Don't use Freelancer.com if you don't want to lose money

I've had good experience hiring freelancers there. idk sometimes they are billing a few $ extra after the project is done and my acc goes into negative ( since they are uploading the funds exactly as the milestones+ payment processing fees) ... weird now I have +6$ hehe guess they toke funds themself

 

I had an account with them and there was around 300 EUR on it. I didn't login for a wild (3-6 month) and found that my account been closed with NO notice via email or so...
I did use it as freelancer and as project manager. I had no issues with my clients and partners before account been closed.

Contacted their support last week but no respoce since

So I realy hope it was some sort of issue and they will solve it as before I had good experience as freelancer and made some money with them.

 

That's the downside of being a freelancer. You somehow have to rely on freelancer sites, knowing that they could easily destroy your income with a click of a mouse.

 

I was never big on using them before they were even acquired so happy I avoided that crap. I use Upwork more often than anything just wish their fees weren't so high. I mean you pay a monthly fee then lose a pretty decent percentage of your earned income but I guess that is the breaks when using their platform.

 

Freelancer has never worked for me. I have had success with literally every big freelancing site except for freelancer.

 

Are they charging the freelancers or the people looking to hire freelance workers?

 

I was deducted 30+USD x 14 months=430 USD membership fee from credit card. The last deduction was stopped and I was scammed almost 400 USD by Freelancer. I contacted an employer whose name is Erwin C and the guy replied they can refund at most 6 months of membership fee 2nd December,2017 when I communicated with Freelancer. Today I login my account and found they ask me to provide government issued identification like ID,passport,photo,signature,birth date information and my residential bill information before I can refund my money from my freelancer account to my credit card account. I consulted my bank and was told these documents and information could be used to fraud authorization on behalf of the account owner,me,myself. I have emailed Freelancer and asked them to refund me money unconditionally. I hope someone here can tell me how to communicate with this company. Their action is dangerous to society. I am in Shanghai,China.

Here I post the details of my communication with Freelancer:



Username: williamcyber



I know this chat box looks
broken but it's not! You'll be able to type and 'send' a message as soon as
an agent gets connected with you. **Please keep this chat window open (don't
close it!) to hold your spot in the queue. ** We want to help you asap!



You are now chatting with Erwin
C. (CX Specialist - Live Chat Support). Let us know if our Customer Support
Agent assisted you well by answering the survey at the end of the chat.



14:35Erwin C.:Hi, this is Erwin. Welcome to Freelancer.com Support
Desk.



14:35Erwin C.:How may I help you, Williamcyber?



14:36williamcyber:hi, my ticket ID is AEM-704-70354



14:36Erwin C.lease give me a minute or two to look into this.



14:37williamcyber:after submitting the request, I am trying
to cancel my membership



14:38williamcyber:I follow the instruction, to click the
setting, then membership, but when I click the membership under setting menu,
there is no response



14:39williamcyber:I need to cancel the membership immediately



14:39Erwin C.lease give me more time to look into this.



14:39williamcyber:"If you wish to go back to Free
Membership, you can cancel your current membership plan instead.



To do
this, click the thumbnail profile picture from your Dashboard page and select
Settings. On your Settings page, select the Membership tab and click
Cancel."

















14:40williamcyber:OK



14:47Erwin C.:Our records show that you took advantage of the Free
Trial of our Professional Membership on 25 October 2016.



14:47Erwin C.:Since it was not downgraded back to Free, it was
automatically renewed with its respective charge.



14:47Erwin C.:Moreover, since you didn't have funds when the renewal
occurred, the system drafted funds from your credit card due to our billing
agreement.



14:47Erwin C.:There should also be a notification on the Newsfeed of
your Dashboard which states that your Professional Membership will
automatically renew at $29.95 USD per month, starting Nov 25, 2016 unless you
cancel it before then.



14:47Erwin C.:As a one-time courtesy, we may stop your membership and
refund up to 6 months of the fees that you incurred.



14:47Erwin C.:However, you will lose all of the benefits of the said
plan listed below:



14:47Erwin C.:300 Bids Per Month, 100 Skills, Daily Withdrawals, Unlock
Rewards, Unlimited Project Bookmarks, Preferred Freelancer Eligible, Custom
Cover Photo, 20 Employer Followings, 15 External Invoicings, Free Project
Extensions, Free Sealed Projects, High Value Project Bidding.



14:48Erwin C.:Would you like to proceed with the cancellation of your
plan, the refund of 6 months of its fee, and lose the mentioned benefits?



14:49williamcyber:why not return me all money?



14:50williamcyberlease tell me the reason you charge me
without my consent



14:51williamcyber:even I have make use of your free trial,
you still have no reason to charge me without my consent



14:52williamcyber:I have reported to my local police office
and China Bank



14:53williamcyber:I don't need any benefits you mentioned



14:54williamcyber:I even don't know what are they



14:55williamcyber:I am angry just because I was charged money
by others without my consent.



14:56williamcyber:no body sent me even a email to verify the
confirmation of my spending.



14:57williamcyber:I feel to be stole by someone



14:58Erwin C.:As discussed, the charges were for the renewal of your
Professional Membership that you incurred.



14:58Erwin C.:The auto-deposit from your credit card was due to our
billing agreement.



14:58Erwin C.:Adding a verified payment source or initially depositing
funds automatically activates a billing agreement.



