Tricked.

13 years ago

Freelancer.com is a pretty big company. They should have a dispute section where you can file a dispute. I've never used freelancer, but with elance we have to agree to terms, if you have to do this on freelancer you could quote those, unless he was sneaky and worded them so he doesn't have to pay you.

Just my opinion and what I would do.

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James Foster

13 years ago

Did you give him the articles already? That wouldn't be a smart move.

If not, you own the articles, why not put them up here as a PLR WSO? If it's a profitable niche, a few people will buy them from you and you'll get paid for your time after all.

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ladida

13 years ago

Sorry to hear that.

Have you tried contacting freelancer.com? They may have the means to remedy...

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:Elective-

13 years ago

I agreed to be paid via PayPal, and was not officially employed by him on freelancer.com, making freelancer.com unable to do anything for me. I am at a loss, and am surprised that there are such scoundrels around. I am going to put up an ad on warrior for hire, and totally give up on freelancer.

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Andie

13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

I agreed to be paid via PayPal, and was not officially employed by him on freelancer.com, making freelancer.com unable to do anything for me. I am at a loss, and am surprised that there are such scoundrels around. I am going to put up an ad on warrior for hire, and totally give up on freelancer.

that would be mistake #1

Learn something every day don't we??

I'm just sort of starting on freelancer.......so hoping that isn't the norm on there!

Andie

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ladida

13 years ago

To piggyback off of what James said, since you were not paid for the articles you should still own the articles, I think.

Maybe put the articles up on a blog IMMEDIATELY so they can get indexed by you FIRST. Then submit them to a few article directories.

Not sure is this would help at all unless you could find a way to plug in an affiliate product or so... If you go this route, time would be of the utmost essence.

Good luck.

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:Elective- 13 years ago

I tried it, but he indexed it all immediately after he got the articles

I'm at a loss
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- 3 replies
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- Martin Avis 13 years ago
  
  You've been scammed out of $28. Learn and move on.
  
  There are creeps around. Guard against them in future.
  
  One way would be to not agree to do business outside of the procedures of sites like Freelancer. Sure, they take a small fee, but in return you get some protection. As you've now found out, without that you have nothing.
  
  Think yourself lucky it was only 7 articles this time.
  
  Martin
  
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- ladida 13 years ago
  
  Don't be discouraged. At worst, this is a lesson learned and should help you develop better business practices. It was a $28 lesson. I think that's pretty cheap actually. Considering how easily you were duped (on offense meant) imagine if thousands had been at stake. Now, because of this $28 lesson that will never happen. Right?
  
  Thanks
  
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- Joe Mobley 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by :Elective-
  
  I tried it, but he indexed it all immediately after he got the articles
  
  I'm at a loss
  
  The fact that they are indexed does not change ownership status.
  
  Move forward like they are yours.
  
  Joe Mobley
  
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:Elective-

13 years ago

Is this a goner?

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

Is this a goner?

You know ... the thing is, if you're going to be a business ...
be a business

Circumventing freelance site fees is not good business. I freelanced at Elance for years and never took a job off site that I got the lead through them.

They protect you from things like this and if you cheat them out of their fee, and if you don't demand at least 50% before starting any work, then you really are asking to be "tricked".

You weren't tricked. You played the game wrong and lost and you tried to "trick" freelance.com out of their cut.

That being said ... you still own the articles and can sell them.

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:Elective-

13 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

You weren't tricked. You played the game wrong and lost and you tried to "trick" freelance.com out of their cut..

I admit that I was indeed too rash in this, but the person kind of forced me to do business out of freelancer.com, or he would give it to someone else. As most of the projects that I have been working on only pays a measly sum of $1.50 per article at max, so I went all out to grab the project not knowing that I was falling into the trap.

As I have said sbucciarel, I did not tricked Freelancer.com. Just wanted to clarify this point.

Update: I am working on a PLR Pack for this. how much should I sell it for?

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

I admit that I was indeed too rash in this, but the person kind of forced me to do business out of freelancer.com, or he would give it to someone else. As most of the projects that I have been working on only pays a measly sum of $1.50 per article at max, so I went all out to grab the project not knowing that I was falling into the trap.

