Guru.com

I’m sorry to hear that Mr [redacted] has a bad experience with a freelancerFortunately, we offer feedback ratings of anyone that uses the site to assist in the vetting process on both endsMoreover, we encourage employers to get to know prospective hires via private message to ensure the freelancer they’re thinking of hiring fits their jobWe also encourage the employer to use SafePay to ensure they aren’t making hasty payments to freelancers that they may regret.However, there is a certain stake that an employer makes when they choose to use an online platform to hire a freelancer, just as there is a stake in an in-person hireIf the relationship breaks down to the point of no return, yet has proceeded previously to the point where money has been invested, it would be unreasonable to expect to receive a complete and total refund.What Mr [redacted] is referring to is a handling fee, which covers the cost of reversing his transaction back to his bank accountWe actually offer 3.5% cash back if you use a bank account, which means if you end up withdrawing cash that you’ve put into the site already, you come out even.In either case, it’s regrettable that Mr [redacted] ’s relationship with his freelancer broke down and he chose to cancel the jobHowever, to withdraw his money (essentially, asking us to reverse the transaction) we need to recoup the costThis is all clearly outlined and is no secret.Please let me know if you have any questions.Thank you, Stacy N***Support Operations Manager, Guru.com

Good afternoonThe information below is being provided in response to Mr [redacted] ’s complaint.In the case of any arbitration ruling, there will always be dissatisfaction from the losing side, especially in the event that a panel of arbitrators rules against them 100%In this case, our arbitrators reviewed the evidence provided by both parties and made a decision based on the evidence.The process for arbitration involves three separate arbitrators who all independently review each dispute and then corroborate their rulings at the endAny disagreements are discussed until the majority of the panel agrees on a rulingIn this case, all three arbitrators agreed that the freelancer provided enough evidence to justify receiving 100% of the funds in dispute.Furthermore, all users must agree to our Terms of ServiceIn this instance, Section B (c) of our Terms of Service: (c) You agree that the decision of Guru.com, acting as an arbitrator, shall be final, binding, and not subject to appealAccordingly, within a reasonable time after we have rendered a decision, we will transfer funds in accordance with the arbitrator’s decision.With that said, it would be unethical of us to even attempt to satisfy Mr [redacted] ’s desired settlementRegarding Mr [redacted] ’s statement that some of his private correspondence with his freelancer was lost; no mention of lost messages was mentioned by Mr [redacted] during the dispute resolution processFurthermore, we explicitly ask users to provide evidence via an attachment tool within the dispute page or to make clear reference to already-existing evidence that can be viewed elsewhereMr [redacted] at no point referenced messages or indicated that he couldn’t find some.Please let me know if you have questions or need any clarification

While it’s unfortunate that Mr [redacted] seems to havepaid a freelancer and has since regretted the decision, he seems to be underestimatingthe tools we provide within our platformThe entire point of Guru.com is toprovide protection against fraud, communication breakdowns and disagreements.The feature of our platform that provides this service is called SafePayYoucan learn more about it here: http://www.guru.com/help/employer-help-center/pay-freelancers/safepay/We listen to any complaints or trouble all users have ifthey reach out to usHowever, there is very little we can do if an employerchose to pay a freelancer and then regretted the decision; that freelancer nowhas full control of that money and is the rightful owner of it.If Mr [redacted] would like to provide us with specificexamples of our shady practices we would surely address them for himHisstatement that there are many examples of similar cases to his is partiallytrue; many times employers hastily pay their freelancers upfront and then seek outa refund through us, without completely understanding that they’ve paid thefreelancer directly and we no longer have control of that money.When SafePay is used properly, we control those fundsuntil they are released and can offer dispute servicesIt seems that Mr[redacted] did not use SafePayIf he wishes to continue on our platform he cancertainly contact us for guidance the next time aroundLet me know if you haveany questions

