I was awarded a programming job for $10,000 on freelancer.com back in March for a client with a good reputation. I began work on the project and a few weeks into the project the client created a milestone for $2500 and released the funds. My account was already -$1,000 as freelancer.com was charging 10% for their fee being I am on a free account. When the $2,500 was released, I requested a wire withdrawal and it went through the process on schedule, then it was supposedly sent on 4/22 but I still have not received it.<p>As the project progressed, the client created another milestone for $5,000 and released the funds immediately. I made a withdrawal request, freelancer.com locked the funds to send it, just like the first $1,500 wire. The next day I received an email telling me my account is now limited and they wanted me to submit a government issued ID and proof of residence, like a utility bill, before they would restore my account and send the wire. They said this would be resolved within 24-48 hours of submitting my documentation. I sent a scan of my New York state driver's license and my electric bill. They rejected both of them.<p>I then submitted a bank statement and my New York state driver's license. They accepted the bank statement as proof of residence, but rejected my driver's license again.<p>It clearly states on their identity verification form that a driver's license is an acceptable form of ID.<p>I am posting this because I am curious if anyone else has had this problem. I am currently getting the runaround, nothing but canned responses (if any) from their support and their facebook page.<p>At the very least, I want to warn NY residents that if they use freelancer.com, they can expect similar problems.
I didn't realize they charged their fees before you get paid at all, that just seems unfair. Have you looked at Guru.com? They only charge their percent when you actually get paid.