GoFreelance.com: Still a scam?
By Katharine Swan On Wednesday, June 27, 2007 At
4:04 PM
Please see the bottom of this post for an update.
Quite recently, I blogged about an email I received from Rob Palmer, the president of GoFreelance.com (formerly Freelance Work Exchange or FreelanceWorkExchange.com). He wanted to discuss posts that I have previously published on my blog in regards to writers' complaints about his company. The complaints primarily concern signing up for the trial membership and then not being able to log in and/or cancel.
Rather than debate the situation with him (no point — I'm not going to take anything down off my blog, as I think the complaints deserve their fair share of air time) I asked if I could publish his email address: One of the most common complaints about FWE was that members could never get a hold of anyone in order to resolve their complaints. Rob agreed to let me post his email address, so I added it as an update at the bottom of this post. If you have a complaint about GoFreelance.com, email Rob Palmer at the email address I posted, and let me know what happens!
This afternoon, though, I was playing around on Google (yes, I do that when I'm procrastinating), and I randomly decided to search for GoFreelance.com. Searching for "Freelance Work Exchange" brings up a myriad of complaints, which is I'm sure why the name was changed; I was wondering if any of the complaints had caught up with the elusive Rob Palmer yet.
Given Mr. Palmer's seeming concern to clear his company's name, I was shocked to find this: a rip-off report on GoFreelance.com, filed only a week ago. This is exactly the same kind of thing that was happening last summer with Freelance Work Exchange. Obviously Rob has not learned his lesson, not at all.
I'm leaving my post with his email up so that people can try to contact Mr. Palmer with any complaints, but let it be known that I've rescinded my original good-natured skepticism. I'm now back to thinking GoFreelance.com is nothing but a low-down, dirty scam. I hope everyone will take note of all the complaints online, and stay far, far away from Rob Palmer and his membership job board, regardless of what he calls it next.
Update — September 25, 2007:
This morning I received an email notifying me of some problems with ripoffreport.com, the source of the report I linked to above. I will quote from the email:
I am writing to warn you about ripoffreport.com - the guy who runs it apparently writes some of the complaints, and contacts the companies to extort money from them (so that they can get their company names off ripoffreport.com). He (Ed - I don't remember his last name) is a long-time criminal, and has been indicted by the FBI on rackateering charges for what he is doing with ripoffreport.com. Last I read, he is on the lam, and nowhere to be found.
Despite the gravity of these accusations, I am leaving the link for the simple reason that all of the report's claims have been made by other writers, too. Even if Ed did write this report, the fact of the matter is that I regularly hear the same complaints regarding GoFreelance.com.
Quite recently, I blogged about an email I received from Rob Palmer, the president of GoFreelance.com (formerly Freelance Work Exchange or FreelanceWorkExchange.com). He wanted to discuss posts that I have previously published on my blog in regards to writers' complaints about his company. The complaints primarily concern signing up for the trial membership and then not being able to log in and/or cancel.
Rather than debate the situation with him (no point — I'm not going to take anything down off my blog, as I think the complaints deserve their fair share of air time) I asked if I could publish his email address: One of the most common complaints about FWE was that members could never get a hold of anyone in order to resolve their complaints. Rob agreed to let me post his email address, so I added it as an update at the bottom of this post. If you have a complaint about GoFreelance.com, email Rob Palmer at the email address I posted, and let me know what happens!
This afternoon, though, I was playing around on Google (yes, I do that when I'm procrastinating), and I randomly decided to search for GoFreelance.com. Searching for "Freelance Work Exchange" brings up a myriad of complaints, which is I'm sure why the name was changed; I was wondering if any of the complaints had caught up with the elusive Rob Palmer yet.
Given Mr. Palmer's seeming concern to clear his company's name, I was shocked to find this: a rip-off report on GoFreelance.com, filed only a week ago. This is exactly the same kind of thing that was happening last summer with Freelance Work Exchange. Obviously Rob has not learned his lesson, not at all.
I'm leaving my post with his email up so that people can try to contact Mr. Palmer with any complaints, but let it be known that I've rescinded my original good-natured skepticism. I'm now back to thinking GoFreelance.com is nothing but a low-down, dirty scam. I hope everyone will take note of all the complaints online, and stay far, far away from Rob Palmer and his membership job board, regardless of what he calls it next.
Update — September 25, 2007:
This morning I received an email notifying me of some problems with ripoffreport.com, the source of the report I linked to above. I will quote from the email:
I am writing to warn you about ripoffreport.com - the guy who runs it apparently writes some of the complaints, and contacts the companies to extort money from them (so that they can get their company names off ripoffreport.com). He (Ed - I don't remember his last name) is a long-time criminal, and has been indicted by the FBI on rackateering charges for what he is doing with ripoffreport.com. Last I read, he is on the lam, and nowhere to be found.
Despite the gravity of these accusations, I am leaving the link for the simple reason that all of the report's claims have been made by other writers, too. Even if Ed did write this report, the fact of the matter is that I regularly hear the same complaints regarding GoFreelance.com.
Labels: scams
Thank you for your timely update -- I was just considering a position posted on the local Craigslist and thought twice about the autoreply that redirected to the signup page for GoFreelance.com. At the moment, I have the "opportunity" to pursue freelance gigs so I greatly appreciate any assistance in weeding out the potential riffraff. Thanks again!
Katharine, my darling, you are a guardian angel for writers everywhere...Keep up the darn good work!
Ron --
I'm glad my post was helpful.
Ralph --
Awwww, shucks. ;o) But, seriously, thank you for the generaous compliment!