As I have said sbucciarel, I did not tricked Freelancer.com. Just wanted to clarify this point.

Update: I am working on a PLR Pack for this. how much should I sell it for?

Here's the deal. You're never forced to do anything you don't want to do ... except the taxes and death thing.

Sites like freelance and Elance and Flippa, etc. have built in protections that help people from getting scammed. If nothing else, it's important that you take this as a valuable lesson.

If someone is trying to get you to do something like that, there's a reason, and probably not a good reason. I've worked within Elance and been ripped off of thousands and I did it right. I didn't give them the work, but I DID the work and didn't get paid. Of course, they get banned, but I was still out all the hours I had put into the projects.

Honest people who aren't looking for an easy mark won't ask you to take it off site. There's a lot of dishonest people and you need to be the one who is in control. Say no. Tell them to take their project elsewhere. That's the difference between how a professional operates and how an amateur operates.

Always get an upfront payment before doing any work. That immediately gets rid of the deadbeats.

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cindybidar

13 years ago

I'm sorry this has happened to you. My policy is that I get at least 50% up front, unless I personally know you and have worked with you before. Yes, there are some who balk at that, but I figure these are not the people I want to work with anyway.

I know that doesn't help you in your current situation, but I would suggest in the future you stick to your guns and don't allow yourself to be bullied into accepting a bad deal.

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Richard Van

13 years ago

Sadly I fear this is one of those things in life thats just going to have to be a lesson.

Also if you are good at what you do and can work for such a competitve price you will get work here. I'll send you a PM, you can email me an example and if I like it I'll pay you upfront. Then if I'm satisfied with the quality we can get a nice arrangement going. I'll PM you now.

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:Elective-

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Richard Van

Sadly I fear this is one of those things in life thats just going to have to be a lesson.

Also if you are good at what you do and can work for such a competitve price you will get work here. I'll send you a PM, you can email me an example and if I like it I'll pay you upfront. Then if I'm satisfied with the quality we can get a nice arrangement going. I'll PM you now.

Dropped you a email+PM do take a look

The problem is that I do not have any information of him other than his email address, so I can't issue no DMCA. The only route left is to make a PLR and try to recoup the money and time lost.

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1 reply

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Rus Sells

13 years ago

You are incorrect. If you can find your content on the web you can most assuredly issue a DMCA complaint with the hosting company that host's his site. You only need prove the content is yours and that he stole it and has published it without your consent.

With the most recent Cooks Source debacle I'd say the hosting company would block his site instantly until he removed it.

Originally Posted by :Elective-

Dropped you a email+PM do take a look

The problem is that I do not have any information of him other than his email address, so I can't issue no DMCA. The only route left is to make a PLR and try to recoup the money and time lost.

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Kay King

13 years ago

I think the OP should take this as a lesson he paid for - and here's why:

He attempted to cheat the freelance site out of its small fees. He found the buyer on the freelance site and then contacted the buyer directly in an attempt to avoid fees.

The buyer was also unethical in going along with it. This is proof that sometimes what you do comes back to haunt you.

Next time you go to a freelance site to find a job, stick to the terms of the site instead of trying to cheat. Then you will have some protection.

kay

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Steven Wagenheim

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kay King

I think the OP should take this as a lesson he paid for - and here's why:

He attempted to cheat the freelance site out of its small fees. He found the buyer on the freelance site and then contacted the buyer directly in an attempt to avoid fees.

The buyer was also unethical in going along with it. This is proof that sometimes what you do comes back to haunt you.

Next time you go to a freelance site to find a job, stick to the terms of the site instead of trying to cheat. Then you will have some protection.

kay

I agree, but two wrongs don't make a right. The guy entered into the
agreement in good faith with the customer and didn't get paid for the
work he did. That's a separate issue from cheating Freelancer.com, which
I am not going to comment on because that is between the OP and his
conscience.

Bottom line: He gave articles to the guy and didn't get paid for them, so
IMO, he can do whatever he wants to do with the articles.

