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Thread: Freelancer.com withholds my money

  1. #1
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    Freelancer.com withholds my money

    I've been a user of this site since 2006, back when it was called getafreelancer.com, I've been working on and off the site along the years without much issue.

    The problem started with my last project, I was selected as a provider for a project and I started working on it, as it was a big and long project, we agreed with the employer to use freelancer.com's milestone system and to divide the project in a set of goals, we started the project and paid all the site's fees.
    As I finished each goal the employer paid diligently, and after about two months a certain amount of money started to accumulate in the account, in the number of a few thousand dollars.

    I didn't have the need to withdraw at the time but the day came when I wanted to make a withdrawal of about one thousand dollars. I got an e-mail from freelancer.com that said that my account had been suspended, with no explanation as to what could be the reason or any previous warning other than saying it was for "security reasons", which were not detailed.

    I checked and I found out that I couldn't access my account, nor my money. I just got a sign that said in big red letters "Account suspended". I only had access to the ticket support system. I opened a ticket to ask about this situation and as a reply they asked me to send a scanned copy of a government issued ID.
    I did that and they asked me again for a picture of me holding my ID in one hand a secret code written in a piece of paper in the other. I did it too.

    Then they began to ask questions, they asked me if I had a previous business relationship with the employer, which I didn't, if we lived in the same area, which we don't, and what was the project about and a detailed description. I diligently answered all of their questions but they kept asking insidiously how did I manage to contact the employer directly. It's in their TOS that once you're awarded a project you get the direct contact details of the employer. So the questioning was ridiculous.

    In the meantime my employer account had also been suspended. I told them that I was in contact with the employer and that he was very upset and was going to issue a chargeback.
    Then they apparently got nervous and my account was re-activated "magically". BUT, when I try to withdraw money, by means of creating a withdrawal request on the site, which, by the way, takes quite some time to process, after a few days each and everyone of my requests gets cancelled.
    When I ask what this is about, they tell me that it's because my employer hasn't veryfied his identity.
    It looks like they just want to withhold my money and prevent me from getting it with all kinds of excuses, requisites and questioning.

    Why didn't they ask for all this BEFORE the employer started the project and why in all the 6 years I've been using the site they'd never had an issue or asked for any of this?
    I asked the employer and he says he's already sent documentation to them and that he doesn't feel like sending any more ID's, and that he doesn't trust the site.
    Do they have the right to hold on to funds like that? Their TOS keeps saying that they're just a "venue" and that they're not liable for anything, but when it comes to money they do feel like they own it and they won't release it because they're supposedly concerned about "security".

    I hope something can be done to make this company pay, I'm a hard worker and I need the money which I earned through my own efforts. I wish I could get contacted with people who's also been affected by this company and do something together against it.

  2. #2
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    I hope something can be done to make this company pay, I'm a hard worker and I need the money which I earned through my own efforts. I wish I could get contacted with people who's also been affected by this company and do something together against it.
    You need to report them to Better Business Bureau and file a report with IC3 and perhaps with FTC

    Personally, I would get online and degrade this company through every channel you can by telling how they have scammed you. Twitter, Facebook, social networks, etc. AND I would let them know that you plan on doing all these things - filing compliants with government agencies and relating your story to the networking community.

    Hope that helps and you get your money.

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  4. #3
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    If the company has a forum, try posting there.

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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Hello, Sorry to hear what Freelancer.com did. I'm on the same page just now and was wondering if you can give any suggestions. An employer made a payment which was outside of a project. I had no idea that this could result in suspension, so the next day I log in and it said temporarily suspended. I submitted a ticket and they replied in about 12 hours asking me these 3 questions,


    • A full description of what the project is about.
    • Any information regarding the relationship or business affiliation you may have with neiljou82.
    • An explanation on how you were able to accomplish the said project and what the overpayment was for.

    I answered them instantly. Now I haven't heard from them sisnce 2 days and I have just a little over 1K in USD sitting in my account. Can you suggest me what should I do ? Will I at least get my money I earned on this stupid outsourcing website ?

    Please Help !!!!

    THanks

    Shazy

  6. #5
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Hi, Shazy and welcome to REALSCAM.com

    * Do you have any sort of contractual agreement with Freelancer.com ??

    * Does a user agreement exist that precludes you bypassing Freelancer and dealing direct with clients ??

    * If a user agreement exists, is there any provision in it allowing Freelancer to withhold payment, if so, under what circumstances ??

    * Are you in the same jurisdiction as Freelancer ??
    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

  7. #6
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by mycoplasma View Post
    I've been a user of this site since 2006, back when it was called getafreelancer.com, I've been working on and off the site along the years without much issue.