14:58Erwin C.:This payment feature has been implemented so depositing
funds via credit card becomes a one-step process which can be completed on the
site.



14:59Erwin C.:Also, please give me more time to see if it is possible
to refund all the fees you incurred.



15:00williamcyberlease show me any agreements which prove
my fault for my being charged by anyone else. I need them.



15:00williamcyber:Thank you , sir.



15:01williamcyber:My angry is to Freelancer, rather than a
specific employee



15:02williamcyber:If I offended you personally, I am sorry.



15:06williamcyber:It is just today when I clicked the
confirmation email to activate my account in order to operate to cancel my
membership with Freelancer website. You can check if I said the fact.



15:10Erwin C.:You may check the notification on your Dashboard which
states that the said membership will renew at $29.95 USD per month, starting
Nov 25. Also, we may refund only up to 6 months of the fees that you incurred.



15:11Erwin C.:Would you like to proceed with the refund of 6 months of
the fees that you incurred and cancellation of the said plan?



15:14williamcyber:first please delete my membership today.
second return me money what you said . third I tell you here I will start the
accuse from my local administration.



15:15williamcyber:If you think you have proper reason to
refuse returning my rest amount of money please show me any agreement.



15:17williamcyber:That I am wronged is worse than the money I
lost. Because you still do not admit your improper doing.



15:24Erwin C.:We have now stopped the said plan and refunded up to 6
months of the fees that you incurred to your Freelancer.com account.



15:24Erwin C.:It is also stated on section "6. Fees and
Services" or our site's Terms and Conditions that "We charge fees for
certain services, such as introduction fees for Projects, listing upgrades and
memberships.".



15:24Erwin C.:Furthermore, there is a notification on the Newsfeed of
your Dashboard which informed you that the said membership plan will renew at
$29.95 USD per month, starting Nov 25 2016 unless you cancel it before then.



15:24Erwin C.:Since you have been notified about this on our site and
you failed to cancel your membership before it renewed, you were charged the
fee for its renewal according to our site's Terms and Conditions.



15:24Erwin C.:You may check our site's Terms and Conditions on the link
below:



15:24Erwin C.:https://www.freelancer.com/about/terms



15:29Erwin C.:Is there anything else that I can help you with?



15:29williamcyber:yes



15:30Erwin C.:If you have other questions, kindly let us know so that
we may provide recommendations.



15:31williamcyber:I just have made use of the free trial. I
can keep my property safe with out answering any notification from an equal
business company.



15:32williamcyber:I have received many emails including spam
emails



15:33williamcyber:need I to see and reply every one of them
to protect my money from being charged?



15:34williamcyber:the terms is defined by Freelancer who is
not government ,nor judge



15:35williamcyber:why should I have to reply the notification
from Freelancer to ensure my money still in my purse?



15:36williamcyber:yes , I made use of the free trial. But it
is free trial.



15:37williamcyber:Is there any agreement to rule that I have
to reply your notifications if I used your free trial?



15:38Erwin C.:Just to clarify, it is also stated in section 1. of our
site's Terms and Conditions that "By accessing the Website, you agree to
the following terms with Freelancer.".



15:38Erwin C.:Also, if you are referring to the charges for the said
membership, you do not have to reply to every email or notification.



15:38Erwin C.:What you could have done was downgrade the said
membership plan before it renewed since our site has informed you of its
renewal with its respective charge starting Nov 25, 2016.



15:38Erwin C.:Since you failed to cancel it and downgrade to Free
before its renewal date even after you have been informed on our site, you were
charged fees for it according to our site's Terms and Conditions.



15:41williamcyber:who has the right to set an automatic
trigger to take my money when he/she is not aware of?



15:41williamcyber:you have not answer my question directly



15:43williamcyber:I don't have responsibility to do anything
to keep my money safe.



15:46williamcyber:Freelancer want to get my money. Freelancer
set its questions to be replied from me. They are Freelancer's issue, they are
Freelancer's business tricky, nothing to do with me, nothing to do with my
responsibility of doing something.



15:49williamcyber:My money should be safe no matter are there
any notifications or other questions raised by anyone else to be responsed.



15:54Erwin C.:As earlier discussed, the automatic deposit from your
credit card was due to our billing agreement which our site implements so that
depositing funds via credit card becomes a one-step process which can be
completed on the site.



15:54Erwin C.:We also respect your opinion.



15:54Erwin C.:However, as discussed, you were charged the fees as you
have failed to cancel your membership plan to free before its renewal date.



15:54williamcyber:in 10 minuted I will have to leave to do
something else. the discussion will be stopped but the cased is not ended.
thank you, sir



15:55williamcyber:the case is not ended



15:55williamcyber:till you return all my money



15:56williamcyber:thank you for listening my reasoning

 

I have $600 in my freelancer account, and they limited my account, how can I get the money back or withdraw the money without go through the verification process?

 

I have started my new business , I did not hire any accountant to handle my accounts.. i use a accounting software for it. can you guide me that i have a right decision or have not?

 

well.. no respond from support so I reported site as phishing to Google.

Any other option to report it as FRAUD site?

 

I would never invest money in such a place. If you want to invest in your business, it's preferable to create a website and then invest in SEO

 

It's not this website's fault.
There are different people who suggest services and jobs and you can never know who will cheat you the next time.

 

this website has big competition rates between freelancers.
the bigger portfolio you have the more quality job you will get.