Good afternoonThe information below is being provided in response to Ms [redacted] ’s complaint.While I understand Ms [redacted] ’s frustration, what she’s requesting that we do is assist her with the management of her job as well as to attempt to collect money that has already been paid to a freelancerThis money is in the freelancer’s bank account and is untouchable by us.As our platform clearly indicates, payment is made at the employer’s sole discretion and we only suggest approving payment of a freelancer at the end of the job to ensure that everyone’s communicating regularly and that the work provided is satisfactoryAll employers must agree to these terms prior to approval (“approval” is final, irrecoverable payment to a freelancer): I am unsure of what Ms [redacted] means when she says we get very involved with the process of collecting paymentWe do not actively pursue either party for paymentWe are a platform that provides payment tools to employer and freelancers, which they use on their own schedule and with their own discretion.Blocking power is a feature available to both employers and freelancers and is a calculation representative of 10% of your earnings as a freelancer or 10% of your payments as an employerIt’s incredibly hard to accrue and by its very nature, would be quickly exhausted after blocking continuous bad feedbackBlocking power is not disingenuous but is rather a way to stabilize your feedback in the event of the odd bad commentYou can learn more about it here.After reviewing Ms [redacted] ’s complaint, it’s clear that she paid a freelancer completely upfront and then communication fell through due to a disagreement concerning the scope of the jobIt would be unethical for us to advocate on behalf of her and attempt to recover an unequivocally intentional payment or even help enforce terms for one party or the other when we act in a purely neutral fashion.When Ms [redacted] mentions that we must issue her a refund, she must not have fully understood the implications of the message she agreed to that I’ve provided in this responseShe has already paid her freelancer completely and agreed to clear terms that intentionally explained the intent of approving a paymentWe no longer control that money and cannot issue a refund, as the payment was irreversible and was meant for services rendered to dateSafePay, when used in the correct manner, safeguards both parties completely and allows us to offer dispute resolution services that equally represent both usersWe even offer arbitration servicesHowever, none of these services can be offered for money already paid.Please let me know if you have any questions or need any clarification

Mr [redacted] did make two payments to the same freelancer on our site [redacted] did reach out to our support and the information given is correct All payments made are finale Once the freelancer withdraws those funds, we are no longer in control of them The freelancer in this case did withdraw the fundsHowever, it is clear that the freelancer does admit the error and intention to pay the employer back, but does not currently have the credit on our site to do so In this case I’ve made an exception to debit the funds from the freelancer’s account now and credit them back to Mr [redacted] ’s account This is not common practice, but given the amount of the dispute, I’m fine with making this exceptionThe funds are currently waiting in the cash account If Mr [redacted] logs in and adds his withdrawal method back to our site those funds can be returned Otherwise they are waiting there for future use [redacted] can feel free to reach out to us if he has any further issues Sincerely, Joe Guru.com Support Team

Good afternoonThe information below is being provided in response to Ms [redacted] ’s complaint.We have talked to Ms [redacted] at length regarding her problems with feedback and have explained why we can’t satisfy her requests in the manner in which she wants us to satisfy them.While it looks like Ms [redacted] has some feedback from and within her account, we did not leave that feedback nor do we have a role in confirming the veracity of that feedbackThe feedback is easily printable by Ms [redacted] , which she could do prior to her deleting her own accountWe can’t print feedback on our letterhead, as it would misrepresent our contribution toward that feedback.Furthermore, none of Ms [redacted] ’s feedback was erasedWhen an employer is prompted to leave feedback it is mandatory that they leave a star rating for the freelancerHowever, it is voluntary for the employer to leave actual commentsIf only a star rating is left, that rating appears on the freelancer’s profile for monthsWe use a window of months to ensure that freelancers’ feedback entries are recent and indicative of their abilities and performance current-day.If actual comments are left, those will stay on the freelancer’s profile indefinitelyWhen Ms [redacted] is referring to missing feedback, she is actually referring to star ratings that no longer appear on her public profile due to the expiration of that 12-month window.There are a total of three feedback entries with comments, which I am including here for Ms [redacted] ’s reference: Regarding Ms [redacted] ’s dispute with an employerShe was awarded funds in dispute because the employer did not respond to the disputeIn any case, we do not edit or remove feedback because a freelancer wins a disputeIn fact, feedback can be left by both parties any time a payment is made, even if the payment was made due to a dispute ruling.Ms [redacted] ’s claim of defamation is baselessNone of her feedback is visible on the search engines because she deleted her accountIf you try to view Ms [redacted] ’s profile today you will see a – Not Found errorThis is the URL to Ms [redacted] ’s deleted profile: [redacted] l If Ms [redacted] can provide evidence that we in some way had a hand in diminishing her brand’s quality, we’ll certainly take steps to change thatCurrently, there’s no indication that Ms [redacted] even has an account with us.Please let me know if you have any questions or need any more information.Thank you, [redacted] Support Operations Manager, Guru.com