    The problem started with my last project, I was selected as a provider for a project and I started working on it, as it was a big and long project, we agreed with the employer to use freelancer.com's milestone system and to divide the project in a set of goals, we started the project and paid all the site's fees.
    As I finished each goal the employer paid diligently, and after about two months a certain amount of money started to accumulate in the account, in the number of a few thousand dollars.

    I didn't have the need to withdraw at the time but the day came when I wanted to make a withdrawal of about one thousand dollars. I got an e-mail from freelancer.com that said that my account had been suspended, with no explanation as to what could be the reason or any previous warning other than saying it was for "security reasons", which were not detailed.

    I checked and I found out that I couldn't access my account, nor my money. I just got a sign that said in big red letters "Account suspended". I only had access to the ticket support system. I opened a ticket to ask about this situation and as a reply they asked me to send a scanned copy of a government issued ID.
    I did that and they asked me again for a picture of me holding my ID in one hand a secret code written in a piece of paper in the other. I did it too.

    Then they began to ask questions, they asked me if I had a previous business relationship with the employer, which I didn't, if we lived in the same area, which we don't, and what was the project about and a detailed description. I diligently answered all of their questions but they kept asking insidiously how did I manage to contact the employer directly. It's in their TOS that once you're awarded a project you get the direct contact details of the employer. So the questioning was ridiculous.

    In the meantime my employer account had also been suspended. I told them that I was in contact with the employer and that he was very upset and was going to issue a chargeback.
    Then they apparently got nervous and my account was re-activated "magically". BUT, when I try to withdraw money, by means of creating a withdrawal request on the site, which, by the way, takes quite some time to process, after a few days each and everyone of my requests gets cancelled.
    When I ask what this is about, they tell me that it's because my employer hasn't veryfied his identity.
    It looks like they just want to withhold my money and prevent me from getting it with all kinds of excuses, requisites and questioning.

    Why didn't they ask for all this BEFORE the employer started the project and why in all the 6 years I've been using the site they'd never had an issue or asked for any of this?
    I asked the employer and he says he's already sent documentation to them and that he doesn't feel like sending any more ID's, and that he doesn't trust the site.
    Do they have the right to hold on to funds like that? Their TOS keeps saying that they're just a "venue" and that they're not liable for anything, but when it comes to money they do feel like they own it and they won't release it because they're supposedly concerned about "security".

    I hope something can be done to make this company pay, I'm a hard worker and I need the money which I earned through my own efforts. I wish I could get contacted with people who's also been affected by this company and do something together against it.
    Hi Mycoplasma,

    My name is Emir and I work for Freelancer.com. I came across your post here. We are sorry that you had a bad experience. We would like to help and we have looked into your case for you.

    We understand that you went through the account verification procedures. We’d like to assure that this Freelancer.com procedure is in place to verify the user's identity and to create a safe environment for freelancers and employers. Freelancer.com will not disclose sensitive information unless to comply to legal obligations or with your express consent.

    As you discussed the employer has raised a chargeback for the funds that were associated with this project, these funds are now frozen on Freelancer.com, and there is an investigation being conducted into the reason for these chargebacks.

    We will contact you via email to ensure you are kept up to date with the progress of this investigation.

    Thank you very much.

  8. #7
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by Emir@freelancer View Post
    Hi Mycoplasma,

    My name is Emir and I work for Freelancer.com. I came across your post here. We are sorry that you had a bad experience. We would like to help and we have looked into your case for you.

    We understand that you went through the account verification procedures. We’d like to assure that this Freelancer.com procedure is in place to verify the user's identity and to create a safe environment for freelancers and employers. Freelancer.com will not disclose sensitive information unless to comply to legal obligations or with your express consent.

    As you discussed the employer has raised a chargeback for the funds that were associated with this project, these funds are now frozen on Freelancer.com, and there is an investigation being conducted into the reason for these chargebacks.

    We will contact you via email to ensure you are kept up to date with the progress of this investigation.

    Thank you very much.
    How did you 'just happen' to come across this post here? It seems to me that you could have made these 2 freelancers aware that an investigation was being conducted due to charge backs and they would not have had to seek outside help.

    There was a time back when that I was signed up with your company.

    I hope they get the money they have worked for.

  9. #8
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by Shazy677 View Post
    Hello, Sorry to hear what Freelancer.com did. I'm on the same page just now and was wondering if you can give any suggestions. An employer made a payment which was outside of a project. I had no idea that this could result in suspension, so the next day I log in and it said temporarily suspended. I submitted a ticket and they replied in about 12 hours asking me these 3 questions,


    • A full description of what the project is about.
    • Any information regarding the relationship or business affiliation you may have with neiljou82.
    • An explanation on how you were able to accomplish the said project and what the overpayment was for.

