great job, you have my vote.

I needed help deactivating an old account. Benny S was a great help! Very kind, very fast, and I have nothing bad to say about the ordeal. Thank you.

I had a problem, for ages they couldn't fix it, this tech support guy "Ricky" fixed it in 2 mins, and he assisted me and was patient and polite.

Yes, I created an account with them about 1 year ago (sort of) and I've never used, for most of my freelance jobs are here in the UK; Until the other week when I decided to give it a go and try the web site.
I have to say it's very cool how it resembles a video game, with all the achievements, badges and many interesting items like exams and other things.
I've noticed that they charge you fees for almost everything (that is ok, it's business after all) but right now, I'm having some problems with my first costumer as he is relinquish to pay me even the first milestone, even though is just the 40% ahead.
It put me off the fact that this guys are not even "fully verify" and I reckon is just another bloody "thief" who wants the work for free. Don't get me wrong, I know that 70% of the people out there are the same (its a tough world) but I find frustrating that even with all those gadgets of yours, you cannot give me protection in this case. Not here just to criticise but I would like to give some suggestions, for example:
1.- Frelancer.com should not allow an "unverified" client to even create a bid on the first place.
2.- As soon as I accepted the bid, these guys took my money from my Pay-pal account, It would be just fear if you develop some kind of gadget that also takes the first milestone from the client into the freelancer account. That would make me feel more protected/secured. But regardless all the cool gadgets they've got, freelance.com is not offering me much more security that the average freelance job I can find on the streets…

Seems to me that all this game works out nicely for them, but for us is the same battle as always. I really wish you could come back to me with some ideas or advises so I can keep your account, hoping to have an easier/Safe journey with you guys.
(after I sent this email to Freelance, they answer me back with a very polite email as they are "very happy to keep me account" but no answer regarding my issues, not sure what to do)

Hey, I've been using Freelancer.com almost 3 years now, at first you really need to be patient and I know how painful it is to lose something valuable to you. Though negative for others, my experience with Freelancer.com is great, I won several web designing contest, and received my payment in full. Had recent web designing project worth over $500 with no problems at all. Being extra careful pays off. Maybe try these tips, they might help you:

1. First, before accepting a project, make sure the client has a verified payment method and created a milestone so that it will cover the fees that Freelancer.com charges, this will also protect you from being scammed as freelancer.com would be in the middle.

2. Investigate - Don't get too excited when someone finds and hires you (because I don't, I investigate first), don't click that "ACCEPT" button yet! Investigate first before accepting it. An example would be what mentioned in no. 1.

3. Negotiate - Don't be shy, your profile speaks for you (tell the client about your feedbacks and previous projects), this will gain trust of the employer. Ask for milestone payment before accepting the project (explain freelancer.com fees), do a counter offer if you feel like you are doing a tough job and paid less.

4. Regarding contest, I make sure that the contest price is guaranteed. Meaning I get the assurance that I will get paid for it. I also observe the client's behavior when it comes to his judgments in the contest entries, when I see creative designs being rejected (e.g. Poorly designed entries chosen instead of quality entries), that's when I back out.

Hope this helps you out. Cheers Freelancer.com!

Below is my freelancer.com account:
https://www.freelancer.com/u/arcBshopEyek.html
http://video-to-mp3.org

Jayce is one of the best customer service people. Thank you for helping me and special thanks to JAYCE

Janella L.

Helped me and guided to solve my problem and responded fast.
Thank You Very Much.

Thanks
Urvashi D.

Magenta S. Is nice one.she is really supportive and helpful

It was very goof experiance I was really worried but she/he handle the situation in a preety good manner. Thanks

The support stuff was extreamly nice and helpful while guiding me trought process and providing clear answers on my questions.

I talked with Kayla B and i got my problem solved in minute. Thank you once again.

Best Regards
Ayman

Kayla B. Helped me to issue the question with my employe and gave some advices for the future. Thank you