As for Freelancer.com, well, let's hope it's a lesson learned on THAT level.

But like I said, two wrongs don't make a right.

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CDarklock

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kay King

He attempted to cheat the freelance site out of its small fees. He found the buyer on the freelance site and then contacted the buyer directly in an attempt to avoid fees.

I don't think this is at all clear.

Yes, the arrangement was made off freelancer.com, but the OP "agreed to be paid via PayPal" instead of through freelancer.com - and it is not in any way obvious to me whose idea that was.

And going by my own experiences, if there is a middleman in the process, it's usually the person paying the money who tries to do the end-run around the middleman... not the person collecting.

I'd speculate that the OP was perfectly willing to go through freelancer.com, and had every intention of doing so, but the client handed him some cock-and-bull story to convince him they should fly without a net. I base that speculation on the simple fact that the client is clearly a scumbag, and the OP's apparent surprise that there are scumbags.

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I'd speculate that the OP was perfectly willing to go through freelancer.com, and had every intention of doing so, but the client handed him some cock-and-bull story to convince him they should fly without a net. I base that speculation on the simple fact that the client is clearly a scumbag, and the OP's apparent surprise that there are scumbags.

The OP was obligated to go through freelancer. The TOS applies to both parties. Same with Flippa. It's against TOS to offer or accept an offer outside of the site.

Elance ... same thing. It's against TOS to offer and/or accept an offer to work outside of the site when you get the lead from the site.

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CDarklock

13 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

The OP was obligated to go through freelancer.

I'm not saying he wasn't. I'm saying the OP's client took advantage of him in one way, why is everyone assuming he didn't tell more lies in the process? If the OP is new to freelancing, is it really so hard to believe that a slick-talking client might say "oh, I do this all the time, it's fine" when he wants the freelancer to go outside of the freelance site?

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I'm not saying he wasn't. I'm saying the OP's client took advantage of him in one way, why is everyone assuming he didn't tell more lies in the process? If the OP is new to freelancing, is it really so hard to believe that a slick-talking client might say "oh, I do this all the time, it's fine" when he wants the freelancer to go outside of the freelance site?

No doubt the OP is inexperienced in freelancing or he would have never started work without a deposit or allowed the customer to take it outside of freelancer and he never would have been strong-armed into agreeing to that 40 articles before payment thing.

This is a small loss that makes someone who is inexperienced ... experienced. I'd take it as a lesson and not make the same mistakes again.

And it's not actually a loss if he further develops the package and offers it as plr ... and bombards the Internet with it to teach that ass monkey of a client a lesson.

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:Elective-

13 years ago

So I guess it's a goner indeed.

Well, the only way out of this would be to write another 3 articles, and sell them as a PLR Pack.

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Chris Thompson

13 years ago

Move on, honestly. Move on. You got ripped off and it sucks. But if you dwell on it you won't accomplish much. Take it as a learning experience. At least you didn't deliver all 40 and get ripped off then!

Your English grammar is pretty good. Maybe someone on this thread will hire you

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1 reply

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Tina Golden

13 years ago

It may be a goner but you don't need to just take it lying down, either. The first thing I would do is send him an email stating that since he didn't pay you for the work, then you retain full rights to the articles. Let him know that you will be contacting his host and anyone else you need to unless he removes them from his website immediately or sends payment within 24 hours. Then, issue a DMCA notice to his host if he doesn't comply.

And I would absolutely add three more articles and sell the package as a PLR pack. Even if you only charge $5 per pack, you only need to sell 6 packages to get the money you were expecting.

Tina

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raradra

13 years ago

Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises

It may be a goner but you don't need to just take it lying down, either. The first thing I would do is send him an email stating that since he didn't pay you for the work, then you retain full rights to the articles. Let him know that you will be contacting his host and anyone else you need to unless he removes them from his website immediately or sends payment within 24 hours. Then, issue a DMCA notice to his host if he doesn't comply.

And I would absolutely add three more articles and sell the package as a PLR pack. Even if you only charge $5 per pack, you only need to sell 6 packages to get the money you were expecting.