    I answered them instantly. Now I haven't heard from them sisnce 2 days and I have just a little over 1K in USD sitting in my account. Can you suggest me what should I do ? Will I at least get my money I earned on this stupid outsourcing website ?

    Please Help !!!!

    THanks

    Shazy
    Hi shazzy677. Emir here from Freelancer.com. I came across your post here and I’d like to address your concerns.

    Freelancer has an obligation to conduct our business in accordance with all applicable rules, regulations or laws. As stated in our Terms and Conditions (Freelancer.com | Online Jobs | Freelance Employment | Outsourcing Services | Programmers | Web Design | Freelancers), users can’t accept payments outside of a project.

    We’d like to assure that Freelancer.com will only freeze or suspend accounts to further validate a user’s identity or investigate the transactions done through our site.These policies and security procedures are in place to create a safe environment for freelancers and employers. The questions the Contact Support Team has sent to you are intended to discern the nature of the transaction you made with the employer.

    I’d like to help you further. I’d like to ask if you can send your ticket ID/ number to emir@freelancer.com. I’ll forward the information to our Customer Support Managers so we can resolve your account issues.

    Thank you very much and I hope to hear from you soon.

  10. #9
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by scratchycat View Post
    How did you 'just happen' to come across this post here? It seems to me that you could have made these 2 freelancers aware that an investigation was being conducted due to charge backs and they would not have had to seek outside help.

    There was a time back when that I was signed up with your company.

    I hope they get the money they have worked for.

    Hi scratchycat . I’ve recently been employed by Freelancer.com and tasked to actively reach out to communities discussing Freelancer.com to ensure people’s issues are dealt with immediately. That’s on top of our goal on educating the public on the best ways they can use Freelancer.com to earn money and outsource work.

    Please be further assured that mycoplasma’s concerns are being handled with the utmost care and we’re also investigating the issues raised by shazzy677. We will get their concerns resolved at the soonest possible time.

    Thank you very much.

  11. #10
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by Emir@freelancer View Post
    Hi scratchycat . I’ve recently been employed by Freelancer.com and tasked to actively reach out to communities discussing Freelancer.com to ensure people’s issues are dealt with immediately. That’s on top of our goal on educating the public on the best ways they can use Freelancer.com to earn money and outsource work.

    Please be further assured that mycoplasma’s concerns are being handled with the utmost care and we’re also investigating the issues raised by shazzy677. We will get their concerns resolved at the soonest possible time.

    Thank you very much.
    That is good to know and perhaps if and when the problems are resolved they will be updated here as this affects your online reputation.

  12. #11
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Quote Originally Posted by mycoplasma View Post
    I've been a user of this site since 2006, back when it was called getafreelancer.com, I've been working on and off the site along the years without much issue.

    The problem started with my last project, I was selected as a provider for a project and I started working on it, as it was a big and long project, we agreed with the employer to use freelancer.com's milestone system and to divide the project in a set of goals, we started the project and paid all the site's fees.
    As I finished each goal the employer paid diligently, and after about two months a certain amount of money started to accumulate in the account, in the number of a few thousand dollars.

    I didn't have the need to withdraw at the time but the day came when I wanted to make a withdrawal of about one thousand dollars. I got an e-mail from freelancer.com that said that my account had been suspended, with no explanation as to what could be the reason or any previous warning other than saying it was for "security reasons", which were not detailed.

    I checked and I found out that I couldn't access my account, nor my money. I just got a sign that said in big red letters "Account suspended". I only had access to the ticket support system. I opened a ticket to ask about this situation and as a reply they asked me to send a scanned copy of a government issued ID.
    I did that and they asked me again for a picture of me holding my ID in one hand a secret code written in a piece of paper in the other. I did it too.

    Then they began to ask questions, they asked me if I had a previous business relationship with the employer, which I didn't, if we lived in the same area, which we don't, and what was the project about and a detailed description. I diligently answered all of their questions but they kept asking insidiously how did I manage to contact the employer directly. It's in their TOS that once you're awarded a project you get the direct contact details of the employer. So the questioning was ridiculous.

    In the meantime my employer account had also been suspended. I told them that I was in contact with the employer and that he was very upset and was going to issue a chargeback.
    Then they apparently got nervous and my account was re-activated "magically". BUT, when I try to withdraw money, by means of creating a withdrawal request on the site, which, by the way, takes quite some time to process, after a few days each and everyone of my requests gets cancelled.
    When I ask what this is about, they tell me that it's because my employer hasn't veryfied his identity.
    It looks like they just want to withhold my money and prevent me from getting it with all kinds of excuses, requisites and questioning.

