Elance Dispute Resolution

Just the thought of dealing with a contract dispute reduces many a freelancer to a quivering mass of gelatinous stress, and gives many a buyer cold feet before a project even begins. It doesn’t have to be that way!

You’ve chosen Elance for their many features, and this includes their full commitment to helping buyers and freelancers resolve any disputes that arise, by offering three levels of dispute assistance.

Still, the concept of dispute assistance is enough to give anyone pause, so it’s time to demystify the process and show you how dispute resolution doesn’t have to be painful.

It’s important to note that less than one percent of contracts on Elance end up in a dispute, and ninety-nine percent are completed to the full satisfaction of both the client and provider. In other words, it is very rare that you’ll find yourself faced with a project dispute. However, it’s not a perfect world, and problems do occasionally crop up, so it’s good to know how exactly to proceed.

If you have come to an impasse on a project and cannot resolve it between the buyer and the provider, Member Resolution is step one. Simply go to the job workroom and click the ‘more’ heading in the left hand column, then click ‘file dispute’. This will bring you to the dispute resolution center of your workroom where you can click ‘file dispute notice’. This will then bring you to the ‘dispute notice form’ where you can detail the cause of your dispute. Make sure you provide as many details as you can, including all positive and negative performance by either party leading up to the dispute. The more details you can provide, the easier it is to resolve the dispute.

Once you’ve submitted the form, both the other party and Elance are informed, and all funds currently in Escrow are frozen pending resolution. The other party has three business days to submit a good faith response to your dispute. At this stage, many disputes are resolved between the client and freelancer, as misunderstandings are cleared up.

However, if you unfortunately cannot come to an agreement at this stage, and there are funds being held in Escrow, you can request to move on to step two: Elance Dispute Assistance. At this stage, Elance will arrange a ‘dispute assistance call’ with both parties, where they act as a mediator in an attempt to help the parties resolve the dispute. The do not make any determination and cannot impose any decisions. They simply try to facilitate a resolution. There is no fee for Elance Dispute Assistance.

In the unfortunate event that the parties still cannot come to an agreement, a request for third party arbitration can be made. There is a fee for this, determined by the contract amount, which is shared by the two parties and Elance equally.

The arbitrator (or arbitration panel for larger jobs) reviews all of the material including material submitted during the dispute, all communication exchanged by the parties through the workroom during the entire course of the project, and all files uploaded. This demonstrates exactly why it is important to make sure all communication is done through the workroom, or in the case of conference calls, etc. that work is noted and outlined in follow-up workroom messages.

Once review is complete, the arbitrator will make a final decision that is binding on both parties, including the release or refund of funds held in Escrow.

Disputes are never fun, and Elance is designed to make sure that disputes are few and far between. Less than one percent means that many buyers and freelancers can go their entire careers without ever running into a problem, but if you do happen to end up in a situation you can’t resolve, you can turn to Elance for help.



Fantastic pic by FlyinPhotography

The Almighty Buyer

As freelancers, we spend most of our time looking at our own performance and asking ourselves the hard questions – how can we improve our output, land more contracts, up our skill level, attract more buyers - all with the goal of expanding and upgrading our business, increasing client satisfaction, and luring in more work. But today, let’s take a moment to look outside ourselves and concentrate on the one key component that is out of our control – the buyer.

What is the ideal buyer? In a nutshell, the perfect buyer would provide clear job expectations, answer questions promptly, expect to pay decent rates for quality services, have frequent communication throughout the project, and pay with lightening fast speed at agreed upon intervals.

Sounds like a dream, right? Anyone who has spent any time in the freelancing trenches knows that more often than not, buyers are far from the ideal, and a few are really the stuff of nightmares.

Unfortunately, after you’ve been stung once or twice by less than ideal buyers, you learn very quickly how to ask the right questions in order to weed out the duds. But no matter how good you get, a few of those duds always slip through your good business sense and rear their ugly head. And when that happens, you end up spending way too much time tracking down deadbeat buyers, or waiting for communication at a key project point, or deciphering crazy-talk expectations that resemble ancient hieroglyphics more than clear instructions. And all this time is wasted time that could have been spent working.

Definitely not ideal. So what is the solution? How can you constantly attract high caliber buyers and steer clear of the duds? That’s where Elance comes in.

