hackerspytechReviews 137

It took me 2 days to realize that the site is FULL OF SCAMMERS who write for iwriter, with no intentions of paying you.

If they...

1. Ask you to work off Skype instead of GURU, RED FLAG #1

2. If they request you to be able to write for a wide variety of niche's, from fitness to cars RED FLAG #2

3. If they inform you that you will be working for one week straight expecting SEVERAL articles from you and not paying you for a week. RED FLAG #3

4. If they seem ambiguous about their contact information ie; becoming hostile when you ask for it RED FLAG #4

5. If their job request looks exactly like a job posting on 'iwriter' you can be absolutely sure you will NOT be getting paid for the job. RED FLAG #5

Please do your homework and trust your instincts before agreeing to do any work from GURU off the platform.

It took me one day to realize all this! Anything that seems to good to be true... well you know the rest!

An awful experience from start to finish and has left me with the distinct feeling I've been somewhat ripped off for the not insubstantial upfront cost of £800.

Pushy salesperson who didn't deliver what he promised on the phone (no surprise there I suppose, we should've known better).
One poor token gesture CV what conveniently arrived on launch day of the advertising absolutely nothing since - 5 weeks wasted!
Requested the scanned out C. V's "Guru" allegedly received twice during the advertising period nothing has arrived!
Very little information supplied to ratify their advertising boards/channels (apparently some are confidential) giving me the impression its all about minimising advert costs & maximising Guru's profitability - rather than finding you a suitable candidate.
Very little personal contact with the "so called" account manager over the period (as promised by the sales guys) More of an emailing admin contact than someone assisting the recruitment process.
Guru dashboard with poor functionality and ZERO information other than a poor CV.
On a positive Guru are very good at chasing the "up front" payment! LOL

Don't waist your money with this company, do your own recruitment advertising, or, use a reputable recruitment agency (no hire no fee is always the best!).

Paul Walker
Managing Director
Bodypower Sports Plc
T/A Fitness Superstore

All these posts seem to be from the viewpoint of the "employer." The guru.com clearing house process is no picnic for the freelancer, not if my experience is any indication.

I purchased the "Professional" membership, about $22 a month, that gives me extra features to land a job through their database. A professional developmental editor, I could not find any jobs to apply for that paid more than $250 (for the entire project), and scores of other people from all over the world were applying for them just the same. I eventually took a chance and "bid" for a gig I thought I would enjoy. (I tried to convince myself of other benefits that made working so cheap okay.) After jumping through two weeks' worth of email hoops, I was offered the job. I should have done my number crunching and due diligence first.

I'm bummed. I just withdrew my job acceptance after reading a most unreasonable NDA I was asked to sign before work could begin. That's when some friends/colleagues helped me see the light. I was expected to give away my talents for what amounted to less than 1/2 cent per word.

To be fair, I did get prompt reply to emails I wrote to the guru.com help desk, and I even got Joe on the phone first time I called. He was very helpful and gave good advice. However, I was on automatic billing for my membership, which was billing me a week before payment was due. So I stopped that quick and switched to manual. But now that I've read other posts, this has me scared. I think I need to call my bank to make sure I don't get dinged again.

Why is it that so many "employers" think we freelancers aren't worth the years of hard work we have spent building our skills. Not all of us are inept crooks that these other posts claim us to be. Some of us come into the game thinking we're among peers and the competition will be fierce. But you know what they say, if you're the smartest person in the room, maybe you're in the wrong room!

I'm withdrawing my paid membership, now that I realize I would lose about 10% in fees through Guru (7%) and PayPal (3%). I was just looking for something to do over the summer while my current author/client is on hiatus. But I'm not going to give away the store and lose my street cred in the bargain.

I'll stick with my website traffic and work directly with prospective clients. No more "middlemen" for me.

The company had good revieuws guru.com on how this could still not clear to me.
He said he would immediately get started with design of the website.
He sent me links miscellaneous times of template site, it was not his design but just standard design. I rejected the so-called design.
Each time I was told that I rejected his design and therefore it took so long, this is nonsense because he just copied from the internet link of a template site.
I agree at some point with a template, because I realized that he is not able to design their own website.
He has now completed 15% but it just takes forever.
He said it 50 times: tomorrow he's ready, today he is ready. He has never fulfilled one of his promises.
The work he has done so far looks very amateurish.
He has kept in line me so long that I can not place revieuw at guru.com, he knows exactly how it works!
I assumed that if I hired someone over the guru was safe, but unfortunately this is not true. They do offer supposedly safe to pay, but could choose on my order because the seller did not accept it.
It's not about me so much about the money I've lost, but I'm sick of that I scammed. It has also aroused in me a lot of negative energy.
I give up, it has now lasted for three months and there is no progress.
Be aware for this kind of people!

When funding my project for the winning freelancer (MicroTechnologies http://www.guru.com/freelancers/micro-technologies), I selected "Payment Protection" with the belief that "Payment Protection" would avoid being ripped off. NOT! "Payment Protection" is a SCAM! If you select that option it sets up a schedule to automatically disburse funds to the freelancer on an arbitrary schedule. The first of three payments was made and I had no problem with it.

I was away from email for a few days and later got an email that a second payment was made automatically, and the third and final payment was scheduled to go out in a couple of days. I attempted to reschedule the payment for later but that did not work. The freelancer had all the money.

He was working with me so I figured if I had any issues "Payment protection" would take care of it. First of all they sucked! No creativity and very sloppy! I basically had to coach them along the entire business card design, their drafts had text that were not aligned etc. A lot of back and forth. The freelancer suddenly stopped responding to my emails and the Website he contracted to deliver was not delivered. He then told me I needed to give him more money to complete the project.

