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64116b8f
Community Member

My freelancer produced an awful standard of work.

Hi everyone,

So I recently hired a freelancer to write me a cookbook.

After 5 days, the book was produced. I ran a plaigirism check on the book and there was a section which was plaigirised (he has changed that now ). Not only that, the whole book doesnt really make sense and its written to a very poor standard.

The rate advertised for this book was $100 but I really do not want to pay this for the standard the freelancer has produced. 

Is there anything I can do as the money is in escrow right now.

Steve.

21 REPLIES 21
prestonhunter
Community Member

You are allowed to release the full payment, close the contract, and never work with the freelancer again. You are not required to use his work at all. I would advise you to just dump it all.

 

You may also change the amount of money you release to any amount. You may pay more. You may pay less. You may pay zero. If you pay less or zero, then you will automatically receive a refund.

 

But paying less than the full amount in escrow requires the freelancer to agree to your refund request.

 

If the freelancer does not agree, then a dispute will be initiated, which means you will not automatically receive a refund. You may end up receiving nothing.

 

So my advice to you is to politely explain to the freelancer that you can't use the work he submitted, and ask him ahead of time if he will allow you to request a full refund.

 

If he says no, then offer him half.

You paid $100 for a cookbook. Written in English? How many pages? Original recipes? Commentary included? Any photographs and/or graphics? The project required five days' time. ($20 per day rate of pay.)

 

The result was junk. Plagiarism and junk.

 

Okay. Good to know.

 

 


@Janean L wrote:

You paid $100 for a cookbook. Written in English? How many pages? Original recipes? Commentary included? Any photographs and/or graphics? The project required five days' time. ($20 per day rate of pay.)

 

The result was junk. Plagiarism and junk.

 

Okay. Good to know.

 

 


 I once stumbled over the profile of a freelancer that finished up to 10 cookbooks weekly...

versailles
Community Member


@Stephen L wrote:


The rate advertised for this book was $100 but I really do not want to pay this for the standard the freelancer has produced. 

Is there anything I can do as the money is in escrow right now.

Steve.


I mean no disrespect, but unless it was a leaflet, I think you got the quality you were looking for. Nobody will write you a book for $100.

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless


@Rene K wrote:

@Stephen L wrote:


The rate advertised for this book was $100 but I really do not want to pay this for the standard the freelancer has produced. 

Is there anything I can do as the money is in escrow right now.

Steve.


I mean no disrespect, but unless it was a leaflet, I think you got the quality you were looking for. Nobody will write you a book for $100.


 Well, this one tried...

jr-translation
Community Member

I would just have rejected the work due to the plaigirism, ended the contract and reported the freelancer. He accepted the job and should have done it properly.

 

Yes, the rate is very low but it is up to each and everyone to accept or not.

 

another chapter in the cook-book of "nothing is more expensive than low budget freelancers." 

with all the respect towards the thread-opener. If writing a cookbook isn't worth more than 100$ to you then it can't be that important that he **bleep**ed up.

petra_r
Community Member


@Stephen L wrote:


So I recently hired a freelancer to write me a cookbook.
The rate advertised for this book was $100


 You got what you paid for. Well, you will have what you paid for and pay for it you should.

 

If you had paid $ 1000 the advice would be different.

 

 


@Petra R wrote:

@Stephen L wrote:


So I recently hired a freelancer to write me a cookbook.
The rate advertised for this book was $100


 You got what you paid for. Well, you will have what you paid for and pay for it you should.

 

If you had paid $ 1000 the advice would be different.


 Apologies for my shameless plagiarism

Th


@Prashant P wrote:

@Petra R wrote:

@Stephen L wrote:


So I recently hired a freelancer to write me a cookbook.
The rate advertised for this book was $100


 You got what you paid for. Well, you will have what you paid for and pay for it you should.

 

If you had paid $ 1000 the advice would be different.


 Apologies for my shameless plagiarism


 There is a difference between citing and plagiarism.

