• oDesk

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Overview

oDesk has a rating of 1.8 stars from 140 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about oDesk most frequently mention customer service problems. oDesk ranks 109th among Freelancing sites.

  • Service
    40
  • Value
    38
  • Shipping
    23
  • Returns
    30
  • Quality
    36
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
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Negative
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What reviewers want you to know

Positive highlights

No positive highlights yet

Critical highlights

  • Although their Customer Service is available 24/7, their "Investigation process/procedures" are very poor.
How would you rate oDesk?
Top Positive Review

“ODesk is Perfect Freelancing Site!”

Himasha P.
3/11/15

I've been working at oDesk.com since 2 years. Now I have become one of the top rated freelancers at odesk. Thank you so much oDesk staff and all responsible authors. Such an amazing and quality assurance e-money site for all who are looking for hiring freelancers and to be hired for online jobs. I recommend oDesk mostly! Also I very much appreciate the support (Help Desk) they are providing. They are responding our questions and problems with our account as soon as they can, and I had couple of problem occasionally, they were given accurate and 100% successful answers in a loyal manner. I appreciate that very much. Also, the development of oDesk timeline and other tabs, they are very useful to analyze my account, so that I can improve my work quality and have a confidence on my work quality as well as my abilities at oDesk freelancing. I'm very impressed on the service of oDesk.com. I recommend all the people to join with oDesk. This is the best freelancing service I ever worked with! Thank you!

Top Critical Review

“Stay away from here”

murdock j.
7/18/23

Well if u want to be baited and switched by india, recieve non complete garbage codebase that you have to hire an american to rebuild from scratch i guess its notso bad. Its more efficent to burn your $$ though.

Reviews (140)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (15)
Thumbnail of user jasonc249
3 reviews
6 helpful votes
July 18th, 2023

Well if u want to be baited and switched by india, recieve non complete garbage codebase that you have to hire an american to rebuild from scratch i guess its notso bad. Its more efficent to burn your $$ though.

Products used:
web development

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Value
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Thumbnail of user imadz2
1 review
3 helpful votes
December 11th, 2019

Odeskwork.com website is a scam, i'm a freelancer i worked there for over a month and they didn't pay me my earnings even thou i applied to withdraw them, and send them multiple emails to verify whats the issue, they never reply to me, and then they closed my account, stealing over 800$ from my earnings.
I managed to get back some via a paypal dispute, but still they took the majority.
I have no faith on website located in india, they are scams.
AN ADVICE to ALL FREELANCERS and EMPLOYERS don't use the website.
IT'S A SCAM... BE AWARE.

Thumbnail of user himashap
1 review
5 helpful votes
March 11th, 2015

I've been working at oDesk.com since 2 years. Now I have become one of the top rated freelancers at odesk.
Thank you so much oDesk staff and all responsible authors. Such an amazing and quality assurance e-money site for all who are looking for hiring freelancers and to be hired for online jobs.
I recommend oDesk mostly!
Also I very much appreciate the support (Help Desk) they are providing. They are responding our questions and problems with our account as soon as they can, and I had couple of problem occasionally, they were given accurate and 100% successful answers in a loyal manner. I appreciate that very much.
Also, the development of oDesk timeline and other tabs, they are very useful to analyze my account, so that I can improve my work quality and have a confidence on my work quality as well as my abilities at oDesk freelancing.
I'm very impressed on the service of oDesk.com.

I recommend all the people to join with oDesk. This is the best freelancing service I ever worked with!

Thank you!

Tip for consumers:
www.odesk.com

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Thumbnail of user luosp
3 reviews
9 helpful votes
November 11th, 2020

You will pay for and Indian job, and half of the time they will not do the job and run with the Money. If you open a case with PayPal PayPal will not refund you
Don't used o desk is not a good place to work

Thumbnail of user greymonb
1 review
18 helpful votes
December 13th, 2014

I am still trying to look for project on oDesk but I would say it's sad when you see the demoralizing offers coming from oDesk employers. Being new to oDesk doesn't mean a freelancer is new to "working for someone or for an entity" at all. Why would you offer people from the Philippines 10 cents per hour? Some even entice us to give up 5 stars after getting the job done if we accept such rate. ODesk should block abusive employers who post job vacancies with rates offered way below decency.

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Thumbnail of user alejandron2
1 review
11 helpful votes
February 25th, 2015

There might not be their fault but when you finally got in you think: Ok after all this trouble its gonna worth and I'm gonna be in touch with great clients. No way, the design jobs suck and are so underpaid. I live in Colombia and our coin is so weak compared to US dollar but I still get better paid for my work than the shamefully low amount that those cheap dudes are willing to pay. And most of the jobs are not attractive at all, they look like pulled out of Clients from Hell.

