www.freelancer.com

Me vs. Freelancer.com Background: Freelancer.com is an escrow service that facilitates project contracts between clients and independent contractor. The client posted a project on the site for various freelancers to submit bids, then deposit a "milestone" payment that will be released to the chosen contractor once the project has concluded. I had used freelancer.com about a year ago without any issue, and decided to use them again last month for a design project. Since it has been so long since I used the site I forgot that they automatically withdraw the milestone payment from my Paypal account the moment I award a project, so I ended up depositing the milestone payment twice. Realizing my mistake I contacted Paypal and requested that only the 2nd payment be reversed, which they did. However soon afterward freelancer decides to freeze my account and would not release my money until I cancel the Paypal chargeback. This meant that I could neither pay my contractor through the site or get my money back. Repeated attempts to explain the issue with Freelancer's verification department only results in the same robotic demands that I cancel the charge back. As they do not have a phone support line (they're based in Australia) I couldn't actually speak to a human being. Frustrated, I decided to post on their Facebook page in the hope of getting an actual person that I can speak to. Sure enough one of their representative message me through Facebook.The conversation starts out promising, but here's how it ends Me: Hi, this is regarding my post on your facebook page. It has been a frustrating experience dealing with your support department as they do not seem to be reading any of the explanation that I've given to them. Either they'll refer me back to the Verification department or they'll demand that I cancel the Paypal dispute. This is the original email that I sent to yoou "On November 17th,2014 I made a deposit of $123.06 as a milestone payment to my contractor. How

Me vs. Freelancer.com Background: Freelancer.com is an escrow service that facilitates project contracts between clients and independent contractor. The client posted a project on the site for various freelancers to submit bids, then deposit a "milestone" payment that will be released to the chosen contractor once the project has concluded. I had used freelancer.com about a year ago without any issue, and decided to use them again last month for a design project. Since it has been so long since I used the site I forgot that they automatically withdraw the milestone payment from my Paypal account the moment I award a project, so I ended up depositing the milestone payment twice. Realizing my mistake I contacted Paypal and requested that only the 2nd payment be reversed, which they did. However soon afterward freelancer decides to freeze my account and would not release my money until I cancel the Paypal chargeback. This meant that I could neither pay my contractor through the site or get my money back. Repeated attempts to explain the issue with Freelancer's verification department only results in the same robotic demands that I cancel the charge back. As they do not have a phone support line (they're based in Australia) I couldn't actually speak to a human being. Frustrated, I decided to post on their Facebook page in the hope of getting an actual person that I can speak to. Sure enough one of their representative message me through Facebook.The conversation starts out promising, but here's how it ends Me: Hi, this is regarding my post on your facebook page. It has been a frustrating experience dealing with your support department as they do not seem to be reading any of the explanation that I've given to them. Either they'll refer me back to the Verification department or they'll demand that I cancel the Paypal dispute. This is the original email that I sent to yoou "On November 17th,2014 I made a deposit of $123.06 as a milestone payment to my contractor. How