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Freelancer.com CEO here. I think your anger is a bit misplaced given that from reading of your case it appears that all the trouble you've had is a bit self in
by mattbarrie 14y ago
Freelancer.com CEO here.
I think your anger is a bit misplaced given that from reading of your case it appears that all the trouble you've had is a bit self inflicted.
Your complaint, if I can understand correctly, is that you've hired a developer to build a website, for which you've paid 75% already - and run into trouble on the last 25%, for which the developer has returned your money.
First of all - we make this abundantly clear on the site - you should never, ever pay funds unless the deliverables are complete and you are 100% happy. This is the real world, and just like eBay there are good, average and not so good people participating in the marketplace. Luckily, we provide protective mechanisms like our Milestone Payment system which works a bit like escrow. If you use it properly you will always get all your money back if something goes wrong. If, however, you make payments in advance of finished product then you are really assuming the risk here.
Secondly - NovaStudios has 406 feedbacks, and from their profile it looks like they have a degree from Harvard and come from Cleveland, Ohio. Having run Freelancer for 4 years I can say for certain that you don't get that far on the site being a bad developer and if I could hazard a guess I would say the relationship broke down more than anything.
Thirdly - you are wrong about your 2nd lesson. The system is not prone to abuse if you follow the guidelines. You are also free at any time to file an "incomplete" report which is an extremely negative review if you think it is justified.
Finally, I may add, the first I heard of this issue was an abusive email from you at 6am this morning. It's 7am now. Given you had my personal email address I would have been more than happy to look into this but instead you went off and posted this here without giving me a chance to look at your case. If you expect customer service, at least give someone the chance to deliver it.
Regards
Matt
- mudil 14y agoMatt, I've been dealing with your customer service since January 17th (see a pdf mentioned in the post or check ticket #SED-989-67810 in your support). Your system is indeed prone to abuse. All I wanted is to file a feedback. And after paying >$1000, not getting anything back, my project was closed by a developer, and I can't even leave a feedback! So, what kind of protections do I get?
- mattbarrie 14y agoSince you want to resolve this in public this is the reply I just sent to your email: Michael 1) You should not have released the funds at all until the entire website was delivered 2) The freelancer has 406 feedbacks, someone with that many feedbacks can't get there without delivering really good work so I would like to talk to them about what has gone wrong 3) You can always log an incomplete report which is very damaging to their reputation 4) I have refunded all your fees ($29) 5) You still have $100 in an outgoing milestone payment you can log a dispute for Regards Matt
- mudil 14y agoMatt, This isn't about the developer. It is about Freelancer.com. How is it possible that project that I initiated and paid for, gets cancelled by the developer, and I can't even leave a feedback?
- ig1 14y agoFrom the support chain the OP has posted, it seems your third point is incorrect (or your support staff are incorrect) as they explicitly tell the OP: The option to leave an Incomplete report for your freelancer has already expired.
- mudil 14y agoThank you for recognizing the issue. All I wanted is to file a feedback. I lost the money, and I never asked for it to be returned. I took responsibility because it was my stupid mistake to release it. But after paying >$1000, not getting anything back, after my project was closed by a developer, I can't even leave a feedback? So, what kind of protections do I get?
- JimWillTri 14y agoWhether its Freelancer or Odesk, you will almost always get burned a little on your first job. Number one rule is never pay anything up front on a fixed priced job. I do think that Odesk handles feedback in a better way. The buyer should have been able to give negative feedback to the provider.
- undrcvr 14y agoMatt, your cutomer support team is a disgrace. Your bidding API is the least neeeded API in the known universe. Try googling "freelancer scam".