Your Most Unforgettable Experience as a Freelancer

AmieBotella Level 1

January 11, 2018, 8:07 am

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Your Most Unforgettable Experience as a Freelancer

With your work as a freelancer for years or so, I have to wonder what is your most unforgettable experience as one? I have a few shares of horror stories and also unbelievably nice people. How about you? What are your most unforgettable experience as a freelancer?

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TommyCarey

TommyCarey

Last year I was working with a local company and they were happy with what I was doing... at first.

After about 3 months, they weren't super excited with their rankings, even though a lot of their keywords were ranked #1 and sending them a decent amount of traffic and sales. They stopped talking to me and filed 3 charge backs claiming they didn't authorize the charges, the charges that were paying me for the last 3 months of work we did.

It was extremely unexpected, because they guy seemed happy until the very last email he sent claiming that he wasn't happy with the work. He didn't understand anything about SEO and how his rankings would go up and down, so he thought I was trying to fleece him for some more money, which I had no intention of doing. So, instead of contacting me about what was going on and learning about the Google Dance after a backlink campaign, he decided to just file charge backs and totally screw me over.

Now, if I were selling a $10 or even a $100 service, it wouldn't be a problem. But, he was paying $5,000 a month and making more than that through his top rankings after 3 months... I was out $14,000 and I was devastated. I didn't know what I was going to do, I thought I was defeated, and I thought he would have been smart enough to delete my login to his cpanel

Yeah, he took $14,000 out of my account and I had access to his code. I took the low road and deleted everything he had. Which means he was screwed, just like me. But, he could spend that $14,000 on a website design and start over if he really wanted.

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

It's really sad to hear such stories. I came across many such type of the freelance stories. And there are plenty of like this on fiverr. And you can see that it can really drain you from inside. So not working with such people there. So that seem to be the case as well.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

Wow. That's so cruel. Sometimes it blows my mind how mean people from behind their screens would do. It's relieving to know he got what he deserve. But I know the exact feeling you had when you just found out about it. Sometimes, these moments will rob you off of your good momentum and positive outlook. Because you've done your best and was hoping for the best outcome but instead got the worst client from hell. But with experiences like these, we all get to learn to how to deal with these types in the future.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

The ignorance with SEO is one issue that SEO workers have to live for now. I guess it is better to be good in the explanation than being good in the work. I know of some SEO specialist who are really considered experts but they don’t have the gift of gab in explaining things that the client would like he is being duped because the SEO work was done 2 weeks ago and nothing seems to be happening.

6 years ago

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Baburra

Baburra

One of my more positive and memorable memories as a freelancer was joining a contest and actually winning. The prize was only a small one and there really wasn't that much competition, but still, I never really expected to win and I just tried my best to get as far as I could in the contest. It's memorable to me because I spent time on it and had I not won I know I would have just wasted that time but since I did win I at least feel like I got paid for my time even if it was just a small amount.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

The ones we do passionately and get rewarded because of it are the highlights of ourselves. It's good that you enjoyed joining that contest and never really expected to win but you did. Congratulations to you. The reward doesn't matter anymore because the happiness you got because of unexpected win is enough to put you to high clouds.

7 years ago

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kaka135

kaka135

My unforgettable bad experience is I didn't get paid. It's actually my fault for not collecting the deposit and believing in the clients. I have spent time doing several web development projects, and I didn't get any payments at last. Most of them are the clients eventually dropped it as they decided not to go with the projects. Since they are my friends, and we didn't sign any contract before that, I just let it be, but I keep the projects with me.

The worst experience I had was this: I sent my whole project to this client, which is a software company before I received any payments. After contacting the person in charge for months and even more than a year, there was no response from him. I was really disappointed, as we had worked together on several projects before that, and the last email he told me was that he would not run away from me. I guess I am too naive and I still believe business relationship can be built upon trust. I even paid for a third-party plugin to be used in the project, and I sent it to the client too. The worst is actually not because I spent time and did not receive payment, but I have neglected my kids for spending too much time working on the project. I still feel guilty for not being able to spend more time with my kids at the period I was working hard on the project as a stay-at-home mom, and letting my two kids play on their own most of the time. This actually created some challenging parenting moments for me since then.