Tina

This is what I would do and have done and it almost always works. In addition, I would go to the original bid I posted and comment that you are canceling your bid due to fraud on the part of the job poster in order to warn others about him/her.

Use the email you sent the articles to, or if you did so through freelance contact him that way.

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Joe Mobley

13 years ago

Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises

It may be a goner but you don't need to just take it lying down, either. The first thing I would do is send him an email stating that since he didn't pay you for the work, then you retain full rights to the articles. Let him know that you will be contacting his host and anyone else you need to unless he removes them from his website immediately or sends payment within 24 hours. Then, issue a DMCA notice to his host if he doesn't comply.

And I would absolutely add three more articles and sell the package as a PLR pack. Even if you only charge $5 per pack, you only need to sell 6 packages to get the money you were expecting.

Tina

God, I love Tina!

Excellent advise and a great idea about the PLR pack.

The only change I would make is to demand $56.00 for your trouble.
(There are times to be a real ... ahh melon farmer.)

I would set up a couple of Google alerts to track your articles. I'd do this now.

Joe Mobley

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tpw

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Tina Golden

It may be a goner but you don't need to just take it lying down, either. The first thing I would do is send him an email stating that since he didn't pay you for the work, then you retain full rights to the articles. Let him know that you will be contacting his host and anyone else you need to unless he removes them from his website immediately or sends payment within 24 hours. Then, issue a DMCA notice to his host if he doesn't comply.

And I would absolutely add three more articles and sell the package as a PLR pack. Even if you only charge $5 per pack, you only need to sell 6 packages to get the money you were expecting.

Tina

I would also take it one step further.

It is a pain in the ass to do this, but you can also fax a copyright infringement notice to Google, and if Google responds, they will remove his site from their index permanently.

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Richard Van

12 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

I would also take it one step further.

It is a pain in the ass to do this, but you can also fax a copyright infringement notice to Google, and if Google responds, they will remove his site from their index permanently.

Hi Bill,

Sadly this is one of ten or so threads Shea141 dragged up in his bid to get in the Guiness Book of Records.

At least Tina's here though but I reckon she'll have fixed it. Still good advice though.

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mikeroosa

13 years ago

Yep, move on and learn from it. Get 50% up front before you hand over any articles. If you are good you can offer articles for 5.00 on fiverr and get paid up front.

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jigsneth

13 years ago

so sorry to hear that. Can you tell us the website? Maybe we can do a remedy for that.

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sarafina

13 years ago

Let this be a lesson to either get money upfront or use the escrow services of those freelancer sites.

Since he didn't pay for the articles, he doesn't own them. I would package it as plr in that niche, sell it where you can and move on.

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:Elective-

13 years ago

But he indexed it as his own,so it is impossible to index it again. I am most probably going to make a PLR, since I cannot use any of them.

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redhwk63 13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

But he indexed it as his own,so it is impossible to index it again. I am most probably going to make a PLR, since I cannot use any of them.

Since you wrote the articles I would use the same ones (adjusted of course) and write a few more and sell them and still make something.

Remember not everyone is honest.

Eddie
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Steven Wagenheim 13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

But he indexed it as his own,so it is impossible to index it again. I am most probably going to make a PLR, since I cannot use any of them.

Why can't you use them? He didn't pay for them. They're not his.

I'd not only put them on my blog and create a PLR pack out of them, but
I'd also write a nice long article on my blog exposing this person's name,
web site and email address as a scammer. I'd out him and make his life a
living hell.

Grow a pair and stop letting people walk all over you.

There IS recourse if you want to take it.

I know what I'd do to the SOB and he'd NEVER forget who I was, I
promise you that.
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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

I agree with Tina. It's the same as if he as stolen the articles, so you can sell them as PLR. I would issue a DMCA to his host if he doesn't pay or take them down.

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JonAlfredsson

13 years ago

This is an unfortunate thing to happen but I guess everyone who does this type of business has their share of this scenario. In fact, others have lost more since article marketing is really gaining its popularity today.

