Marijan K.

Extremely bad experience with this site.
I got offered a translation project through their site but it turned out it was a completely fake. Freelancer.com took NO PRECAUTIONS to check the validity of the project or the user who posted it. However, they had no problem charging me with 15$ just for clicking accept in order to view project details. When I submitted an issue ticket with them, they COMPLETELY IGNORED IT - I received an automated response acknowledging the receiving of the ticket, then they LIMITED MY ACCOUNT so that I could no longer work on any project (WHY THE HELL DO YOU LIMIT MY ACCOUNT IF I SUBMIT A TICKET WITH YOU?!?). I never received a response about my ticket and I found that they just closed it some two weeks later without informing me - I found out because they had audacity to send me another automated email asking me to participate in the survey about their handling of the ticket. YOU DID NOT HANDLE MY TICKET, you ignore it. Please, put that option into your survey and I will maybe participate in it.
Anyway, they completely wash their hands from everything because in their terms it says 'they only help freelancers to meet with employers and for that they take the commission'. Well, guess what, this goes both ways. If you are allowed to take my money for 'helping me to meet an employer' (in reality, tricking me into clicking Accept button on your site in order to view the project details), then YOU ARE ALSO UNDER OBLIGATION, according to your EXACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS, to provide EXACTLY what you PROMISE: putting me in contact with an EMPLOYER, not some random, unchecked user.
Any honest company would simply RETURN the money (what would eBay do if I advertised selling a car and then just emailed buyers with a. Jpg image of a Toyota?). This goes double in the case where NO ACTUAL MONEY HAS EVER LEFT THEIR HANDS. What I mean is, there was no money sent to third parties. It was freelancer.com that took money from me (and supposedly also from the fake employer) and said money is still with them. There were no services or costs where that money was spent and is now difficult to return. They could easily say 'sorry for not checking the employers background but since no money ever left our hands and no service was rendered to you (except clicking on a button), we now reimburse you'. But things do not work that way with freelancer.com. Please note that the only ones profiting from this system is freelancer.com - initially I thought I was scammed by some other user, but if things are as freelancer.com claims they are, then said employer was also charged with a commission and the only one benefiting is freelancer.com.
Another issue, as soon as I submitted a PayPal dispute hoping to block them from taking my money, freelancer.com froze my account saying that now, suddenly, they need to confirm my identity. How will they do that - by me canceling a dispute with Paypal. WARNING: DO NOT CANCEL THE PAYPAL DISPUTE, EVER! As freelance.com knows really well, once you cancel a dispute, you acknowledge that the other party is right and you CANNOT AGAIN raise any dispute about the same transaction (PayPal rules). Just another example of how freelancer.com tries to trick the users into renouncing their rights. (Also, please note that once your money has been taken - it happens automatically if you were foolish enough to 'verify your payment method' with freelancer.com as it essentially gives them full access to your paypal account and any connected credit cards - PayPal will not be able to help you as their money back guarantee does not cover virtual goods and services. I submitted my claims but freelancer.com completely ignored them, not even once did they respond to Paypal or to me regarding the case, knowing that they are safe and sound and that they have no intention of giving back my money.)

In conclusion, AVOID freelancer.com like a plague. Even if you had positive experiences till now, the very fact they treat users like scum and ignore all complaints should be warning enough.