    Why didn't they ask for all this BEFORE the employer started the project and why in all the 6 years I've been using the site they'd never had an issue or asked for any of this?
    I asked the employer and he says he's already sent documentation to them and that he doesn't feel like sending any more ID's, and that he doesn't trust the site.
    Do they have the right to hold on to funds like that? Their TOS keeps saying that they're just a "venue" and that they're not liable for anything, but when it comes to money they do feel like they own it and they won't release it because they're supposedly concerned about "security".

    I hope something can be done to make this company pay, I'm a hard worker and I need the money which I earned through my own efforts. I wish I could get contacted with people who's also been affected by this company and do something together against it.
    I had a similar experience. I had been a member of Freelancer or getFreelancer for a couple of years. I ran a project through them, paid my contractor and was midway through a second. I had deposited a "milestone payment" of $600. Suddenly, I find that my account is "restricted" and I cannot pay my contractor. Freelancer demanded photos of me holding a passport or drivers license and a scan of the ID in order to "un-restrict" my account. Freelancer had my credit card details including the security code. In todays world of security theft problems, it is absolutely nuts to provide that sort of information to a company....especially one that appears to be scattered across several countries.

    I tried to find a phone number, but none is available. The person their website is registered to has a false phone number listed, and their physical address is a harbor in Sydney Australia. Looking at Googles Street View, the address could be a boat! I could not find a legit address, phone number or decent email address. All postings to their ticket system or technical support resulted in a form response, that Freelancer requires the ID documents and photos due to Australian law.

    Next I tried to close the account and withdraw my balance. Again, Freelancer responded to my ticket with "not without a scan of your Drivers License, Passport and photo of you holding them Fortunately my credit card was from American Express. I raised a dispute against Freelancer with them. They have credited my account, and miraculously, Freelancer has agreed to refund my balance, close my account.....if I drop the dispute through American Express.

    Their terms and conditions do say that Freelancer may take steps to verify your ID. I have no problem with that, but scans and copies of private documents is beyond reasonable and should be done up front on registration. Of course they would not get many people signing up if they did that.

    Don't do business with this company.

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  14. #12
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    There is no way I would give that information to these people. Did you sign a contract? Since you are here, you must have read the info above from the 'supposedly' representative of Freelance.com.


    "I’d like to help you further. I’d like to ask if you can send your ticket ID/ number to emir@freelancer.com. I’ll forward the information to our Customer Support Managers so we can resolve your account issues."

    I would be contact emir and also filing reports to governmental agencies. We are hearing more and more people being ripped off by these free lance companies now.
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  15. #13
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    After their staff geniuses published my name and surname (yes, taken from user database) on Wikipedia, this became personal. Btw: could anyone of you imagine a bank publishing his customer's personal data on purpose? Just forgot: Freelancer.com is sophisticated and keen on security. /sarcasm

    pic - Kopia (20).jpg


    In my humble opinion, making it official is only one of many ways to go. Look at their attention whoring and hit there.

    1. Wikipedia - no matter their staff guards it. This belongs to public domain so you are entitled to add well-sourced information. They change it? Undo it. And again... and again... At least SOME people will learn the truth meanwhile. BTW: almost all legit corporations have "controversies" or "critique" section. But Freelancer.com is just beyond clean...

    2. Google - their attempts to cover the truth are becoming more and more desperate. They went into plain spamming and abusing the search engine. See Google results for: Freelancer.com with associated sentences (spam an review are examples only). See how heavily coered with useless results from Freelancer.com's domain the results are. Apart from that it looks that they are trying to fool the engine creating fake review websites/entries. Not in mood to discuss it all... you can investigate it on your own. Solution? Report, report, report: Google -> report webspam. One fine day it may turn out that Freelancer.com doesn't exist in Google's index anymore.

    3. Media - the company helps a lot. They got their media section. Google (news search function) helps as well. What to do? Send an email to every blog, portal, newspaper, radio and tv that even mentions the name of this company or does something similar. Tell them about your experience, give a few links to websites discussing it, ask them not to engage in promoting the unethical company. Haven't said that everyone will remove the infomercials and/or publish anything about malpractices, but some do... provided that you are patient (which means: send hundreds of inquiries). Even if they do not respond, in the long run they will heavily consider repasting Freelancer.com's marketing fluff.

    Want even more? Visit my blog... and start your own:)
    Look for:
    CAN THE FREELANCER.COM'S MICE ROAR? - HOW TO GET YOUR REVENGE MOST EFFECTIVELY

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  17. #14
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Get a Hindu

    Have you reported these people to the authorities?
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Scratchycat, please refer to private message.

