T B.

Though many reviews posted here already paint a clear picture of the poor management of this site, I wanted to provide my own recent experience with them.

Having a very specific focus and skill set within a small, well connected industry, I came to learn that someone I knew through my professional network had had begun a project and was in search of contractors. I searched through numerous other websites until I discovered that they had posted about the project here.

I was ultimately selected as the contractor for the project as I have extensive experience and insight into the industry. Though we had no contact with each other during the course of the bidding process, I was required to perform extensive "identity verification" which was anything but. Despite their own TOS and UA forms stating otherwise, I was told that anyone with a pre-existing connection cannot perform business on their platform--though I have not had any contact with the buyer in years (having met more than a decade ago). I have since contacted the buyer directly, and we will no longer be using Freelancer for the entirety of the project.

Why would someone want to use a site where the only potential contractor is someone who is not of the same industry and does not have the necessary knowledge?