When looking for "oDesk scam" in Google, many people seem to complain about oDesk because they got some job poorly done or feel that they wasted their time.
oDesk is only a tool to find service providers. Most of the problems you will get on oDesk come from the service providers themselves, not from the tool.
Victim of its own rules
It is true however that it is in the tool's responsibility to influence how a community grows and encourage better quality. Like in any tool, each feature has an impact on how the community will behave.
StackOverflow as an example of good design
StackOverflow.com is the perfect example of how smart rules and features helped build a smart community.
They introduced the concept of badges and score to award their users and grant them more access gradually.
They also enabled the website to self-moderate itself by having clear rules, empowering their trusted users.
They have found the right balance between restrictions and freedom.
Bad early design can impact what your community becomes
Before working on TaskArmy, I used to develop games on Facebook.
I found early that the words I was using in every pages on my games influenced who would use my games and how they would interact with it.
In one of my games for example, by using a fun tone the community grew younger.
But the features I would include would also influence the community.
By including a live chat on the front page (something that no one had done before in Facebook) the community started to grow stronger bonds between the players. People were making true friends inside my games.
But features or rules can destroy a community too.
The way I designed the game made it possible for people to cheat. They would create ghost accounts in Facebook to get more points or create automated bots.
Gradually, the players started complaining about the cheaters or became cheaters themselves and soon enough everyone was accusing each other of cheating.
Although I was aware of the issue and the trend, I had no easy way to fix the problem because the issue was so deep in the fundamental rules of the game.
I believe Odesk faces issues of the same nature. They would have to dramatically change the way the platform works to be able to increase the quality of your experience on the website. They are victim of their own rules.
On oDesk, the freelancers bid against each other in a war to the bottom. This drives the perceived costs down for the buyers but it also dramatically drives the quality of the work down as well because the freelancers don't have the time to pay attention to the details, the budget not allowing it.
Anyone can join oDesk as a service provider and this low barrier of entry leads to many low quality applicants. A recent discussion on Hacker News attests that this topic is really becoming problematic right now.
How TaskArmy solves this
This is why at TaskArmy, all the service providers are pre-filtered before they can appear on the website. This alone removes a lot of risks and noise for the buyers. We do the hard work of picking the good ones from the bad ones.
Also, it is the freelancer who defines the price of his services. Like in the supermarket, you simply choose the service you want and see what price it has. We never encourage freelancers to lower their prices and emphasize the value of a service over the price of a service.
To conclude, Odesk is not a scam but I believe it opens their platform to abuse.
TaskArmy intends to minimize your risks when you outsource. Give us a try!
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Very true. Been with oDesk for a year now and it is quite an investment of time to search and search and search for fair paying jobs and at the same time write lots and lots of unique cover letters hoping employers will read them through the spammed ones. I hope TaskArmy soars!
Thanks Angela! I checked out your profile and you seem to have great feedback from clients.
No doubt you will get sales on taskarmy. All the best!
I do not trust anything on oDesk. They will not support you in case of a money dispute.I just spent over $1000 and I have a bag of trash. Their dispute resolution is worthless and I can understand why. It will cut into their bottom line. When their contractors obtain 10 cents more elsewhere they disappear and will leave you exposed to money gone and the need to start all over again. They train their contractors how to fill the time sheet so if an innocent employer disputes the charge their contractor will “win” the dispute. For your own sake, stay away from them.
I am a writer. I have 2 disabled children that require me to stay at home. Therefore I am only able to work from home. I have obtained all of my jobs from odesk. It is frustrating being a single mom trying to provide when you are lucky to make a dollar an hour. I feel this is due to the platform and not having a set price for things. I work hard to provide my employers with quality ORIGINAL work just to see ad after ad for spinners. This has been the biggest downfall. I feel odesk should have stepped in and we as service providers should organize to improve wages instead of defiling them. It is a mess and I dream for a day when someone is willing to hire quality for a livable price. I will check out your site however I don't have qualifications to look good on paper so due to your strict entry rules most likely I will not be accepted but I dream big so of course I will give it my best shot. :-) it would be worth any effort to be able to give my children what they need. Thank you for this article. I did not realize employers were not happy with the site. Obviously no future in odesk.