    For all the other folks: I am not letting it go. They went just too far.

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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    We'll probably get a visit from one of the Freelancer bots "emir@freelancer" or "max@freelancer" soon with the same cookie cutter response it leaves on any forum a dissatisfied Freelancer client complains.

    Hi Kushagra Mittal. My name is Emir and I work for Freelancer.com.

    We appreciate the feedback.I’m here to address and resolve any concern that you may have about Freelancer.com. Please be assured that Freelancer.com will only suspend or freeze account to verify a user’s identity or the transactions done through the site. Once an account has been verified, we will lift the suspension. I’ve also looked into your case for you and your account issues have been resolved. You may now continue on with your projects. Should you have additional concerns or enquiries, please send an e-mail to emir@freelancer.com and I’ll assist you.
    Hi. Emir here again from Freelancer. I got to read your comment on deepakp118’s article and we appreciate the feedback.

    I’d like to address your concerns.
    Again, I’d like to assure that Freelancer.com will only suspend or freeze accounts to validate a user’s account or investigate the transactions made through the site. A part of those procedures requires users to submit high resolution photos of their IDs together with other documents. Once we receive the requirements and the investigation reveals no unauthorized transactions, we will immediately unsuspend the account. The money inside these suspended accounts will not go anywhere and once the account verification procedures are done, it’ll be made available to the user. These policies and procedures are in place to provide a safe environment for freelancers and employers alike.
    Freelancer.com Support Teams dedicate themselves to get account issues resolved as quickly as possible. Have no doubt that we are working on getting your concerns resolved.
    In regards to your concern about project fees and commissions, please be assured that the fees are taken as part of the charges for our services -- most of which are nominal. Freelancer is always transparent with our fees, listing them clearly throughout the site. For more details, please visit our Terms and Conditions, FAQ , our How Tos & Articles sections at Freelancer.com.
    Also, we’ve taken into account your suggestions on improving account verification procedures.
    I’d like to completely assure you that Freelancer.com aims to provide the best customer experience. We value all the feedback that we get and we don’t take it against anyone if they post negative comments. We take the time to address their concerns and help them get their issues resolved.
    I’d like help you further. Please send your username to emir@freelancer.com and I’ll personally escalate your concerns to our Customer Support Managers and sort out the issues around your account immediately.
    We hope we’ve addressed your concerns and I hope to hear from you soon.

    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

  20. #17
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Problem is they are spewing lies (my thoughts are in order of reading this copy-paste stuff):

    - They DO NOT appreciate our feedbacks. There is like 3 years history of complaints and the intensity of those is on the rise

    - Strangely, there is high chance they will need to verify you when the see... you have money on your account. What's more, some users report they been through it a number of times

    - Personnel seems to be... more caring when complaint is made public. What kind of policy is it?!

    - There is no law a company may extort your private data under threat they will not give you your money. Security etc. just excuses here. A lot of companies deal with money. Strangely, only scam companies (including Freelancer.com) are criticized so widely. Legitimate companies adjust their procedures as soon as they notice those spark controversies.

    - Having in mind the company used this sensitive data without user's consent and been redoing it ignoring user's protests means the company cannot be trusted. Period.

    - Freelancer.com's customer support doesn't know the word "immediately". Sometimes it takes them days, weeks or months to respond to ticket. They do not respond if they don't feel like it. Don't know whether it is the matter of bad oversight (HQ is in Australia while customer support is in Philippines), personal problems (pure laziness), directives from the top (it would be rational to charge interest on suspended funds and, thus, prolong the periods of suspension) or any combination of those issues.

    - Even when accounts are not suspended, there is a number of dirty tricks to prolong the payout processing. (quite a long story)

    - Freelancer.com is anything but safe environment. Problem is it could have been provided that legitimate business model had been run properly, not turned into a black box. Freelancer.com could have been a great example and standard setter for each and every outsourcing market in the world. Unfortunately it had been hijacked by a bunch of individuals who turned it into a swamp. Both employers and freelancers complain. (congratulations: at least this is equal opportunity and neutral scam)

    - There are no, I repeat: no signs of improvements. Customer support is unprofessional, using generic statements and fake Western names. They require you to send them your ID's scan and your own mugshot holding this ID: http://oi56.tinypic.com/2ufam4i.jpg while you know you have only some "John" or "Cristine" at the other end. Company gives no customer phone support number and doesn't feel like giving its Manila branches' address. And Manila seems critical there having in mind that even fraud division is outsourced there: Get a Hindu: FREELANCER.COM - FRAUD DIVISION MANAGER NEEDED

    - There are at least 5 types of fees you can consider to be hidden or illegal. Examples are currency exchange fee. Company claims it uses FX rates while customers report almost 10% damages due to it: http://www.scam.com/showpost.php?p=1156802&postcount=46 Even funnier fact is that the exchange may take place even without your will. You pay your commission even if your customer defaults which is just disgusting (not only you get scammed by your customer but by Freelancer.com as well and end up with... negative balance). The list goes on... Anyway, Freelancer.com has no single list with ALL fees outlined.

