A lot of people bid on every job going, then when they get accepted, they work through them as and when they can.

I always put a time limit on my jobs - for smaller jobs that I expect the results within 24 hours - for larger jobs that I want a progress update every 24 hours. That helps to weed out people who wouldn't work well with me.

Thom

Yea, especially the low paying jobs probably requires bidding on lots of jobs to get accepted, but then I assume people may get accepted for several jobs and then not be able to deliver in a timely manner. Is that what you are saying?

Perhaps they are still "holidaying",

Kingsley

That's a little upsetting isn't it?

I link it to poor time management skills. Know what you want to do and have a strong time management plan to do it... or struggle with delivering work to your contracts on time.

I had one who took over a week to give deliverables. I just ended the contract with "3" star feedback and she was mad, talking about the deliverables she DID have, but never showed me. I didn't care... she can use those articles for someone else for all I care.

Unfortunately this has happened to me many times, and you should be lucky if they respond. That's why it is better to get recommendation from other people concerning who you hire, and once you have your good team, stick to it.

You might want to take different time zones into account. If someone from Asia is bidding and you're in the US, then there's a 12 hour time difference. People have to sleep and possibly work a fulltime job as well, so there's the first 24 hours.

I'd be worried if there was no reply in 3 days or so with freelancers.

Lately I've been having similar experiences on Fiverr and Fiverr-like sites. I find many service providers can be fickle, so i expect to go thru many and am always looking for more.
_____
Bruce

One guy I interviewed to write a few articles gave me a 2 day turnaround time, soon as I hired him. He told me there had been a death and he was leaving immediately for 5 days!

I've posted low paying, decent and high paying jobs but there almost always time issues. Even with WSO hires (sorry to report). Your best bet is Odesk, if you want freelancers that can be held responsible if they disappear.

tsk.

That's the main problem when you're hiring a freelance person. Like I always advice, look for a reputable firm or company to avoid disappearing acts.

They will get back with you soon. If they were about who they are and what they do they would not run away with your $$$. Have you paid them yet? I advertised for a few small businesses and provided them with an update every week of all my posting and calls. Included times and links. It was very organized.

It must be the time difference. But if its 7 days since the day you hired them and they were still unresponsive then there must me something wrong.


Andrea

People like that is wasting money. They are hired but they didnt do there job. If thats me, right after me, i will do my job because i need money for my school expenses. Service seller with that attitude must given 3.0 feedback because of slow performance and turnaround.

Ughhhhh there is nothing I hate more than people you hire just disappearing. It is so frustrating. But you know what is worse, when your software project is almost finished. You just need a few simple changes or a little upgrade and they disappear leaving your software useless. That's what happened to me and it is driving me crazy.

Here are some tips that I have learnt to avoid it.

1. Set tight but realistic deadlines... make sure they know up front that you require them to write the 3 articles in 24 hours (very realisitic). Most sites protect you if they don't deliver.

2. You get what you pay for. When I was hiring article writers I only got them in the US. I was fooled too many times to get the cheap ones.

3. Good people don't last... They get over run with work and either up their prices or disappear. So keep looking.

I hope that helps,

[DELETED]

"Hiring People that Disappear"

Your title is very misleading lol

This has been my experience and why I am not a fan of low-end off-shore workers. Unfortunately, many are so desperate they bid anything to get a job...but will dump you if they get another job that pays a few cents more.

I see the same thing on Fiverr. People promise anything for $5 (actually they get $4), but they don't deliver. I tried them out after seeing so much praise for Fiverr here on the WF, but I have found that even people with great feedback are not doing what they say.

Competent people cost real money. If people are at a subsistence level, then you are going to have problems with performance.

There maybe different timing zone in your home country and in the country where hired person resides. In this case he/she will not be able to respond you in immediately 24 hours. Another issue is Spamming...people apply without intention to work. Another thing is people usually promise to work though they are not interest in low paying jobs. They post their CVs just to get information whether someone will hire them or not.