A new user here. I have ongoing requirement for some writing corrections/proof reading. How do I go about this?
Mods..what's up with allowing the spam comment to stay? Get rid of it.
I realised taskarmy works almost the same as staff.com; they have human filters who makes sure the job postings are legitimate before they look for someone to fill in the position. Way much better than odesk's platform.
Odesk is an extortionist, as when I came into a problem with my account, they threaten me that my money will be held if I will not give them $100 per contract becoz my clients has much hours and this is very much highly unacceptable; I don't care if they will hold my money as long as I will not fool my client becoz they want me to fool my client by using the entire hours so it will be credited to me and to Odesk.com as odesk fee so I decided not to do it then they closed my account.
This office in odesk based in Redewood city, California must be jailed especially the officers and directors for the fraud they are doing online globally and especially intimidating me and I beleive they also do it to other contractors just becoz of $$$$
Gray Suart Chief and CEO of odesk.com chooses to create a Marketplace team so safeguard odesk community but the reality is the Marketplace WAS FORMA AND CREATE PARTLY TO DISCIPLINE & PARTLY to steal money's people worldwide and this modus operandi will make the contractor feel that she/he is indeed earning but later on, the gal of marketplace is to steal contractors' money online and on the other hand, it will also make clients feels that contractors will work hard but the inside truth is Marketplace is trained to teach contractors be good at first instance and once the clients' heart has won by the contractor, odesk will instruct the contractor to use the hours thus stealing clients time/hours that will be billed on him/her then a partitioned between odesk.com and contractors will transpired. This has not made know to new contractors but to veterans like myself so I decided to quit odesk because I don't like to be like them stealing money from people and clients particularly. This expose is a wake up call that you should get away from odesk.com as Mr. Gary Stuart has series of warrant of arrest in the USA for this online fraud. Beware! or you will be an accessories of this crime:)
I want Everyone to beware about the "Illegal & modus operandi" of Odesk.com globally. Many of my friends are clients and many are contractors and I myself are those like them but this company based in Redwood City, California USA has been abusing the world with their scam and many across the globe were victimized. I don't know why our Law enforcement are not doing any steps to nail this company Odesk.com as these are stealers of money and putting behind contractors to victimized clients who wish to outsourced their jobs and also hiring supposed or fake clients to fool their contractors. Mr. Stuart is the CEO of this Odesk.com and is responsible to all this atrocities he is escalating around the globe. Their Very big crime is Economic Plunder and estafa and I am calling all people from the ends of the earth to "Beware against Odesk.com and don't be a victim.
Odesk is an extortionist, as when I came into a problem with my account, they threaten me that my money will be held if I will not give them $100 per contract becoz my clients has much hours and this is very much highly unacceptable; I don't care if they will hold my money as long as I will not fool my client becoz they want me to fool my client by using the entire hours so it will be credited to me and to Odesk.com as odesk fee so I decided not to do it then they closed my account.
This office in odesk based in Redewood city, California must be jailed especially the officers and directors for the fraud they are doing online globally and especially intimidating me and I beleive they also do it to other contractors just becoz of $$$$
Gray Suart Chief and CEO of odesk.com chooses to create a Marketplace team so safeguard odesk community but the reality is the Marketplace WAS FORMA AND CREATE PARTLY TO DISCIPLINE & PARTLY to steal money's people worldwide and this modus operandi will make the contractor feel that she/he is indeed earning but later on, the gal of marketplace is to steal contractors' money online and on the other hand, it will also make clients feels that contractors will work hard but the inside truth is Marketplace is trained to teach contractors be good at first instance and once the clients' heart has won by the contractor, odesk will instruct the contractor to use the hours thus stealing clients time/hours that will be billed on him/her then a partitioned between odesk.com and contractors will transpired. This has not made know to new contractors but to veterans like myself so I decided to quit odesk because I don't like to be like them stealing money from people and clients particularly. This expose is a wake up call that you should get away from odesk.com as Mr. Gary Stuart has series of warrant of arrest in the USA for this online fraud. Beware! or you will be an accessories of this crime:)
I want Everyone to beware about the "Illegal & modus operandi" of Odesk.com globally. Many of my friends are clients and many are contractors and I myself are those like them but this company based in Redwood City, California USA has been abusing the world with their scam and many across the globe were victimized. I don't know why our Law enforcement are not doing any steps to nail this company Odesk.com as these are stealers of money and putting behind contractors to victimized clients who wish to outsourced their jobs and also hiring supposed or fake clients to fool their contractors. Mr. Stuart is the CEO of this Odesk.com and is responsible to all this atrocities he is escalating around the globe. Their Very big crime is Economic Plunder and estafa and I am calling all people from the ends of the earth to "Beware against Odesk.com and don't be a victim.