    - Having in mind their Rules and Regulations:
    Freelancer.com has no responsibility for enforcing any User rights.
    That's fair enough. But I have no responsibility for Freelancer.com's reputation. Apart from that: civil and penal codes are above such trashy code of conduct. Let's say: me and Mr. Smith had a bet. If he wins, I have to pay him $50,000. If I win, I can strangle him with a cheesewire. Let's say I won and killed Mr. Smith. I get arrested and show the contract with Smith. Would it give me legal immunity? You know the answer.

    Let me guess: were those Rules of Freelancer.com written for 10 bucks? Anyway: such statement may be used by number of businesses as critical safety valve. Never on daily basis.
    Even more: you are informed about some rules while... clashing with them. An example would be a withdrawal fee. You learn you have to pay while... wanting to make a withdrawal. So this is like a restaurant with a choice: you can eat or not.

    - Freelancer.com seems to be unwilling to make any pro-consumer changes. The company seems to ignore its reputation, long term revenue effects or overall entreprise's value. Problem is this is not how legitimate companies operate. This is like more like packing the bags.

    - ...cherry on the top.

    Emir wrote:
    I’d like to completely assure you that Freelancer.com aims to provide the best customer experience. We value all the feedback that we get and we don’t take it against anyone if they post negative comments.
    While Danu Davenport Customer Support Manager, writing from mailbox of support@freelancer.com, ticket: #EWQ-697-92677), Customer Service Manager wrote to me:

    [QUOTE]We ask that you immediately remove these posts or we will take action against you as well as contact the
    relevant authorities in [my hometown].

    Please respond to this email by 5pm CEST or we will commence action against you.
    Declined of course, it was in August. Googled the name, seemed to be fake (no surprise here). So you got a company threatening its customer and suggesting that authorities of independent country are their minions. Law consultation's and research's result was simple: it could be considered as unlawful/illegal threat according to penal code of my country (European one).

    After they had no respect for my privacy or even dignity at large, started investigating this company. Like 5 months passed, know much more and don't feel bored at all. Fun fact is that there seems to be a double (or even triple) bottom there (even more shocking that th above). Sooner or later it will be out and in the open.

    My blog about the scams of Freelancer.com:
    Get a Hindu

    Lesson for all the businesess around the world. No matter whether you are scam or legit, big or small, local or international:

    NEVER DECLARE A WAR ON YOUR CUSTOMERS - YOU WILL ALWAYS LOSE


    God bless
    Chaim

  21. #18
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    We ask that you immediately remove these posts or we will take action against you as well as contact the
    relevant authorities in [my hometown].
    HaHa, now that's downright funny.

    I'm guessing they are too cheap to pay for their publicity and they think by making threats like that, their name will be spread all over the internet in a matter of days.

    Well, it will certainly work if publicity is what they want, but I can guarantee it won't be the sort of publicity they're hoping for.

    Silly little amateurs.
    The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

  22. #19
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Freelance.com/en

    Registrant:
    Freelance.man
    P.O.Box 227, Clinch's House, Lord Street
    Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1RZ
    GB

    Domain name: FREELANCE.COM


    Administrative Contact:
    Martinie, Andre @freelance.com
    P.O.Box 227, Clinch's House, Lord Street
    Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1RZ
    GB
    33155621234 Fax: 33155621230

    Technical Contact:
    Hostmaster, easyDNS @easydns.com
    304A-219 Dufferin Street
    Toronto, Ontario M6K 3E3
    CA
    +1.4165358672


    Registrar of Record: easyDNS Technologies, Inc.
    Record last updated on 09-Jan-2012.
    Record expires on 18-Nov-2017.
    Record created on 19-Nov-1998.