Well, despite these not so good experience, I do learn a lot from being a freelancer, as I have to learn everything on my own and pick up something new that the clients request. It's different from working in a software company with other co-workers, it's challenging, but I also enjoy the freedom.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

I've had the same bad experience with you in regards to collecting the deposit. Only, mine was an additional work we agreed verbally but later on denied and stopped contacting me. Al in all, resulting in ditching even the full payment. It would've been okay with me if the person is just a random client. But no, she's a friend. Or so I thought. Anyways, it was not my world who became smaller but hers. And I just let it all pass me and considered it just a forced gift to her.

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

I think not getting paid for the work done is common among many freelancers. And many sites out there prefer to side with the clients. So we are left with things that does not earn us money. And also it seems to be taking more time. And on that note you can see that it's better to be spending the time for learning skills which have demand and then proceed to get clients for the same.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

Mine happened actually just a few days ago. A buyer visited one of my social media marketing gigs on another site, and placed an order without reading the gig description or scrolling through the image portfolio. After I delivered his order, he requested extra services, ones which I don't provide to begin with anyways. One of those services was a request to misrepresent his company to my audience. He wanted a 'horror themed' image to be used in the ad instead of his original company logo. Something metaphorically similar to using a picture of a hamburger, to promote a vegan restaurant. I politely declined and explained to him that he should've went over the gig specifics first before ordering with me, which I know he didn't considering the ideas he had rattling around in his head.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

Did the buyer accepted your declination politely? I hope the buyer didn't make it difficult for you. Sometimes I wonder if people really read and tried their best to understand the service rules.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

He said he was happy with the delivery but gave me a 3 out of 5 star rating, followed by a comment that implied my service was misleading in what I was offering. I was actually more offended by the fact that someone requested for me to actively deceive my social media followers about what their business was about. If you felt my followers would not take much interest in your product, then why purchase advertising from me to begin with? It's all about knowing your audience.

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

I have so many incidents. For example I remember one person ordering things from me. I made every revision he asked for. And then suddenly he got bored of harassing me. And he called for order cancellation. And I had to go because fiverr team cares for buyers instead of sellers. And that was one of the bad experience in my life. And then many such incidents happen. And it was not good enough on that end.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

Lots of nightmare experiences described by sellers on Fiverr. It's a good freelancing site overall but their recent changes and operational decisions have been beyond questionable.

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

Yes indeed. lot of bad buyers there. Some may have good experience. But lot of buyers out there are expecting a lot for low cost. And that's another thing I am not being serious with them. And I am branching out in other direction. So that I don't have to worry about the payout and stuff. That's what i have been thinking.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

Some of the work customers come to fiverr looking for at the price of $10 is quite insane. They want wordpress sites and themes built, or thoroughly time-consuming banner design and graphic work done for $10. That'll never happen.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

This is really not fair and I'm looking at a situation where most of the freelancing sites should take a good look at situations before making a cancellation of it. I don't really think they should just grant the order of cancellation without making enquiries to see who was at fault at the first place. I guess you've had good memories as well.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

Fiverr in general is very picky about who they let succeed and who they don't. I also think their search algorithms are manipulated this way in some cases as well.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

I wonder, how do they come up with the list? Do they ask for payments? I've tried registering to Fiverr but never really bothered to follow up through it.

7 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

I don't know, but their search results seem to reflect numerous people creating multiple accounts and promoting the same gig. I am almost sure that some fiverr users have 3 different accounts, with each account promoting 3 or 4 gigs within the same niche. Just with different worded titles. Like one will say: I will design a professional business logo for you - then there's another gig that says: I will create a great logo for your company. Both gigs are the same thing.

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

Fiverr is going down in terms of the quality. Also the type of the buyers are there. I think it'd be reasonable to work with the freelancers that are known for better delivery results. I am sure you can see how that can be helpful in such case.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

From the top of my head, what I can think of a memorable experience is when I received payment for the blogs I had written for a blogger. I really didn’t know that my articles were worthy of earnings because my understanding was that I was invited to write because of my experience with the niche. And since I was not a writer so I was not expecting that payment. It was one good day that I will always remember even if the amount was not really that big to crow about.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

That's so nice. When good things we didn't expect happen to us, those are priceless experiences and so rewarding in feeling. The amount doesn't matter anymore firstly, because it wasn't expected and secondly, the satisfaction it brought you made you so happy. I wish people online will also do so much good always.