Thumbnail of user bryanb36
5 reviews
41 helpful votes
February 13th, 2014

This freelance site is far better than most and had a few good jobs with no problems. I would never consider working by the hour since that is the typical slavery system that I left many years ago to become independent contractor. Besides, if they want to implement an hourly system, they should include a minimum hourly rate to get rid of the pathetic employers who post jobs at 1.00/hour. I even seen one job posting for. 20 cents an hour!

Thumbnail of user preetip2
1 review
1 helpful vote
June 22nd, 2016

Upwork really sucks. It only promises to solve our problems but it never does. Im highly disappointed with the service of Upwork. There are not one or two problems that we can count on. I dont know why the hell they created Upwork. Its just a website full of useless things. Upwork charges 20% and the employers here look for $1/hr freelancers so working on upwork is like counting pennies. Even the tech staff is not skilled enough and they cannot resolve issues related to tracker.

Thumbnail of user georgiosm4
4 reviews
24 helpful votes
August 1st, 2018

Buyers have not any protection of refund if they don't like/can't use the work delivered. The freelancer has been paid and prepaid for the work no matter what they deliver. I am the perfect example, I paid A half salary in USD, I can't use anything.

Thumbnail of user ericj35
1 review
14 helpful votes
March 26th, 2015

The Risk Management Team locked the accounts of both my developer and I without explanation. Customer Service continually promised I'd hear back in 24-48 hours. The only response I ever got from Risk Management was an email this morning -- 8 days later -- saying that they couldn't respond to my queries until my other complaints had been addressed. As I only have one complaint, their response doesn't make any sense.

Tip for consumers:
If you want responsive customer support, this is not the business your looking for.

Service
Quality
Thumbnail of user miguelr8
2 reviews
4 helpful votes
March 16th, 2015

Odesk - the freelancer marketplace - can be hit and miss. The better freelancers might prove to be quite expensive, while the cheaper sometimes would do their job and sometimes wouldn't.

One freelancer completely ignored my job requirements, fortunately Odesk customer service refunded the funds.

Overall, it's a great marketplace but be wary of the cheaper freelancers.

Service
Value
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Quality
Thumbnail of user jenh13
1 review
17 helpful votes
April 10th, 2015

I've never seen a bigger display of mismanagement from any company in the history of businesses. This is not an exaggeration folks, it really is that bad. They only care about clients, making short-term profits and refuse to listen to feedback whatsoever.

Tip for consumers:
Stay far, far away.

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Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user benedickv
1 review
12 helpful votes
August 5th, 2015

I've been freelancing in Odesk for 4 years now, it's an hit and miss actually... The right client is out there just be patient in finding them, I've been earning 6 times now compare to my old salary, just be honest to your client, and be punctual in everything you do. You will get your reward, I am sure with that.

Thumbnail of user ashm4
1 review
13 helpful votes
February 20th, 2015

They accepted a job, I interviewed the guy over Skype. After 10 days, 4 days before deadline, nobody responds :)) ) They hold onto my money for two weeks and simply refunded. I contacted the customer service the guy said do not trust freelancers, it is not oDesk responsibility! Bunch of losers, I wish I could take them to the court.

Tip for consumers:
DO NOT TRUST! THEY WASTED MY TIME AND MONEY! NOW I HAVE NO DESIGN READY. EVERYTHING IS FAKE IN THEIR WEBSITE. Do NOT PUT YOUR DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD DETAILS IN YOUR PROFILE AS THEY ASK!.

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Thumbnail of user christopherw34
1 review
35 helpful votes
April 29th, 2015

I signed up for oDesk. I applied to three jobs. I got one of the three. I did it and the other person paid me through oDesk. The oDesk administration immediately suspended my account and the other person's account. Once suspended, I cannot receive my payment and he cannot get it returned. So, oDesk just kept the entire payment for themselves and told both of us the same thing: Your account has been suspended for irregularities. I have searched the web for complaints and I've found this same thing happens regularly. When oDesk gets the money, they suspend the accounts and keep the money. How is this not criminal?

Thumbnail of user mikec137
1 review
6 helpful votes
November 19th, 2014

Terrible site to work with. We have tried a lot of contracts with Odesk and it always goes poorly. You either get incompetent people who overstate their qualifications or people who don't finish things on time.
Also, Odesk seems determined to make as much money as they can by continually increasing the minimum wage to increase their revenue. They are not responsive and we have disliked working with them immensely.

Tip for consumers:
Just don't use them. We feel they are over priced and charge too much. The resources are not that good either. Very poor quality. Translations are the worst. Don't use the translators, they have never done a good job.

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Thumbnail of user yasirm
1 review
15 helpful votes
March 30th, 2015

I worked on Odesk from March 2014 to March 2015. In 3rd week of March, they suspended my profile without any notice.
It took one week to get a response from them. They started asking about people who I dont even know. After that again I had to wait for 1 week to get to know they are closing my account. Reason (no reason).

