Michelle W.

I signed up for Freelancer.com because my client had put down payment on his project there. I met him through a contact completely separate from freelancer.com btw. I purely signed up to accept payment.

1) Client couldn't get his money back for 14 days.
2) I signed up, added bank account info, etc., and then invoiced him/accepted his project, etc. - fees of 10% just to accept payment. No. No other place charges that nonsense.
3) You charged HIM a fee to PAY me after he'd already given you money.
4) You have a policy that delays access to funds for 15 days to new accounts. Also no. I understand being cautious but not after verifying my identity including my bank account. People cannot have delays in access to income given the state of the world. Reevaluate this policy.
5) The ONLY way to get paid was to refund the money back to him (which I can't do btw, you have to do it, there's no option for me to refund to clients myself).
6) He asked you for a refund that will take, you guessed it, 14 days, which is as long as the delay.

I will never, ever, ever use or recommend Freelancer.com to anyone. I've already started cautioning everyone I know that accepts money and does any type of development work to stay way the hell away from your service. Including details of the above re: fees, etc.

There are far better ways. UpWork is better than this even. I understand you provide a service to people and you charge for that service. But nickel and diming people fees is not the way.

Improve your service. Make it friendly to freelancers. When they sign up for your service and go through the process of verifying who they are including bank info, don't hold their money hostage. Don't charge exorbitant fees to those just trying to do their work and get paid a fair rate.