I think that meeting half-way with the payment and number of articles can be a good solution so you’ll still get some money in return or losing just 50 percent of your effort. You can pass the first half then ask for the payment then do the remaining once they did settle the first half.

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nelaffiliate

13 years ago

Sorry, but I think you have been tricked. You can report the issue to Freelancer.com at least for the records. But, move on and be more cautious.

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Kay King

13 years ago

You can report the issue to Freelancer.com

Did you read the thread?

He cheated the freelance site to begin with - is that what he should report to them?

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Rus Sells 13 years ago

I might be wrong but can't you have communications with buyers and or sellers through freelance via an internal messaging system?

They OP did not clearly state that the contact was made outside the freelance system so its kind of silly to accuse him of something you have no proof of.

Originally Posted by Kay King

Did you read the thread?

He cheated the freelance site to begin with - is that what he should report to them?
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mywebwork

13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

I agreed to be paid via PayPal, and was not officially employed by him on freelancer.com, making freelancer.com unable to do anything for me. I am at a loss, and am surprised that there are such scoundrels around. I am going to put up an ad on warrior for hire, and totally give up on freelancer.

Originally Posted by Kay King

Did you read the thread?

He cheated the freelance site to begin with - is that what he should report to them?

Agreed - not sure why Kay is the only one pointing this out, as it seems pretty obvious. The OP attempted to cheat freelancer.com and as a result was cheated him/her self. And is even "surprised that there are such scoundrels around"!!

To the OP - so how much money did you save by trying to skip the freelancer.com fee? Was it more that the 28 dollars you lost?

Maybe instead of "giving up" on freelancer you should try following their terms of service and see if you have better results.

:rolleyes:

Bill

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nettech

13 years ago

Its unfortunate what happened, in future you may want to ask for a 50% deposit upfront and then the rest upon completion this then makes both parties absolutely clear. You shoudl also re-iterate yoru rates just for clarity.

You may have lost this time but hopefully you wont next time. You just got unlucky, most people are good.

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Michael Oksa

13 years ago

I'm going to be blunt, and don't mean to ruffle anybody's feathers.

You were NOT screwed out of $28. You were screwed out of $28 worth of your TIME. The client didn't take money from your PayPal account, they just didn't add the money you had agreed to.

Now, you can keep thinking you lost $28, or you can start trying to get a pay out on the time you have already invested.

You are not going to make ANY money off of that time by arguing with people here; the same people that are giving you advice.

Here's what I would suggest. Trust us. Don't tell us why our ideas won't work. Take action and follow through on the suggestions. Time used on playing the victim is time SPENT. Time used on making the most of it and trying to get something out of it is time INVESTED.

Your choice.

All the best,
Michael

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:Elective-

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

I'm going to be blunt, and don't mean to ruffle anybody's feathers.

You were NOT screwed out of $28. You were screwed out of $28 worth of your TIME. The client didn't take money from your PayPal account, they just didn't add the money you had agreed to.

Now, you can keep thinking you lost $28, or you can start trying to get a pay out on the time you have already invested.

You are not going to make ANY money off of that time by arguing with people here; the same people that are giving you advice.

Here's what I would suggest. Trust us. Don't tell us why our ideas won't work. Take action and follow through on the suggestions. Time used on playing the victim is time SPENT. Time used on making the most of it and trying to get something out of it is time INVESTED.

Your choice.

All the best,
Michael

Well said Michael! I am following through the PLR Route, and hopefully manage to sell enough to recoup the time I invested into making it.

And thank you for spending your 5000th post on me!

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Steven Wagenheim

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

I'm going to be blunt, and don't mean to ruffle anybody's feathers.

You were NOT screwed out of $28. You were screwed out of $28 worth of your TIME. The client didn't take money from your PayPal account, they just didn't add the money you had agreed to.

Now, you can keep thinking you lost $28, or you can start trying to get a pay out on the time you have already invested.

You are not going to make ANY money off of that time by arguing with people here; the same people that are giving you advice.