BEWARE Of Using ODesk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want to warn you from using ODesk. This is what has happened to me by ODesk. And, it seems to be an ongoing thing in our industry.
In my case I posted a job on ODesk and hired a website designer in India. One thing about thos job posting that I felt was strange was that I got a lot of replys but, none from the Philippines or the United States or even South America. No, they were all from India, Pakistan, or other countries within that area. Anyhow, this man did a really bad job and I never did get a finished product from him. But, while he was doing no work he kept charging me for hours that I knew he was not working on the job. I called ODesk and they refused to assist me in any way.
I finally got one of the bosses in this man's company in India and he agreed to what I was saying and we split the cost. But, ODesk refuses to accept this agreement by the company. They say that I still owe this money and they have suspended me.
I have on many occassions asked where they are located and they refuse to answer me (I suspect they are in India.) I have also stated that I intend to sue them and asked for the name and contact information for their attorney and they refuse to give me that information also.
They have told me that they will continue charging the credit card on file and that I have no rights to stop them from doing this. Remember that this job is closed, I am suspended and the company in India that this man works for cancelled any further payment claims. They have settled this case and consider it paid in full. However, ODesk says that the India company has no right to make any agreements. I have told ODesk to "Cease and Desist" on charging this credit card and they have basically told me that they can charge as much as they want onto the card and that I have no rights to stop them.
I want the Warriors Forum to issue a warning about this company and I will supply them with any information that they need.
I have also created a profile on oDesk and not happy with the way oDesk works. I agree with most of the problem pointed out on this forum about odesk.
As a veteran contractor and Employer of Odesk who brought in $25,000.00 USD in only a span of nearing one year (11 Months) I would say that I am the best person who can truly testify what is really in the inside or everything how odesk operates their so called good policy;
As a contractor, I am clever how to arrange something with clients that's why I always got big projects and mind you, many of those clients I had are still my clients until today but one thing I truly hate about Odesk policy is that they always asserts that it will be the clients' responsibilities over their contractors when it comes to work and that sounds very true, "Bravo"! but if your client gets robbed, will you still apply this principle? well, sad to say, Odesk does and that is very absurd knowing the nature of the offense like looting hours from clients must be protected at all cost in any ethical business organization;
On the other hand, there are many clients who are abusing the contractors by paying only 0.50 cents/ hour thus taking advantage because these contractors are citizens of one of world's poorest nation's like India, Africa, Bangladesh etc. If you go to Elance.com, you will find out that their minimum rate is $3/hour but odesk has a policy to make people slaves;
I never give cents to my contractors and everytime I saw many who are being paid with cents really breaks my heart because I know where I came from and that was when I started as a contractor but I feel blessed because started at rate of $7/hour.
I finally Conclude that Odesk is the very one who is responsible to all these people getting victimized both Contractors and Clients. If odesk only knows how to use humanistic reasons in forming their policy, there could be peace and much honesty in the marketplace. Odesk is the head and the tail of all of these problems because they probably only thinks of the money and these things does not make them less than the looters and abusers.
