A scam artist devised as a service provider (Web programmer - Amju Verma - ThreeGInfo - [email protected] ) convinced me to change from ELance.com to ODesk - the reasoning for this is that with ODESK they charge your credit card and pay the scammer automatically without your consent, approval nor knowledge.

When you sign up with ODESK they require credit card information and when yor attempt to hire someone that person is then in charge of your money - they have the ability to put through charges and even when you complain to ODESK they ignore the issue and allow them to continue to process charges.

ODesk then closes out your complaint and will not allow you to contact ODESK nor the scammer any longer and you cannot rate the scammer.

It has taken me months to try to get my monies refunded and CHASE Credit cards have continually refused to refund my monies for services that I did not even get.

Odesk is set up to rip people off - they have no concern for the people hiring the talent and they have even less concerned with having a website that is condusive to resolving disputes and identifying scammers.

Are they working for these scammers - It really appears that they are - why would they close the dispute and refuse to allow any additional information? WHy would they allow scammers to charge without the customer approving it?

I would strongly suggest that everyone look elsewhere for contractual hiring of services.

Paid $6000 in advanced for a rebuilt mercedes engine after long delay and after threats of cancellation the engine arrived. But the workmanship is so shoddy, using worn out gear parts and used chain, my mechanic refused to install it and insisted that it be returned. I was told that all moving parts will be replaced with new parts. Yes, upon inspection it really is bad. But they won't take it back. They are scammers and this is a dishonest business.

I hired thru Odesk a provider with raving reviews and lots of work hours. He wanted payment by PayPal and I paid him and he wanted more later but provided no proof of work. Then he simply disappeared. Odesk won't do a thing and won't even take him off the provider's list. Then told me if I paid outside the Odesk system, it won't protect me. So we resubmit for another bid and we hired another one and made payments thru Odesk. Supposedly only and 3 month job but it got dragged out to more than a year. Each time they wanted a bit more time and payment. Since we tried to be patient and so much time and effort were invested, we went along. Every time the demo would meet problem and told that the problem will be fixed the next time... and finally, they disappeared. All communication stopped and getting dead silence from them after two weeks. As of now, we got nothing, not even a single code. Told Odesk about it and asked it to reverse my credit card charges. Odesk refused and said it's not their problem. They won't even consider this matter a matter of fraud or even want to investigate. They said they can't do a thing. It's my problem and not theirs. I had to pay them 10% of the amount of contract and they provide no guarantee nor would they investigate and address the issue or resolve the dispute. Fraud is fraud, scam is scam, and there is no resolution to it. It is simply criminal and Odesk doesn't see it that way.

The worst part is Odesk's attitude. They won't even consider that fraud exists or they should investigate and address this issue. They take your money and the fee you paid and leave you all alone.

Odesk system and platform doesn't work and it's business model or practice is unprofessional.

Whether you paid outside Odesk or thru Odesk, beware, you are on your own and Odesk will do nothing for you when there is a scam or fraud.

I wanted to share with you my unfortunate experience on oDesk with this person Nikola Manheim aka Nicola Manheim aka Arcoxia. Pretends to be Swedish ...

I have applied for an article writing job. I was contacted by this person and proposed to work outside oDesk. I accepted and for 2 weeks I have been working very hard. The deal is to be paid via pay-pall every other Wednesday ... I wrote 26200 words for this thief. I haven't been paid yet!

So, stay away from job adv like the following:

https://www.odesk.com/jobs/~~0688231fc4fb258d
https://www.odesk.com/jobs/Rewrite-Travel-Writing-with-Simple-SEO-Articles_~~a64ddd85e489b304?sid=12001

https://www.odesk.com/applications/209327489

https://www.odesk.com/applications/209327651

This person has to be excluded from oDesk!!!