7 years ago

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vinaya

vinaya

The most terrible thing happened to me was after receiving the ebook that I wrote for me, he refused to release payment saying he did not like the book. I asked him what he did not like and offered to make changes, he simply refused to communicate. I lost $300. For someone in the US, this might not be a lot of money, however, for someone who comes from a country where one buck translates to 100 rupees, that was a lot of money.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

That's horrible. That client intentionally robbed you. Do you think he will use your work and publish that book? I also can relate to the dollar conversion of your money. Form where I came from, $300 is also a lot of money. And thinking that it's not only you lose that amount but also your work.

This made me think, how do you avoid these kinds of scenario? Should you deliver a chapter first and then ask for the payment?

7 years ago

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cmoneyspinner

cmoneyspinner

I don't have any horror stories to share. My most unforgettable experience was the first time I saw my first article online with my name as the writer and it was at a reputable website. It was a shot of confidence. It was all I needed to believe in myself.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

Good to know about that. It's such a nice fleeting feeling to see your work be seen by others. Especially for you first article. We all need that boost of confidence every once in a while. Best of luck to you and to many more articles published online.

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

Well, I'll just mention my first ever work as a freelancer. Nothing will compare to the feeling of seeing the additional money you have on your bank account for the first time and getting that feeling that you want to continue doing this and work harder to earn more in the future. It also helps that the employer had some really nice words to encourage me for my first time of work in the online industry.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

I've had the same feelings when I received mine too. Although it's not that much. but it still is another step forward for me. I suppose the icing on the cake is when we do accept a compliment from our work and the feeling is so validating. So from then on, I realized that I have to pay it forward somehow. When I get the chance to give someone a comment based on their work, I do not hesitate to compliment them for a nice job done. It may not be much, but it may be a great deal to some too.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

My most embarrassing moment as a freelancer was the day that the person that chatted me up to give me work on a site was my ex-girlfriend that I left long time ago. The reason she didn't notice that I was the person then was simply because I was putting the name she knows me with as username and my profile picture was downloaded. I felt bad and even told her that I was not really interested to carry out the work for her.

7 years ago

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Steve5

Steve5

It was probably that time that I practically had to work non-stop for days just to finish an ongoing project. It was demanding in that I had to pass content every 24 hours while maintaining great quality. And it was not easy due to the demands of the client. I just don't want that to happen again.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

Just thinking about it makes me cringe at the thought of thinking in rush. That is one exhausting experience to have. I hope you still managed to rise up to the challenge and eventually was able to finish all up in the right time. And I sincerely hope that will never happen again to any of us who writes for a living. That is one form of a writer's nightmare.

7 years ago

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mark8625

mark8625

That was very tough questions but I think the unforgettable experience for me as a freelancer was when the company did not pay for me. That was really bad experienced but I moved on. The most important thing I have learned from it was there is real scam over the internet.

6 years ago

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blackmist

blackmist

Unfortunately I never experienced something like that. My everyday freelancing activity are almost the same every. Maybe ,one day I will experienced something that make it unforgettable. I just hope that it is a good one thought lol.

6 years ago

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Jeane

Jeane

My most unforgettable experience as a freelancer is working for one of the nicest people in the world. He expected nothing less than perfect work and would make sure you delivered only the best. What I liked most about him however is, he'd be right there providing feedback as you needed it. And even though it would take longer to complete a project, he'd offer you a job that pays more money the next time.

He's one of those people who made me realize I could be a much better writer than I was at that time.

6 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

It was when I got paid for the very first time. I was all set up and eager to make my first buck as an online freelancer. I've verified my PayPal, linked my local bank account and finished my online job, now I was waiting for my pay, when suddenly I received an email confirming transfer of money to my PayPal. I was so happy, it was for $73.

6 years ago

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focusedwriter10

focusedwriter10

One experience I have never forgotten as a freelancer was working for an entire month, writing blogs for a casino site, but when it came to payment they canceled the milestone, I lost so much.

I was left with a burden, which made me feel very heartbroken. It took time to pick up, but the worst thing was that I tried showing the evidence to support but they sided with the guy. This makes me angry up to date.

6 years ago

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