    Registrar Domain Name Help Center:
    EasyDNS Support Centre - Mediawiki.easydns.com

    Domain servers in listed order:
    DNS1.EASYDNS.COM
    DNS2.EASYDNS.NET
    DNS3.EASYDNS.ORG


    Domain status: clientTransferProhibited
    clientUpdateProhibited

    This domain is being managed via EASYDNS

    Thanks for the message Chaim and welcome to RealScam. I feel sure members will get involved and help to expose the travesity going on with this company.
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  23. Likes 1 Member(s) liked this post
  24. #20
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    A one stop shop platform for freelancers and employers

    Who are we?
    "freelance.com showcases the skills of qualified contractors/freelancers to companies in the areas of IT, marketing and communication, journalism, translation, training as well as consultancy. These companies – or employers – use the services of freelance.com to help them evaluate, select and recruit the right contractor for every job. With freelance.com, both parties benefit from the expertise of independent Business Managers, whose job it is to shortlist, verify qualifications and support freelancers during the selection process. They also support employers by checking jobs, assessing potential candidates for the job, and ensuring further communications and follow-up between the freelancer and the employer. This is the only freelancing platform to offer the assistance of Business Managers, thus ensuring that the bid and the job offer are suitably matched, as well as facilitating the accomplishment of the project itself. Freelance.com charges each party directly, meaning therefore that there is only one single port of call for all administrative and financial tasks."

    "A message from the CEO

    Dear visitor,

    Since its creation in 1995 in Paris, France, the freelance.com group has generated business for more than € 234,300 million and has managed more than 20,000 jobs for freelancers, many of them on behalf of large, world-wide companies such as HP, DHL, IBM, Microsoft, France Telecom, L' Oréal and Airbus.

    With the launch in 2010 of its new website, freelance.com becomes the one-stop-shop for freelancers and employers who want to work independently but reliably, regardless of their size and their geographical location. This one-stop-shop strategy is supported by the two complementary business models: 1.the "direct model" (Get in touch directly with freelance providers worldwide.) connecting employers and freelancers who wish to work together directly through our platform and 2.the "corporate model" (A one-stop shop for job management and structured procurement) devoted to large companies or employers who limit the number of their suppliers through outsourcing. In this latest model, freelance.com becomes the single online reference point, both for freelancers and employers, managing the whole process of selection, short-listing, contract management, follow-ups and invoicing.


    The one-stop shop online service is now available in both English and French, and other major languages will follow to allow contact to be made between contractors and employers worldwide. No matter what the size of the company/contractor may be, freelance.com can offer the right solution for each and every job.

    Today, working online is much more than a trend – in fact, it has become the norm, particularly for services requiring intellectual know-how and expertise. It acts as a door to the worldwide job market, allowing access to professionals with valuable qualifications and backgrounds from all walks of life. There are also numerous advantages: no extra fees for transportation (thus also reducing the environmental impact) and access to employment for freelancers living in remote areas or for those with a handicap.


    Today, many people combine freelancing and a steady job as a complete opportunity for career advancement. Freelance.com is the first international online platform that brings together independent professionals applying for jobs though the website A one stop shop platform for freelancers and employers and/or those interested in a wage-earning status with an ability to solve HR problems via our networks Prower.com France and Portage salarial - valor société de portage salarial - rémunération du travailleur indépendant.

    Freelance.com warmly welcomes all of you who want to work differently!

    André Martinie"
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  25. #21
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Just did a Google search using "complaints about freelance.com - came up with a whole page full of links!!

    Here is just one of the complaints made 10/12/2012

    Consumer Reviews of Online Businesses and Websites - SiteJabber is actually the worst out of all the freelance sites! They have a very very bad payment system set up where you put money in escrow/milestone until the the person is done with the project. The problem is, if the person never completes the project and never logs in to their profile again, you money will sit in escrow and it cannot be removed until the other person cancels the project! This means you have to file a dispute and then pay for arbitration if nothing happens after that. That on top of the fees you lose for posting and awarding a project are ridiculous. This website is a joke and basically a cash cow for the people who are running it because they make their money off fees and stupid $#*! like that! I $#*!ing hate this website and am in the process of bringing a lawsuit against them as we speak!


    Wow, these people are MAD!! I hope they get action and soon!
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  26. #22
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Freelancer.com Complaints & Reviews

    Domain name: FREELANCER.COM

    Registrant Contact:
    Freelancer Technology Pty Limited
    Matt Barrie ()

    Fax:
    Suite 501
    35 Lime Street
    Sydney, NSW 2000
    AU

    Administrative Contact:
    Freelancer Australia Pty Limited
    Customer Service (customer-support@freelancer.com)
    +61.292793305
    Fax: +61.292793305
    Suite 501
    35 Lime Street
    Sydney, NSW 2000
    AU

    Technical Contact:
    Freelancer Technology Pty Limited
    Matt Barrie (noc@freelancer.com)
    +61.292793305
    Fax: +61.292793305
    Suite 501
    35 Lime Street
    Sydney, NSW 2000
    AU