Fritzgerald, F.
http://www.avicsmarketing.com/111508801
It is a scam. Find review here from a real client http://word.tekapo.co/?page_id=28
Odesk is NOT a scam. As usual, the people who weren't careful and got ripped off are the ones posting, the rest of us are working. I pay my rent every month on Odesk jobs. I have also hired workers to do art and other things for me. There are a lot of scammers on Odesk looking to run away with the upfront payment, but if you hire someone with zero feedback, you have to know you're taking that risk. If you set up jobs for those with 50+ Odesk hours or 5 star feedback only, you can filter out all the shady characters. Like anything online, you have to be careful, make people prove what they can do and don't give too much upfront money to someone you don't know. The same goes for the contractor side, if people want to hear a small sample before giving me the job, I watermark it so its unusable for them besides listening to the sample. I don't give anything usable away for free. No one can run off with your work this way.
oDesk is DISGUSTING. Whether you seek an 'experienced' oDesker or not (50+, 5-star) you are still open to being ripped off. If you are a clien t who posted the job you are in trouble from the start because oDesk would rather protect the contractor as that is who they earn from.
I was fleeced by $14,000 by a thief -a Russian developer based in Cyprus. I have NO deliverables and NO source code. oDesk didn't give a damn and basically said its my fault. The guy WAS a seasoned developer but due to his arrogance, assumed he knew what he was doing thus didn't read the requirements and effectively painted himself into a corner that he couldn't get out of without starting from scratch.
I will NEVER use oDesk again or recommend its usage. Feel free to inbox me [email protected] if you want the developer's name.
Seething.
I wanted to add that I also got a horrible experience on oDesk. In particular I want to mention a developer and a firm. The developers name is DianWei Kim on oDesk but his real name is DianWei Ri. The agency is YongHeng. For some reason he asked me to hire his friend Han YongFeng instead as they worked for the same agency but he would be doing the work. They charged me for work but did not complete it and they refuse to send me the files. I paid over $4,400 to them and they will not release the files to me. Have complained to oDesk and they are looking into it.
Worst of all? He had the balls to ask me to please give him a 5 star review. I asked him for a refund and he refused. His excuse was that he needs the review to find another job. I wrote this in his review but I know they can modify or not post the review. So from a client perspective, no one would know that they did a bad job!
So do not go near them! I have uploaded put their links on oDesk here!
YongHeng - https://www.odesk.com/companies/YongHeng_~01600dd088972c890f
DianWei - https://www.odesk.com/users/~01888a97412d8dfc70
Han YongFeng - https://www.odesk.com/users/~01eab7d5285606829f
and their associates
Li Robin - https://www.odesk.com/users/~0139bc158f69306a97
Tianguo Liu - https://www.odesk.com/users/~018e1a4ebc2f440ddb
Ye Guang - https://www.odesk.com/users/~017363c4e018db681b
Arnold S. - https://www.odesk.com/users/~011299d6e34124f959
Hwang Jin - https://www.odesk.com/users/~0179c467dbdbe11cd1
Li Dianwei - https://www.odesk.com/users/~0173771c30b8ac0c15
Sue Zhe - https://www.odesk.com/users/~01e2e639cad26ecc11
Yuan Luo - https://www.odesk.com/users/~01dcf6a21521bb36b0
all the pictures are fake, because I have seen different ones being posted up. YongHeng is a fraud, do not go near them!
We used dozens of contractors on ODesk over a period of several months. The vast majority were scammers. We wasted several thousand dollars before we woke up to the fact that contractors add large number of hours to your account whilst doing absolutely nothing. I would encourage anyone who is reading this to only work on a fixed price contract basis with any freelancer. We also fell victim to several contractors who blatantly lied about their skill level and the work that they did. Our site was hacked by one contractor claiming to be an SEO expert and we lost all our traffic and rankings. It has not only cost us time, but an enormous amount of money trying to recover. As many other contributors have learnt, ODesk has no interest in assisting when you have been scammed. Why would they? They make 10% on all the money you spend. Please do not let anyone you know use ODesk. It was a very costly exercise for us and it has left a very bitter taste. If you think about it, why would an 'expert' be charging $10 per hour or less anyway? There are no short cuts to success!
While I have to agree that oDesk is merely a vehicle to match employers with freelance workers, it is inherently a fraud. Nearly all of the clients are looking for cheap or free labor.
