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Are there any other warriors get royally screwed by odesk fixed price jobs?

by 22SunnySideUp
16 replies
I've never understood why odesk doesn't provide mediation for fixed priced jobs. Maybe i'm simple - but all the evidence is right there in the conversations and the deliverables.

I get a lot of business from odesk and 90% of the work is fixed price. Paying for video services on an hourly basis can be too much - for most. Anyhoo, almost every month I get screwed out of a payment. The clients just disappear. And I can scream bull all I want but there's just no response. I hate these scum bags but I can't do much because these jobs are mostly less than a hundred bucks. I do sometimes call the BBB to let them know but I REALLY hate this.

Anyone else experience this on odesk?

Can't we start a petition or something to get odesk to start mediating for fixed priced jobs?

Sullen,
Sam
#fixed #jobs #odesk #price #royally #screwed #warriors
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I used to experience it when I freelanced through Elance. I wised up after a couple of times. No deliverables sent that weren't watermarked all over the place until payment was made. Mockups sent in low quality marked jpg files.

    Far too many scammers try to get a high quality unmarked file and then disappear.
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    • Profile picture of the author 22SunnySideUp
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      I used to experience it when I freelanced through Elance. I wised up after a couple of times. No deliverables sent that weren't watermarked all over the place until payment was made. Mockups sent in low quality marked jpg files.

      Far too many scammers try to get a high quality unmarked file and then disappear.
      I do that too with new clients or clients with no history on odesk but whenever it gets really busy - I drop the ball. Trying to keep up with all the deadlines. Its on me... isn't it? :C
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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by 22SunnySideUp View Post

        I do that too with new clients or clients with no history on odesk but whenever it gets really busy - I drop the ball. Trying to keep up with all the deadlines. Its on me... isn't it? :C
        It's gotta be because no one else is going to protect you. Elance and Odesk aren't going to cover it, that's for sure.
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      • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
        Originally Posted by 22SunnySideUp View Post

        [...]Its on me... isn't it? :C
        Yup, it is.

        Most of us want to trust people (I do), but then it comes around to bite us in the butt.

        Some of us, though ( me ) never seem to learn and thus have lotsa teeth marks on the nether regions.
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        • Profile picture of the author 22SunnySideUp
          Originally Posted by SteveJohnson View Post

          Yup, it is.

          Most of us want to trust people (I do), but then it comes around to bite us in the butt.

          Some of us, though ( me ) never seem to learn and thus have lotsa teeth marks on the nether regions.
          Mine are starting to feel like craters. Must-change-nature to work with the Internet scum.
          Just last month a client accidentally send me 50 euros - I refunded it as soon as I got his email.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Allard
    Yeah I've been screwed over by using oDesk fixed price jobs as well. Tried talking to oDesk about it but they don't do anything. In one case they didn't even ban the 'employer', just said they would 'watch his activity' even though I had all the messages saved that proved he ripped me off.

    oDesk was nice to build my portfolio but I ditched them as soon as I could.
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    • Profile picture of the author 22SunnySideUp
      Originally Posted by Dan Allard View Post

      Yeah I've been screwed over by using oDesk fixed price jobs as well. Tried talking to oDesk about it but they don't do anything. In one case they didn't even ban the 'employer', just said they would 'watch his activity' even though I had all the messages saved that proved he ripped me off.

      oDesk was nice to build my portfolio but I ditched them as soon as I could.
      I too recently "complained" about a client who had disappeared. The staff at odesk was very polite but they told me in no uncertain terms that - there was "nothing" they could do about it.

      If I ever get any good at IM-ing I'll get rid of odesk too. As is, all I have for my business is word-of-mouth and securing clients through odesk like platforms.
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      • Profile picture of the author YasirYar
        Originally Posted by 22SunnySideUp View Post

        I too recently "complained" about a client who had disappeared. The staff at odesk was very polite but they told me in no uncertain terms that - there was "nothing" they could do about it.

        If I ever get any good at IM-ing I'll get rid of odesk too. As is, all I have for my business is word-of-mouth and securing clients through odesk like platforms.