There is no 100% guarantee, but Elance is by far the best way to increase your odds. It’s that simple. I’ve covered many of their features and how they work to protect the freelancer from less than ideal buyers, like Escrow jobs that guarantee you’ll get paid for quality work. But what I haven’t talked about is how Elance goes out of their way to attract and keep the high quality buyers while weeding out the duds.

Their Terms of Service spell out minimum payment rates, restrict inappropriate job posts, and set out clear expectations that buyers must adhere to. All job listings that do not conform to these standards are removed. They also identify buyers who have a low award rate so that freelancers can make informed decisions when bidding.

And they have a secret weapon – you. Your continued high performance is what ultimately attracts high quality buyers to Elance. A quick look at their track record reveals that Elance attracts every type of buyer from corporate giants to mid-level businesses to small start-ups to sole owners, all looking for providers for projects ranging from fifty dollars to over one hundred thousand. That’s something ever freelancer wants a part of.

But is Elance’s business model successful at weeding out those buyers that litter the net with ads looking for the next freelance sucker?

From my own experience, I can say with absolute certainty that they are successful. I joined Elance, having already freelanced for quite some time, and the difference was immediately visible. Finding decent jobs to bid on was no longer a needle in a haystack ordeal. Sure there was the occasional questionable job post, but it wasn’t the norm. And when I would happen to stumble on something very questionable, I’d report it to Elance, and the job was removed. It was literally a whole new freelancing world.

And the buyers I’ve worked with? Dream buyers. I kid you not. I’ve worked with universities, airlines, rock bands, small start-ups, PR firms – the list goes on and on, but the list of problems I’ve encountered? Zero. Now those are the freelancing stats you want.

And Elance is the place to get them.


Great pic by Llima

Say Yes To Escrow

Why Escrow?

Escrow jobs take the stress out of freelancing. No more having to ask for ridiculously high up-front payments to reduce the risk of buyers disappearing into the night never to be seen again. Hunting down payments is now a thing of the past. Getting paid no longer requires more time and effort than the actual job itself, and buyers no longer have to worry about paying for work that won’t get done. Sounds like an unattainable freelancing marketplace dream, right? It’s not. It’s very real, and available on all Elance Fixed Priced Jobs.

But what the heck is Escrow?

Freelancers, both new and experienced, always ask about Escrow with great hesitation. It’s a foreign concept compared to the high risks assumed to be normal with freelancing gigs, so it’s hard to believe it can possibly be simple, safe, and effective. What’s the catch?

No catch – and it is THAT simple. The client pays before work is done, the funds are held in Elance Escrow until the work is completed, and voila! The client is guaranteed that his money is safe until the work is done and the provider knows that payment is already there. A safe and secure win-win situation for both parties.

Still hesitant to embrace escrow jobs? Okay, here’s a breakdown to show you how easy it truly is.

The first step, once you’re awarded a fixed price job, is to set out job milestones with the client, and agree on funded amounts for each milestone. The buyer then funds the first milestone into Elance Escrow, and you begin work. The client has already paid. There is no doubt that you will receive payment if you complete the milestone, making it 100% safe. And here’s the kicker – you do not begin work until the milestone is funded!

When you reach the milestone, the client funds the next, and the job continues. You never have to work without funding, knowing that the money is being held for you in Escrow. It’s so safe that Elance even has a Fixed Price Work Guarantee.

Saying yes to Escrow for fixed price jobs greatly reduces the risk to both buyers and providers, which translates into less time spent soothing buyer fears or tracking down payments for completed work, and more time spent working.

Disputes and issues between clients and providers drop to almost nothing when you choose to go with fixed price escrow jobs. This is a far cry from the freelance payment russian roulette risks of yesterday. But even if the occasional dispute pops up, Elance Escrow still has you covered.

With the Fixed Price Work Guarantee, Elance Dispute Assistance acts as a neutral third party to help resolve problems by using the milestones agreed upon by both parties, all messages exchanged in the workroom, and the final deliverables. Bottom line is, if you provide solid, professional work, you’ll get paid. Guaranteed.

The buisness landscape has changed. The freelance marketplace has exploded in size over the past few years creating an overwhelming need for a safe, secure payment platform for clients and providers to operate within. Elance Escrow is Elance’s response to this need, and the perfect solution for this new way to work.

Jump on board the Escrow Payment train, and discover a whole new stress-free way to get paid. It IS that easy.

For more information, check out the Elance FAQ’s: What is Escrow and As A Provider, How Do I Use Elance Escrow?

Still have questions? Post them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.


Great photo by Stephen K. Willi