Odesk is a big scam

[Shawn S]

This website is a big scam. Odesk does nothing about it. I got a complaint opened with them and the Better Business Bureau. I won't let it go until I get a refund of my $26.17. Someone scammed me and sent me stolen software from another website and closed the job. How can they close the job marking it complete? I'm the employer! I say when it's complete! I want them to review/change their policy and refund my money. They side 100% with workers and not at all with employers such as myself. I was getting an Android app designed and all this guy was steal something from another website and pass it off as his own. It doesn't even do what I wanted!

[Stephen B]

Is oDesk a scam or the freelancer who scammed you? It's a freelance market - you have to protect yourself. First by realising that you're not an employer - you've contracted someone to provide you a service - it's very different. If they closed the contract, why don't you leave honest feedback about them? And remember that if you got your refund you wouldn't be able to leave feedback...

[Mattia G]

...you're NOT an employer. You are a client. And people like me are NOT employees. They're freelancers. I can understand your frustration right now. There are scammers pretty much everywhere nowadays... but that's true for BOTH sides: freelancers AND clients. That's why both of them have the possibility to close a contract... That being said, I hope you manage to get a refund. I suggest you to report the scammer anyway, or at very least to give him a very, very bad feedback: people like him/her should be stopped. They just ruin oDesk reputation.

[Alexander N]

Job is complete when both sides agree that it's complete and duly paid for. And... you wanted application developed from scratch for $26.17? Then you got just right amount of work for budget you provided.

[Mattia G]

...I didn't get it... I'm not an expert in that field, but $26.17 for an application developed from scratch sounds like a joke to my ears... that doesn't justify the scammer, obviously, but hey... if you want to hire a TRUSTWORTHY freelancer, you should be ready to pay a fair amount of money. You know, if it seems too good to be true...

[Daniel John B]

Yep, 26.17 should just cover the costs for the intro meeting. 26.17 for an application.....that's about 0.3 per hour.

[Marcia M]

If you don't want to work for slave pay, then don't bid slave rates.

[Mattia G]

...but I'm trying to underline a slightly different aspect... if you (client) agree to a "slave pay", then you shouldn't expect a flawless job. I'm not justifying any scammer out there, I'm just saying that we get what we give. Obviously, even paying a fair amount you're never sure about the final result, but it should reduce the chances of getting poor work. Similar things often happen to freelancers as well: clients not paying, impossible-to-complete jobs, endless delays in payments et cetera. You know, **** happens. What we can do is try to be as fair as possible, and think BEFORE doing anything. Complaining, in certain cases, is pointless (IMHO).

[Marcia M]

Scammers tend to target people who want something for nothing (or very little). This is a general rule, not restricted to online freelancing.