Here's what I would suggest. Trust us. Don't tell us why our ideas won't work. Take action and follow through on the suggestions. Time used on playing the victim is time SPENT. Time used on making the most of it and trying to get something out of it is time INVESTED.

Your choice.

All the best,
Michael

Michael, well said and congrats on 5,000.

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SEOExpert999

13 years ago

I know sriptlance has an escrow account and the company account so the customer has to pay the company first so the money is there before the contract starts. An even then in some cases I make them put it in my escrow account or setup up a milestone so I get paid a certain percentage at each stage completion.

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creativemind3

13 years ago

Wow, I am so sorry to hear what happened to you. People are getting worst and worst with their business dealings, especially with this recession. I can't tell you how many crazy dealings I've experienced, just starting up my online company! Wish you well!

Also, thanks for sharing! I am really learning from other people's experience and the responses given.

Thanks all!

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biggame5

13 years ago

Wow that really sucks!

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:Elective- 13 years ago

I guess the lesson learnt is that to never take anything offsite, and be sure to get an upfront payment.
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- Superior Content Creation 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by :Elective-
  
  I guess the lesson learnt is that to never take anything offsite, and be sure to get an upfront payment.
  
  Takes a certain kind of person to roll with their punches and draw a lesson out of it. You'll be fine. Good luck with your PLR sale.
  
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David Sieg

13 years ago

While I've never been out and cheated, I've seen the handwriting on the wall enough times that now, I ONLY FELLOW HIRE WARRIORS! No joke, seriously. Yes, I have to pay more (not always though) but I NEVER worry about being cheated. The worst that can happen here is a mis-communication. Even then, once it is cleared up, the problem is taken care of. I've never met a group, of more honest, or hardworking IM'ers, anywhere. Go to the "Warriors For hire" section. Keep your money at home and hire a Warrior!

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dayanthan 13 years ago

More often than not things that promise you something are scams. I am so over these a holes who scam and trick people. Thankfully I believe in Karma and believe these people will get what is coming to them. Oh and avoid achieve technologies (the rich jerk), wealth plaza and the other charlatans that operate out of Utah.
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tgro03 13 years ago

Sorry you got cheated. I used to work with Elance but got sick and tired of paying to bid on jobs only to find out the person who posted the job never hired anyone anyway.

Now I'm a real free lance writer. I never
do a lot of work up front. I always get paid first. If you're dealing with someone the first time start small. They will be worried about getting ripped off too so you start with just one or two articles.

That way if one of you doesn't live up to the bargain no one is out very much. Over time you may work with the same client and you can build up trust but at the start don't do more than one or two articles or demand to be paid up front.

Good luck
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Plax 13 years ago

Probably a lot of things you COULD do, but I would say to just move on and make some money off them as PLR.

All that negative energy can be used to keep writing and put some money in your pocket. You are obviously not going to get a dime out of this creep. You may get some satisfaction, but that won't feed your family.

This is a lesson everyone must learn at some point. I've learned it a few times. Most people try to do the right thing, and if you keep at it you will find enough of them to make a living.

Robert
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Luis Medilo 13 years ago

Well, there are always scammers around. So the next time you get a freelancing job, make sure that you use the escrow system, and don't agree to 3rd-party payments like Paypal unless you really trust the buyer and have worked with him/her in the past. Also, make all communications within the site (not through e-mails) so that you have the records in case you want to file a dispute.
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GarrieWilson

13 years ago

You might not want to sell PLR to the articles as it *could*
cause the buyers hassle. e.g. The thief sends a C&D and uses
his site "as proof" of ownership.

At the very least you need to let buyers know of the situation
before they pay.

-g

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:Elective- 13 years ago

It does get kind of hard to get decent employers on freelancer.com so I would just stick to jobs I get from here on warrior forum
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lamberw

13 years ago

If you're willing to do articles for $4 a piece, why don't you put a gig on Fiverr for it?

That way you will reduce your risk because you will get paid for each article and you will still get $5 per article.

The buyer will pay $5 and you will pay Fiverr $1 leaving you with $4 net.