        You should really consider sites that use Escrow. I don't know about Freelancer.com - Hire Freelancers & Find Freelance Jobs Online but www.elance.com and vWorker.com: How work gets done. Guaranteed! do use escrow, which means you will never hear them saying they can do 'nothing' about it.

        If you can convince them that you did your end of the work, the site can release the escrowed money. Many people who have worked for me over the years have been full of praise for the escrow system, as have I. It is great for both parties, and I think it is a shame Odesk does not provide this service.
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  • Profile picture of the author YasirYar
    I can imagine it must be really frustrating for workers to not get paid for their work on fixed price jobs. I think Odesk wants to encourage people to use hourly jobs so that they can earn more money for themselves.

    Having said that, other websites do give out payment guarantees on fixed price jobs. vWorker.com: How work gets done. Guaranteed! is one of them - only a few workers there have complained about mediation being biased towards workers, but most say that they have never had bad experiences with mediation. Escrow and fair mediation make such cases a rarity.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Good point about escrow. Elance started using Escrow about the time I left Elance, but it is a much safer way to do business. No money in Escrow account ... no work.
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  • Profile picture of the author Theeban
    I think compare to these odesk and elance, Freelancer.com is better, as they are using milestone services, that is really safe for both buyers and service providers....

    However, in Freelancer.com, recently I had noticed lots of data entry projects from buyers from Bangladesh with 0 reviews... I am sure they are scammers, however, I don't think even they can scam people at Freelancer.com as far as there is milestone setup. However, there are buyers force to work without milestone under trust... anyway, I never work without milestone specially with the buyers who have zero reviews...
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    • Profile picture of the author 22SunnySideUp
      Originally Posted by Theeban View Post

      I think compare to these odesk and elance, Freelancer.com is better, as they are using milestone services, that is really safe for both buyers and service providers....

      However, in Freelancer.com, recently I had noticed lots of data entry projects from buyers from Bangladesh with 0 reviews... I am sure they are scammers, however, I don't think even they can scam people at Freelancer.com as far as there is milestone setup. However, there are buyers force to work without milestone under trust... anyway, I never work without milestone specially with the buyers who have zero reviews...
      Odesk does have milestones setup for clients. They can release funds at their discretion for milestones achieved or in most cases for long term projects.

      Odesk also has the %upfront payment option for fixed-price jobs but I know for a fact clients do not "prefer" bids with upfront payments. I know i've been asked to edit my bid to exclude the option. I still do ask for at least 20% upfront payment. Esp. with clients that have no history.
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  • Profile picture of the author tweettweet
    I agree with Theeban. The best thing to avoid being scammed in oDesk and other freelancing sites is to avoid clients with zero or low feedback. It will also be better if you can also ask for a downpayment.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    I got burned good a few times starting out online so don't do any work that isn't at least 50% advance payment. Got sick of people scamming me out of getting my bills paid real fast. Now all I have to put up with is the scumbags who steal products. LOL.
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    • Profile picture of the author 22SunnySideUp
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      I got burned good a few times starting out online so don't do any work that isn't at least 50% advance payment. Got sick of people scamming me out of getting my bills paid real fast. Now all I have to put up with is the scumbags who steal products. LOL.
      Good for you. Maybe i'll get there some day.
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  • Profile picture of the author 22SunnySideUp
    Originally Posted by taskorbit View Post

    My project is designed to specifically address this, beginning with verified hirers who turnover at least $1M. Task Orbit will be a closed site to all except a select group of 8,000 corporate hirers who are serious about outsourcing and prepared to pay reasonable rates for top quality work. The reason I am replying to this post is that I am keen to receive feedback whilst task orbit is being built, and hopefully develop a pool of skilled freelancers who will agree to participate in the site during it's beta/testing phase. In return they will have an input into the features and restrictions in place, not to mention lifetime membership free of site charges.

    If anyone is interested, please connect with me on Linkedin (Task Orbit/Daniel Green/Sydney Australia)
    Sounds interesting. I'll pm you and add you on linked in. Would love to hear more about this boutique service.
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