    Status: Locked

    Name Servers:
    dns1.getafreelancer.com
    dns2.getafreelancer.com
    dns3.getafreelancer.com

    Creation date: 18 Aug 1995 04:00:00
    Expiration date: 17 Aug 2020 04:00:00
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  27. #23
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Freelancer.com Management Team

    Matt Barrie

    Chief Executive Officer

    BE (Hons I) BSc (Hons I) GDipAppFin MAppFin MSEE (Stanford) GAICD SEP

    Matt Barrie is an award winning entrepreneur, technologist and lecturer. He is Chief Executive of Freelancer.com, the world's largest outsourcing marketplace connecting over 4.4 million professionals from around the globe, and in the top 250 websites globally.

    Freelancer.com primarily connects small businesses and individuals from the western world with freelancers in the developing world, empowering entrepreneurs on both sides of the globe. To date, over 2.6 million projects have been outsourced through Freelancer.com.

    The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences awarded Freelancer.com the "Internet's highest honour" in the 15th Annual Webby Awards as best Employment Site of the Year, as well as the Webby People's Choice Award for the same category - from a field of 10,000 entrants from 60 countries.

    Matt is serial entrepreneur, previously as founder and CEO of Sensory Networks Inc., a vendor of high performance network security processors. Prior to this he founded a telecommunications hardware company. Matt has raised over $40M USD in financing from venture capital, strategic investors and through government grants while running or assisting technology companies.

    For the last ten years has been an external lecturer at the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Sydney, teaching Network Security, and starting in 2010, Technology Venture Creation. He is the co-author of over 20 US patent applications.

    Matt is a prolific speaker and has spoken at or featured in the Summit Series, the New York Times, Bloomberg TV, The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, The Atlantic, Switzer, BRW and The Economist. In 2012 he was selected out of a field of 600 presenters to be one of 20 featured speakers at South by South West in Austin, Texas (SXSW), which is one of the world's largest interactive, music, film and technology festivals.

    In 2006, he was awarded the State Pearcey Award for contribution to the IT&T industry. In 2010 he was named Alumnus of the Year for the Faculty of Engineering and IT at the University of Sydney. In 2011, Smart Company named him in the 10 most influential Australians in IT. In 2011 he was named inaugural BRW Entrepreneur of the Year, by Australia's most prestigious business publication. He was also named the Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year for 2011. In 2012 he was named in the top 100 most influential engineers by Engineers Australia, and a 2012 Man of Influence by Men's Style Magazine.

    Matt is regularly invited to speak at the world's leading entrepreneurship, internet and business conferences/forums. His schedule is very full, but if you have a request for a speaking engagement, please email speaker@freelancer.com.
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  28. #24
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    When I did the Google search, it came up with more for freelancer than freelance, so here is a quote:

    I believe this is the major issue with freelancer.com when accounts get suspended for absolutely no reason. They have suspended my account even without giving a prior notice of why they are doing so. They did give explanations when I requested, but got silent with no further actions. It’s indeed a frustrating experience for me since I have worked with other websites and had no even the slightest hint of such an inexplicable behavior. And I don’t think I would ever want to work through freelance.com again. Btw, I’ve read many other similar reviews and it seems like this is a trick in order not to give the money people earned. It’s a scam!!!

    Reply
    27072012
    rkseid (02:25:25) :


    Please be careful, freelanceR.com and freelance.com (without the R) are two different websites.

    Okay, will be careful but seems like there are complaints against both companies.
    Don't get ripped off!! Stay informed!

  29. #25
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    Re: Freelancer.com withholds my money

    Hi sratchycat,

    Let me address some of the issues you have brought up.

    We currently have an active marketplace and userbase of over 4 million users from all over the world. As you can understand we need to implement security measures to ensure our system is as safe as possible for all our users.

    We never suspend accounts for no reason. Account Suspension occurs when users have broken our Terms of Service of if we see their previous activity placing the safety of our marketplace at risk. We also at times limit users' accounts in order for them to undergo our verification system to ensure everyone is who they say they are on the site.

    I do understand the frustration and inconvenience that occurs at times when accounts get suspended or placed into verification, however it is a necessary step. The fastest way to get access to your account is to follow the prompts and steps in our verification center.

    Be aware all funds in your Freelancer.com balance remains in your account and will still be there once you go through the verification process.

    We are not in the business of scamming or ripping people off. What we are working to achieve is a safe and secure marketplace for both employers and freelancers across the globe.


    Regards,

    Alaister Low
    Director of Customer Experience
    Freelancer.com

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