After spending over $40 on English tests on Freelancer to boost my ratings I was invited to apply for a job which I didn't feel qualified for. The only way I could see on the Freelancer site to contact the client was to accept the job and ask her more questions, as she was adamant that she wanted to hire me despite the fact that the job was for a VA position in the UK which paid $600 - and I live in CA, USA. Imagine my shock when $60 was immediately deducted from my PayPal account. When I contacted PayPal to dispute the charge, my Freelancer account was "limited for security reasons". Despite repeated emails over the past 10 days, I am still waiting for a refund. Trying to chat with the help desk just sends me back to the page telling me my account is limited. Per Freelancer instructions I cancelled the dispute with PayPal in order to get my money back. I did that. Still no response. So, between taking the tests and the $60 fee I am $100 out of pocket - which isn't as much as some Freelancers have lost - but it's a lot of money to me! Wish I'd checked out the reviews before I decided to use Freelancer. I worked on Elance for years without any problems whatsoever. I wish they were still around.
I forgot to mention that I declined the job but Freelancer still took their fee. For NOTHING!
UPDATE - on 4/6 I received a credit to PayPal for the full amount. I was thrilled, and ready to change the rating I'd given Freelancer.
However, today Freelancer has charged my PayPal account $10.48. I have NO idea what this is for as I only intended to use the Free membership on Freelancer. It seems that once this company has your PayPal details they just help themselves. I will be disputing the payment.
I feel that Freelancer is just too eager to take money for nothing - and I sympathize with those of you who've lost a lot of money by using the site. I have contacted PayPal who have blocked this company from taking any more money from my account, and who have refunded the $10.48 fee which I did NOT approve as a recurring payment.
BEWARE!
Hey Sheila,
Thank you so much for the positive feedback, we really appreciate it. We are always trying to improve and make sure every customer has a great shopping experience with us so it means a lot to us seeing your review.
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