I think we are having two different issues here. No doubt the offered rate for the job was too low for any of us to even consider taking the job. The low rates are a problem all over the place and are being discussed all the time. When the payment it very low the client

a) gets a lousy result (which is not so unexpected for most of us)

or

b) gets quality (as he expected)

 

Everybody discussing int the thread provides quality work at a higher rate which is why we all have a reputation as experts. Unfortunatelly many freelancer claim to be experts but are not.

 

I think an issue being ignored in the thread is the plagiarism. If more clients would take the time to check the quality of the work received instead of just paying and leaving 5*, the JSS of more than one freelancer would look different.

 

I honestly believe that any freelancer who copies somebody elses work or delivers a google translation should be reported, investigated and removed from the Upwork.

Chill out Jennifer, if you don't agree, you don't have to comment lol. Not my fault he accepted it..


@Stephen L wrote:

 Not my fault he accepted it..


 That is another way to look at it.  Some may look it as exploitation of needy people - or modern day slavery.  Right now, you can and many buyers, have done this trick.  Hire people, complain quality, don't pay, turn around and hire some one at much lower rate to edit.  And walla you have a book for a fraction of the cost.

 

And that guy did fix the offending section.


@Stephen L wrote:

Chill out Jennifer, if you don't agree, you don't have to comment lol. Not my fault he accepted it..


The thing with forums, and with conversations in general, is that not only those who agree with you will say something.

 

And you're 100% right, it's not your fault if he accepted the contract. And it's nobody's fault if you decided to hire cheap. You ordered a $100 writer, you got a $100 writer.

 

Isn't the free market a beautiful concept?

-----------
"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless


@Rene K wrote:

@Stephen L wrote:

Chill out Jennifer, if you don't agree, you don't have to comment lol. Not my fault he accepted it..


The thing with forums, and with conversations in general, is that not only those who agree with you will say something.

 

And you're 100% right, it's not your fault if he accepted the contract. And it's nobody's fault if you decided to hire cheap. You ordered a $100 writer, you got a $100 writer.

 

Isn't the free market a beautiful concept?


 It certainly is, because among many other things, the freemarket model allows you to always blame the other guy...  


@Stephen L wrote:

Chill out Jennifer, if you don't agree, you don't have to comment lol. Not my fault he accepted it..


I was actually supporting your side regarding the quality provided.That is why I wrote earlier:

 

"I would just have rejected the work due to the plaigirism, ended the contract and reported the freelancer. He accepted the job and should have done it properly."

 

If you are happy to be told by everyone that you paid too little and deserved what you got, I will shut up. Who cares if people copy other peoples work trying to make some quick money.  

Stephen, you got exactly what you paid for.  Garbage.

 

That said, Jennifer is correct.  Plagiarism is not acceptable but when a buyer is paying peanuts, it is what they get.  With luck, you have learned a lesson. 

 

Going forward, use this as a guideline for professional rates.   https://www.the-efa.org/rates/

Wendy: No matter how many times you post that link, but it will fly over most buyer's head.  Most of them are fishing for bottom of the barrel talent and expect them to pruduce Pulitzer prize winning piece.  And when they don't get that they come here asking for ways on how not to pay that poor slob from the slums of Mumbai or Dhaka.

 

Yesterday, I applied for a job for fun (this month I seem to have lots of connect left over to burn).  The buyer wanted 'Expert' at the lowest price.  I wrote in short three line propsal that "your desire to find an Expert at Entry Level price is an oxymoron".

Prashant,  I actually post the link so darned often in the hopes that a few FLers open it and their eyes to what they should be charging.  Consider it my PSA for the month.  😉

Stephen if you want a cookbook that sells, you need recipes that work by cooks who know what they are doing, and  photos and genuine reviews ("This was the best lasagne ever" etc.). 

 

This sort of thing takes time, practical experience, knowledge and 1000 other things. Believe me, you should look for another "best-selling" tactic. Jamie Oliver may look easy, but he sure as hell sweated his way to the top. 

 

Pay your freelancer. He doesn't know diddly from squat, and neither do you - cookery-wise. 


@Nichola L wrote:
 

Pay your freelancer. He doesn't know diddly from squat, and neither do you - cookery-wise. 


 Well they are all recent graduates from the best selling seminar on "How to make Millions on Internet"

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