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JohnMcCabe

13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

I admit that I was indeed too rash in this, but the person kind of forced me to do business out of freelancer.com, or he would give it to someone else. As most of the projects that I have been working on only pays a measly sum of $1.50 per article at max, so I went all out to grab the project not knowing that I was falling into the trap.

As I have said sbucciarel, I did not tricked Freelancer.com. Just wanted to clarify this point.

Update: I am working on a PLR Pack for this. how much should I sell it for?

As Suzanne said, no one can force you to do anything. You wanted the $4, and you wanted it enough to be an accessory to breaking the site's TOS. Doing so cost you the site's protections. You were a classic mark, and you got conned.

If you still have the correspondence, with dates, where you accepted the gig and delivered the articles, you can still prove ownership regardless of what is posted on his site.

Do as Tina suggested, and give him the choice of paying for your work or removing the articles. If he tells you to get lost, as I suspect he will, file the DMCA notice with his host.

Post the articles on your own blog, offer the PLR pack, do whatever you want. If you can prove you had a contract, and the contract was not honored, you still own the copyrights to those articles.

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lamberw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

As Suzanne said, no one can force you to do anything. You wanted the $4, and you wanted it enough to be an accessory to breaking the site's TOS. Doing so cost you the site's protections. You were a classic mark, and you got conned.

If you still have the correspondence, with dates, where you accepted the gig and delivered the articles, you can still prove ownership regardless of what is posted on his site.

Do as Tina suggested, and give him the choice of paying for your work or removing the articles. If he tells you to get lost, as I suspect he will, file the DCMA notice with his host.

Post the articles on your own blog, offer the PLR pack, do whatever you want. If you can prove you had a contract, and the contract was not honored, you still own the copyrights to those articles.

Whilst this is a sound way of reclaiming your articles, I would just let it go, move on and make sure you learn your lessons. The method is fine, the motivation and reason behind it is not.

Don't invest negative energy into something - it doesn't serve or empower you. Let it go! It was merely a good lesson.

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JohnMcCabe

13 years ago

Originally Posted by lamberw

Whilst this is a sound way of reclaiming your articles, I would just let it go, move on and make sure you learn your lessons. The method is fine, the motivation and reason behind it is not.

Don't invest negative energy into something - it doesn't serve or empower you. Let it go! It was merely a good lesson.

Wayne, with all due respect, this isn't about negative energy or empowerment, at least not from my angle.

It's about putting a con artist on notice that there can be consequences to preying on the naive and slightly greedy like that. Otherwise, the jerk will just pull the same stunt over and over, knowing that most of his victims will "just let it go"...

At this point, we're talking about sending a couple of emails, should the OP choose that route. If not, it's about getting some use out of his own intellectual property.

Keeping the documentation on the date of creation and the original contract is just CYA in case the con artist has the cojones to try to bully the OP...

On the whole, though, I agree with you. Tilting at windmills for the sake of vengeance or payback is wasted energy.

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:Elective- 13 years ago

Update: It turns out that he did not get the files indexed properly, and still unaware of that fact. I'm so going to index them first lol.
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- sbucciarel Banned 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by :Elective-
  
  Update: It turns out that he did not get the files indexed properly, and still unaware of that fact. I'm so going to index them first lol.
  
  That's good news. You should still file the DMCA notice with his host. You have emails, I presume that show he hired you but didn't pay.
  
  Here's the instructions for a DMCA with a sample DMCA notice to use. It's easy.
  http://domainingdiva.com/legal-issue...ipoff-artists/
  
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Joe Mobley

13 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

If you still have the correspondence, with dates, where you accepted the gig and delivered the articles, you can still prove ownership regardless of what is posted on his site.

And that's why I love e-mail and chat. Conversations indexed with date and time.

Even if we've Skyped or exchanged some videos, I'll follow up with a quick e-mail to confirm the points covered.

Joe Mobley

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ruch1v

13 years ago

I dunno about freelancer.com but the last few projects I've outsourced, I used vworker and scriptlance, both of which have an escrow service, I'd recommend that you definitely do this from now on

Sorry to hear about this time, keep your chin up and don't let it dishearten you

Ruchi

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:Elective-

13 years ago

All I know of him is his Ezine account,so when I could not find my articles in it, I decided to index mine, but according to what I know, he hosts his own sites, so.....

