ODesk.com- Supporting Scammers

Serially Getting Ripped Off by Contractors and Odesk Cant do anything?

Hi,


got ripped off 2 times in the last few months and odesk says contractor is FINAL.

case 1.
paid $12.50 as advance to rewrite an ebook.
the writer sent me the index for ebook and i said to continue with the work.

http://screencast.com/t/2avRQSbwTl

suddenly he cancelled the contract and run away with $12.5 and left me a 2 star rating

contacted Odesk Support, they say i need to discuss with contractor. but the contractor wont respond

case 2.
i requested for a wp plugin mod and hired one guy. he setup a demo site (with 3 posts) for me to test. however i told my site had 6000 posts and was doubtful that his plugin wont work.

he insisted i pay, and i paid the full amt $100

now after i installed his plugin, his plugin injected some malware into my server DB and most of the DB is now corrupted. he has 0 feedback on Odesk and is from china
----------------------------------

In both the cases, when i contacted their support, they ask me to read their terms and conditions.

i dont understand if this is in the Terms: "Pay to contractors who send malware and dont let anybody know about it"

 

That's terrible that you've had such bad experiences. I've used Odesk only a few times and have been pretty happy. So many scammers, I prefer to pay a little more to do business with those who have excellent feedback.

 

Never pay in advance if you are working with someone new, use escrow and only release when the job done correctly.

 

Dont they get involved with arbitrating a deal run amok? What kind of freelance site are they if they arent going to protect the members (sellers AND buyers). Ive been a member there since many years ago, but have never acquired a project. I dont plan on it either. I was broken hearted when vworkers turned sellout to that barry mogul. Sorry about your dealings with odesk. personally, i would spread this around the net and get them to put some kind of protection into place. Maybe contact ANONYMOUS. (lol).

PS, thanks for the heads up!

 

Pay half up front and the rest on completion of the contract. This is a built-in Odesk option.
Also, break the job up into smaller pieces if you don't fully trust the contractor. Like if you were outsourcing a WordPress site, have one job for the logo, another job for the content, and another job for the theme design & layout. That way you spread the risk around.

 

i am really agree with you about this matter.

 

I've been using oDesk for years and have spent well over $2,000 on hundreds of different projects.
If you've been scammed on oDesk, it's usually your own fault for not doing your homework before hiring someone...
DONT trust anyone, DONT ever pay in advance - Not even 50% and DONT hire anyone with no feedback or a low score..... Simple

 

Always go with someone who has good recommendations. If they don't, then never pay in full upfront.

 

Sorry to hear you got scammed, and i see some recommend not to hire people with no feedback... but someone has to be the first to give feedback, everyone had a first employer. This way some honest people would lose. Just don`t pay upfront, use the escrow.

 

I, on the other hand, used to get scammed a lot by workers. When my work was more than decent and was clearly to their expectations they would just say it was crap and broke contact...

 

Escrow is best for your security

 

The only good experience I've ever had on odesk is paying someone hourly who had established feedback over 100 hours with multiple clients

 

You should have interviewed at least 5 different contractors and thoroughly checked out their profiles!

Rule of thumb, hire wordpress developers with at least 10 wordpress related feedbacks and check their profiles for wordpress test results. If you want good coders, approach ones who charge $20.00hr and up! Offering a fixed contract might be a good way to get the job done cheaper.

Note: Just because someone knows how to upload images, install plugins and post a page, it does not mean they know how to code php, edit or write css for themes and plugins.

If you want plugins created look for contractors with plugin only feedback, you have to be specific.
Just because I can create a custom theme, it doesn't mean I can create custom plugins.

 

please use elance.com it's a great site and has great talents working there. not some scammers!

 

I remember I spent $300 on "hot" leads and wanted to hire a telemarketer to contact them.

Time was of the dire essence, because I paid a boatload for these leads.

I went to Odesk, hired this fella out of the Phillepeans.

When the time came, the dude totally blew me off; didn't reply to me; totally left me in the dark.

He left me to scramble finding a telemarketer who could make calls that same day.

Dude was on Odesk and had a good reputation.



Can't blame Odesk really; but I learned to "start small" before you invest in anyone.

 

Thats so terrible, I wont prefer odesk in future. SEOClerks.com is far better than ALL the freelancing sites.

 

Read my experience about odesk , elence ... Avoid that sh..t and take locals. Btw about that feedback rating sh.t at freelancing websites. Almost all there is fake because when you hire someone they always force you to write feedback before they finsih job so , dont trust that scam.