I am ready to provide screen shots of conversation to show expose their $#*!.

I have earned 14,000 dollars in a year on odesk. 93% success rate. 15 Successful Projects and I brought 5 people to work on Odesk, 3 employers to hire people from Odesk. The reward got is suspension without reason and then closing of my account.
Odesk Management is bunch of $#*! WHOLES.

Tip for consumers:
Use it but dont trust them. Keep withdrawing your money.

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Thumbnail of user adrianab4
1 review
3 helpful votes
February 23rd, 2015

Hello!
If you use a laptop (like 99% of the freelancers do) and you don't want headaches I would recommend you stay away from the Odesk time tracking app.
It crashes A LOT and it will make you pull your hair out and work for free for your customers. It crashes and does not notify you, so you keep working and 3 hours later when you check - 0 time logged!
3 weeks later - still working with their support to find a solution - on my time! And money!
:( very disappointing

Adriana

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Value
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Thumbnail of user yuppic
1 review
13 helpful votes
July 1st, 2014

This website is a big scam. Odesk does nothing about it. I got a complaint opened with them and the Better Business Bureau. I won't let it go until I get a refund of my $26.17. Someone scammed me and sent me stolen software from another website and closed the job. How can they close the job marking it complete? I'm the employer! I say when it's complete! I want them to review/change their policy and refund my money.

Thumbnail of user samb89
1 review
4 helpful votes
January 3rd, 2014

ODesk did absolutely nothing to earn it's cut.
ODesk had no monitoring system in place or any method to keep a contractor on their deadlines.
The only thing this site did was find me a poor contractor (who never finished to job) They do provide a very nice UI for me to pay them their money.
Never using this service again in my life! It's a shame too as I have many projects requiring contractors, just not a good service to use.

Thumbnail of user ivani6
1 review
21 helpful votes
August 16th, 2014

Horrible.

Almost every freelancer on the site has rating above 4, so the system is suggesting that it's full of professionals while in fact - it's a bunch of third-world country students strangling everyone in their way just to make an extra buck, disregarding quality of work and communication.

Basically this is what happens:

For example, you post a job in here you will immediately get 30 "professional" Indian/Bangladeshian freelancers offering their services of something that doesn't have anything to do with your job posting at all.

Or if you're a freelancer, you get a bottom-feeding client who will expect you to work for 3$/hr with you being available 24/7.

I can't describe how many absurd people I've found here, sending their personal/family photos, demanding for upfront payments while they have no portfolio or proof they've done any work before whatsoever. Half of them BEGGED for "work" and when you give them something, they either do horrible work or just try to scam you.
I even got my server hijacked by a freelancer from oDesk.

Freelancers, stick to "over 20,000$ spent" clients mostly Australia/UK/US. Most of them are companies looking for outsourced work. And stay professional.

Clients, get off this site. You are most likely getting mugged.

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Thumbnail of user urbsh
1 review
11 helpful votes
February 8th, 2015

ODESK is terrible! Absolutely terrible! My complaint..."I applied for 8 jobs yesterday I wrote cover letters to all of them. You have decided to suspended my account. So the jobs i applied for are not being seen. Is this fair to you? I have resolved the problem you said i was suspended for yesterday, yet my account is still suspended! I want to make an official complaint about your site! As it is wasting my time and money! I find this absolutely disgusting behavior!"

Thumbnail of user dimitart2
1 review
16 helpful votes
April 11th, 2015

Yesterday I receive a email that oDesk close my account. I ask several time why and nobody give me a valid reason. They just tell me "it is final decision". And now ban my account in the community forum to not ask WHY. I have 7 feedbacks with max stars. 100% completion rate and still my account is closed and banned from the forum?

Thumbnail of user johna333
1 review
6 helpful votes
October 30th, 2014

ODesk assisted a non-performing programmer to defraud at least $1000 from me after doing no work and lying about delivery. They recovered a small portion but let him keep the rest while they kept me dangling with review process and no means of notice. Caveat emptor! I will be very careful if I ever use odesk again and probably avoid it. -Professor John Amaral

Tip for consumers:
don't allow automated payments to be made; this company's policies can lead to fraud.

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Thumbnail of user lesab2
1 review
19 helpful votes
October 1st, 2014

I had been signed up with ODesk for 2 weeks when I was scammed out of $3,100. I had applied for a database entry job and an assistant job. Both job postings were a scam. I am a single mother trying to get extra income and I am left with a huge debt due to my interacion on O"desk. I have filed a complained with O"desk 3 weeks ago and nobody has contacted me. This was the first time looking for work on the internet and it will be my last time. DO NOT TRUST THE "COMPANIES" on this site!

Tip for consumers:
Be aware of scams when applying for a job. Do not except payment for a job in the form of a cashiers check. I was nieve going into signing up with ODesk and I regret it now.

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