I contacted Guru.com and they are doing absolutely nothing to resolve it. They say they can't refund my money because all payments have been made and I had exceeded the time-frame to dispute payments. Why did this happen? Because I spent 90 days going bakc and forth with the freelancer (http://www.guru.com/freelancers/micro-technologies) and he suddenly stopped delivering. Here's the kicker, Guru.com gives you about 60 days to leave reviews and I cannot leave a review for this company that allows others to know who they are dealing with. I've asked Guru.com to give me access to writing reviews and they still have not. I'm still going back and forth with Guru.com to get my money back and to allow me to post a review.

Set up a project, picked a supplier for a few logos and following the Guru.com terms, transferred money to SafePay which is apparently a secure escrow. NOT! After 10 days I was still awaiting logos as requested and Guru.com "AUTOMATICALLY" transferred the money from SafePay to the supplier without my consent. Why when the project wasn't complete? And they will not refund me. And the logos I have received are absolutely abysmal.

Scamming B*stards. AVOID Guru.com.

Since Guru.com provides a platform for its service and doesnt communicate directly with you, it gives them a feeling that they can screw with you. That is the most horrible service I have experienced in my life. They dont protect you but take your money without asking you, they promise but its a lie, they offer but it is a fraud. I also reported about this scam in my school. Young generation must know about their predators and spread this information until the FBI investigates the structure and goal of this creature. Beware of Guru.com!

I've used Guru.com three times, which was three times too many. They apparently do not screen the competency level of their contractors because none of them had a "clue" about web design - the service I sought. They put up bogus portfolios to entice prospective customers. During the bidding process, they promised the world and when they won, they delivered little. Part of the problem is a good 70% of Guru's workforce do not have a handle on the English language and therefore were unable to understand the requirements. In turn, the outcome was disappointing. Most knew the mechanics but were in the dark about designing a website. I will never use them again no matter how competitive the rate.

If and when the interface works, the only jobs that bring a response are scammers looking for keyword-stuffers. No matter how desperate you may be for money trickling in, never EVER accept any "employer" that wishes to a) work through Skype or e-mail outside of Guru's system b) anyone who wants to see "spec" samples or receive free trials of any kind. Even when working directly though Guru's channels, do not expect much in the way of response or support. Also, other freelancing sites offer skills test for FREE. Guru charges through the nose for tests and opportunities to bid.

Job postings are marginally better than Outsource in frequency and provide some transparency as to the hiring party to legitimize the project. That said, Guru's platform attracts employers looking for free mockups - or completed work for next to nothing.

Their customer service is the worst I have experienced of any freelance site, IF you can even manage to get a hold of them!

Their policies regarding payment issues for freelancers verge on fraudulent and they ONLY have their own interests in mind.

Guru was far from perfect several years ago, when I was a loyal Guru freelancer. I abandoned the site for better prospects and rejoined recently out of curiosity, hoping perhaps they had strengthened their platform. Nope. Guru is an empty shell of its 'former glory', such as it was. Everything I am seeing (from their non-existent support staff to their ghost town of a Facebook page with nothing but complaints from users, to the fact that their website is DOWN 75% of the time - it isn't functioning as I write this!), points to the site's imminent and inevitable demise.

Good thing their are better options!

I used someone in India to build my website "KEY IDEAS INFOTECH" they did not build this to a satisfactory level and kept us financial hostage. They convinced us to pay them early each step saying most of the work was done. I still recieved no final copy of the app and it was all paid for. I lost touch with them. But seen as they had done a lot of the app we decided to build website and blog with them also(big mistake) so I'm out of pocket $$$$ and no app or website blog to show for it.
Guru refuse to step in and stop this from happening to others. Guru are not there to keep the consumer safe like they make out. Do yourself a favour and don't ever use guru! Build any websites blogs etc where you are from

I have no problem with the freelancer they are very decent, My issues lies with Guru. Their payment platform raises issue 2 times out of 3, despite showing a message payment was not successful they still charge the money to your bank account as many times as you tries to pay them out. They received the money and cancel it out instead of paying it to the free lancer causing hefty bank charges. When asked about the customer service, it is non existing. They washed their hand of any situation, have no sort of customer service and act according to their own decision with total disregards for any furhter problem they may have, As client I suggest you stay away from them

**UPDATE: Guru did NOT respond to the BBB complaint and it was closed unresolved. What does that tell you about this company?

I think you have to pick and choose your battles and heavily scrutinize before choosing a guru. I have had an acceptable experience when it involves graphic design work, there has been communication issues every time but the end product has been to my satisfaction.

Where they have failed completely is when it comes to website design/programming. I have had three horrific experiences (3 attempts to complete one website) ending with losing my money on the last one (I have since filed a case with the BBB). Customer service dismissed any assistance so due to their safety auto scheduling and my not having 7 days notice prior payment so I could either reschedule or dispute I was screwed. To be clear, you cannot dispute AFTER the guru gets paid even if the work is incomplete!

Also, this is what I noticed. The gurus will send you examples of websites they (supposedly) created but they are not really their sites (one even had another web designers company name on the site).

The bottom line? Use caution, don't pay a dime until the work is completed, do not give them 50% halfway through the job, and hopefully it will work for you without the headaches.

I worked there 3 years and they make it impossible to contact or defend yourself when a employer abuses their system. Literally its an escrow that when a client doesnt escrow the whole job, the client can get the work, take it, use it and even when you show them the published stolen work... 35 pages of it. They still refund him and let him leave feedback he never got anything. I have had employers abuse, cuss, threaten feedback that would prevent anyone from employing me and do it, even when they havent put up money ON AN ESCROW SITE. Plus they charge almost 8% after all is said and done.