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Joe Mobley

13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

All I know of him is his Ezine account,so when I could not find my articles in it, I decided to index mine, but according to what I know, he hosts his own sites, so.....

He has an account on EZA? Does he have one of your articles there? If so - "SCORE." I'd be sending Chris Knight a love letter now!

Joe Mobley

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RasiFranks

13 years ago

At least it was a lesson learned for little cost

I had a friend that hired someone on oDesk and was cheated out of $1700!

Being cheated/scammed is never any fun. Just remember this all times in the future when making deals.

"It's always helpful to learn from your mistakes because then your mistakes seem worthwhile."

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Joe Mobley

13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

I recently got a job from freelancer.com, saying that the guy would pay me $4 for every 500 article that I would do, and after I contacted the person, he wanted to pay me per 40 article, and would not give any upfront. I reluctantly agreed, but he wanted out after 7 articles, and I could not get any cash. He cannot be contacted by me from any form. what should I do?

This reeks of desperation on your part.

Let me offer you something that will help you going forward.

Some of the best decisions you will ever make are opportunities you walk away from.

I'll have more comments below.

Joe Mobley

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WD Mino

13 years ago

Hi Elective,

I am a part of the "freelancer.com" community.

In the message board for private communication once you have been selected it says "if you have questions of whether the buyer is trustworthy or not do not send the file' once sent it cannot be deleted.

Now you lost nothing but 7 articles. it could be your style did not meet his need or want. maybe he did cheat you. regardless The customer as in any business is the lifeline of the business
Next time here is what you could do.
Once you have x amount completed advise client I have x amount completed and if you release a milestone payment I can send them to you. Milestone is for when the contractor has arrived at a percentage finished. this covers your fees but the milestone amount is determined by the customer. Always always always use the freelancer escrow never outside. for more reasons than one.
Cheers
-WD

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:Elective-

13 years ago

Not gointg to use Freelancer.com anymore, cos other than this hell of a guy, I had another employer who employed me, but never did give me any jobs, making me lose $25 in the 10% Freelancer.com Winning Bid tax.

Originally Posted by WD Mino

Hi Elective,

I am a part of the "freelancer.com" community.

In the message board for private communication once you have been selected it says "if you have questions of whether the buyer is trustworthy or not do not send the file' once sent it cannot be deleted.

Now you lost nothing but 7 articles. it could be your style did not meet his need or want. maybe he did cheat you. regardless The customer as in any business is the lifeline of the business
Next time here is what you could do.
Once you have x amount completed advise client I have x amount completed and if you release a milestone payment I can send them to you. Milestone is for when the contractor has arrived at a percentage finished. this covers your fees but the milestone amount is determined by the customer. Always always always use the freelancer escrow never outside. for more reasons than one.
Cheers
-WD

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WD Mino

13 years ago

Originally Posted by :Elective-

Not gointg to use Freelancer.com anymore, cos other than this hell of a guy, I had another employer who employed me, but never did give me any jobs, making me lose $25 in the 10% Freelancer.com Winning Bid tax.

Hi Elective,

I am sorry you have had this experience. ***Edit-Comment removed as I did not realize TOS was violated so notifying them would do nothing.***
Either way sorry you experienced this it sucks for sure
cheers
-WD

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Tom L

13 years ago

You just learned a great life lesson for only $28.

How is that for WSO?

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:Elective- 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Tom L

You just learned a great life lesson for only $28.

How is that for WSO?

OMG YES!! I AM SO GONNA DO IT But How much can I sell it for? $5?
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Dann Vicker

12 years ago

That's one of the costs of doing business online. I think there should be a way to report him to freelancer.com mods so he doesn't defraud another honest worker.

Sure, the bad karma will always catch up with him. Simply find your fish elsewhere and maybe you'll rethink doing jobs without any upfront payments.

just me 2cc

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Tricked.

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