Odesk has been a nightmare, what's a good alternative?

[Josh Lim]

Hope to get some advice and recommendation on which Freelancing sites (odesk, freelancer, guru etc) provides the best protection for Buyers/Employer.

I've had horrible experience in the past with Odesk (http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/show...ing-ripped-off) where I got ripped off by a contractor and only to found out that Odesk does not care about work quality, as long hours are logged properly (screenshots), it does not matter whether what they(contractor) did is functional or not. My website is in a mess, I was forced to make full payment (Odesk doesn't give you control of your own money, crazy right?), it's been a nightmare.

I found Realtyna (realtyna.com) on Elance.com which I might hire for a real estate portal project, how does Elance handles disputes in such case? I know they charge an insane amount of fee for arbitration (For jobs valued under $1000.00 the cost to file is $399.00 to be reviewed by a single arbitrator. For jobs valued $1000.00 and over the cost to file is $750.00 to be reviewed by a panel of arbitrators.)

I've had an agreement with the contractor on the Odesk case in our discussion where in the event that they could not deliver the website as per specification, they will refund the money, the contractor also written back and agreed with the terms. When things gone bad, Odesk told me that the "agreement" I had with the contractor can't be enforced and the contractor won't be held accountable for what they've agreed and promised.

[keeping]

An alternative is to pay your odesk contractor by the hour and do a daily check of what they do. And don't forget to set weekly limits.

[Josh Lim]

An alternative is to pay your odesk contractor by the hour and do a daily check of what they do. And don't forget to set weekly limits.

I was using hourly contract, that was the problem. As long contractor log their hours accordingly (doesn't matter whether their work functions or not), they will be paid. Also you have no control over your own money either, my project was supposed to be completed in 7 days, the contractor charged me the full sum within the first 4 days without producing any result. When I file the dispute, Odesk says screenshots checks out so the Contractor got paid. When I ask about quality, Odesk told me if quality matters to me I should have chosen a Fixed job contract so I can pay when I see results. What a joke..

Any recommendation on which freelancing site that protects Employer?

[jcoutu]

On smaller projects and projects where you are not familiar with the contractor, I would recommend only using fixed price projects. The freelance jobsites are all setup so that the contractor doesn't get paid on these types of jobs before the you accept the work.

If you are looking for alternatives to oDesk, there are elance and freelancer.com.

[crazzilla]

I can't help but wonder if you checked out the individuals ratings before you assigned them to your project. When looking at those ratings, also keep in mind that if they have only had 10 jobs, their rating isn't really that reliable, even if the rating is high. Always, find someone with a high rating, as well as high numbers in completed projects. If you don't, you are putting yourself in pretty serious risk. By the sounds of how Odesk handled matters though, it seems negligent to say the least.

I was using hourly contract, that was the problem. As long contractor log their hours accordingly (doesn't matter whether their work functions or not), they will be paid. Also you have no control over your own money either, my project was supposed to be completed in 7 days, the contractor charged me the full sum within the first 4 days without producing any result. When I file the dispute, Odesk says screenshots checks out so the Contractor got paid. When I ask about quality, Odesk told me if quality matters to me I should have chosen a Fixed job contract so I can pay when I see results. What a joke..

Any recommendation on which freelancing site that protects Employer?

[VivekThakur]

Yes you are right Odesk does not care about work quality, you have to take care of your work personally Odesk does contractor work.
But nobody forced you to make full payment if you are not satisfied with work.

Alternate to oDesk is elance and freelancer.com, vworker.

[johnlarase]

Hi,
Newbie here. I've been to Odesk and I don't like their system (sorry). What I could share is this site Staff.com, although it's still growing and it's not that popular like Freelancer or Odesk but their service is superb. Odesk has its own time tracking system and they (Staff) too has a unique time tracker that takes screenshots and tracks your time even if you're on break.

[jbjavol]

For contract work, I think the only one I would recommend other than oDesk is Elance.

But then, I am not quite sure if they do this:

Any recommendation on which freelancing site that protects Employer?

If that is your concern, maybe you should check out Staff.com (the one mentioned in the above comment). They are for full time remote work though. Not sure if that is what you are after. But, since they have dedicated people who would assist you with connecting to an employee, I think that is enough protection.