Got Ripped Off on Odesk - Suggestions?

Yes exactly! Give him a poor rating and a BUYER BEWARE review. This will put off his prospective buyers.

I once had a problem where the person was to write me some articles, but her English was so poor I couldn't use them. I gave her a poor rating and she kept begging me to give her a fake 5 star review.
I refused on the grounds that it would lead to more people having the same problem I had.

Make sure you give him a poor rating. You owe it to anyone else that will consider using him in future.

Thanks guys,

Yes I left 1 star feedback and thoroughly explained the situation in the feedback I left so effectively his account is dead there now in terms of feedback, I made sure of that. Just annoying to see this guy got a whole bunch of contracts at once and then just ditched them all, I'm assuming he got money up front from others as well.

I've been trying to figure out how to raise a dispute with Odesk, it really seems like they don't care to be a part of situations such as this. I would have used paypal which is directly linked to the account : (

I'll see if there is anything I can do, thanks guys. I just sent him another message to his website, this time marked from myself and demanded the money back or face repercussions. So we'll see.

I also faced a similar issue with elance.com but I did not lose money. The contractor could not deliver the job on time sought extension twice but still could not complete. He offered me $100 adwords coupon and requested me not to give any negative remarks. Neither I accepted nor I gave any negative remark.

Where I had almost lost money was with non-clickbank product which offered some auto pilot money with a money back guarantee. When I did not get any auto pilot money as promised by him, I asked for refund within the stipulated period but I received no response to any of my mails. I used the same trick of writing to him as a customer from a different mail id and got a fabulous reply. Then I knew he is out to scam people. I used the same threat (which you have posted here) and in less than 24 hrs I got a reply from him and in 48 hrs my money was also sent back.

Thanks Tiffany! Going to try this tomorrow if no response from him, this is kinda the edge I wanted to push in this situation since I have nothing to lose anyway.

I require up front too whenever I do anything BUT it's certainly not "silly" for buyers to scoff at paying up front - they get ripped off too, as is evidenced in the OP.

Even his deposit got ripped off. Both sides are vulnerable, which is why I would have liked Elance's escrow abilities back when I wrote there.

Once you get burned EITHER as a provider or a client, you kind of scoff at putting yourself in harms way again. Natural reaction.

Just hire people with a solid reputation and if necessary, turn into honey badger if you get bent over and screwed. Teaches them a lesson

For sure the solution to these types of problems is never pay upfront
for any jobs. It works both ways. I've done work for clients who
didn't pay the balance after the project was completed as well.

So should I not deliver the completed project until I'm paid in full?

The client trust me with the deposit and I trust him to pay the
balance. The problem was not the process but simple dishonesty.

-Ray Edwards

You never do jobs without an upfront fee unless you know the person? Same thing applies to buyers, why should they pay you upfront?

Hey if it's working for you good, but I've no doubt you are losing a lot of business with that policy - maybe it does not matter for you as you may have built a great reputation.

But for the buyer in this thread what you are saying does not make sense - if he does not know the developer why would he risk paying up front?

Hi Ryan,

Sorry to hear about your predicament. Hope you can resolve it as soon as possible. And teach that guy a good lesson because he is giving us content developers a bad name.

My bread and butter is content development - sometimes on my own and sometimes with a team.

Here is my long-winded POV, as a developer.

I'll ask for upfront deposit only if a project requires a group of developers, sourcing new materials, getting research data and need time. And there were also projects when I asked for 100% payment ahead. There were simple jobs I did without asking for any payment until they are completed.

It depends on the sort of jobs and also depends on how I perceive my clients. It is a matter of trust, that goes both ways. But trust doesn't happen instantly.

So I have to be selective in order to reduce risks. Best thing is to know whom I'm dealing with, which must include physical contact address. Profile checks would be the most important first step. Reviews by others will support decision-making.

Most of the time I got paid and despite all the controls, I still got ripped off ... lol . It's life !

One was a refusal to pay a balance of US$25k for a training program development, despite a successful implementation and a written agreement. My remedy was easier than a legal one though, i.e. a threat to start a viral internet campaign against the enterprise. They saw my threat as very real as I've done an awesome traffic generation for them before. Instantly, the balance got paid 50% and the rest in a couple of lethargic installments ... lol. And the relationship is no longer cordial as before.

If you're up to it, you can do the same. But first, weigh the use of your time, energy and resources - is it worth it?