Of course, if you live in a third world country you can work for $.50 or $1.00 an hour. If, however, you reside in the USA; have advanced degrees; and are looking for opportunities due to the recent economic downturn you can forget it.
One job posting actually requested three PowerPoint presentations for a fixed price of $20.00!
Job postings for article writers are another joke:
Willing to pay $1.00 for 500 words, but you must submit three articles as a "test" of your skills.
There are only 3 reasons clients post job opportunities:
1. To get people to visit their website (since there is always a link in the job posting) and thereby generate business. (Black Hat SEO)
2. To get some schmuck to work for free on a "trial" basis with the promise of paid work only to find that there is no more work.
3. To hire freelancers under a bogus "admin assistant" title when the job is really a telephone sales position.
Also, more than two thirds of the job postings are "fixed price". This means that after possibly getting 10% of the agreed price up front with a promise of the balance upon acceptance of the finished product, the client does not pay.
oDesk does not guarantee payment on "fixed-price" work, only for hourly work. Most of the hourly work ranges from $1.00-$6.00 an hour.
Beware: If you plan to join oDesk, do not expect to get responses in a timely manner. Most clients do not even respond to your proposals. Almost half never even hire anyone for the job - a sign that it was not really a job, but a marketing tool to drive potential customers to a website. Stay away from fixed price opportunities unless you can get 50% up front. Never work for free! If a client is not willing to pay you for your time, they are not worth your time and effort.
Good Luck!
Do not join Imagine consultation team at oDESK!!!!
I am writing about the inconvenience I had with Imagine Consultation.
When I joined oDesk, more than a year ago, I immediately got a invintation from the owner of Imagine Consultation agency Alethea Smylie. She offered me to join her team on oDesk.
She promised me that she will find the best jobs from oDesk, and I need her in return to pay a percentage of each of the work I done. Since I was new and inexperienced at oDesk, I accepted her proposal.
But nobody told me that I had to pay her a percentage for jobs that I've found without her help and recommendations.
Also, if you agree to get into it, you lose control and privacy of your profile, all private messages that you send and negotiations about any jobs Aletha can see.
Also, many employers are looking for independent contractors and if you are in a team (Imagine Consultation or other) you will not be able to apply for a job.
These are very important things that nobody told me before I get into Imagine C.
I really got a list of suggested jobs from time to time, but no one was in my skills.
After more than a year, I have not concluded any jobs by Imagine Consultation and I asked the Administrator Alethea Smylie, to exclude me from the team.
At first I did not get a response, but after a few times I got it.
This is a conversation I've had with the administrator Aletha:
Hi,
I would like to leave Imagine consultation because I have not concluded any job by you.
Is that okay?
Ivan
Alethea Smylie
Feb 18
Ivan,
You are in the middle of the interview process so you cannot leave at this time. After you have finished the jobs, if you still want to then you can leave at that time.
~Alethea
Me
Feb 18
I sent you a request even before four days.
I have no interview invitations, on what exactly you mean?
Alethea Smylie
Feb 20
You are currently interviewing for this job: https://www.odesk.com/applications/233434037
Me
Feb 20
Yes, I did test for this client but after that, he did not report me, so I guess that the test was not successful.
Also, I started negotiations with this client a day after I sent you the request to leave, but you did not reply me immediately, than only after my second request and four days later. That way you can take your time endlessly.
Please accept my request immediately, otherwise I will be forced to take other methods.
Expecting a quick response!
Alethea Smylie
10:03 pm
Trying to threaten me to responding to you quicker was ridiculous.
Anyways, for me to be able to remove you from the agency you have to close all contracts and any open job applications/archived applications per oDesk's rules.
Also, discontinue using the improved cover letter & profile overview (remove any language you received from the handbooks). Send me your new cover letter (copy & paste it in the body of your message) without our language and tell me when you have update your profile overview that does not have out language and I will remove you from the agency.
~Alethea
After that I asked for help from Odesk administrators and only a month later I was allowed to leave Imagine Consultation. But after that has continued harassment by Alethea Smylie....
I advise everyone to think carefully before agreeing to enter a team, especially Imagine Consultation.