I was the person that handled communication with [redacted] when he called There are invoices that have been paid to the freelancer starting in April of – August totaling 2, From my conversations with him, he made it clear that each payment was made after he has received the work for that milestone After an invoice is paid and the money is released to the freelancer that fulfills the freelancer’s obligation for that milestone This also concludes our obligation for controlling those funds if there are any issues Our dispute resolution services are only available when the funds are still in SafePay This is something that is made clear by our terms of service and our support team when you reach out to us with any questions When an issue is brought to our attention, even if funds are released, we are not unwilling to help However we have limited options available to us In this case I did reach out to the freelancer repeatedly, locked their account and ultimately removed it from our site They are still able to contact us, but would need to reach out to us before resuming activity on our site There is no further action I can take at this time unless the freelancer reaches out to us The issues that [redacted] faces would be different if the freelancer in question was employed by us and we received the payment for the work they were doing Our site hosts the relationship and facilitates the payment between two parties as requested, but we make no claims as far as what to expect from a user on our site I am empathetic in MrLuakabuanga’s situation and have done everything I can from my end It’s unreasonable to expect us to be able to deliver the work someone else is doing without any communication from them Not only does the amount he is requesting not match what I’m showing what has been paid to the freelancer, but he did receive the work for each milestone he paid for We will not be providing a refund for the work received as the funds are no longer on our site The simple fact that the freelancer has delivered every part of the job to [redacted] Clause’s satisfaction but the last part doesn’t tell me this is a scam, just an unfortunate situation Sincerely, Joe Guru.com Support Team

Our website does not currently offer a “free trail”. I’m not sure where the pin question is coming from, but it’s not something that can be found on our site. Normally if this type of error occurs we can offer a refund. However, in this case the membership has already been
used, beyond the free offering on our siteWhat I have done is issued a refund of $to Monica’s card. We have kept $for one month of our professional membership. She should see the refund on her card in 2-business days. I have also replied to her directly in case she has any questions. Sincerely, Joe Guru.com Support Team

*** hired the freelancer on April 6th. The work was separated into payments of 30, 30, and 40. This money was never put into SafePay. The freelancer invoiced for each payment and the employer manually paid each invoice with funds that he had put into his cash account.
When a payment is made you have to agree to the following “I authorize Guru.com to release payment to *** ***I also acknowledge that Guru.com is not an agent of *** *** and invoice payments are final and non-recoverable.” Once the funds are released to the freelancer we have no option to refund them back to the employer. There is also no option to issue a dispute through our site when the funds are not in a SafePay account. Using SafePay means that were are holding the funds for a particular job and freelancer. This was not the case with this jobThe employer then disputed the payment with PayPal, which is against our terms of service. This is why this is why the account was locked and why the extra funds could not be withdrawn. The PayPal dispute has ended and we have returned the extra funds that was in the account. ($53.25) Since the funds released to the freelancer are no longer in our control, we cannot issue a refund. Sincerely, Joe Guru.com Support Team

In this particular case Mr*** was sent an invoice on January for $and manually paid it the same day. When a payment is made on our site, you have to agree to our terms of service. Those terms do state that any payment made on our site is final and work has been provided
for that payment. As a result the first payment made to this freelancer cannot be disputed after it’s been released to them. Any advanced payment is bypassing the security of our SafePay system and does have risk involved with itThe second payment for $was added into SafePay. When the dispute of work provided was raised, Mr*** contacted our supported wanted the funds to be released. We are unable to do this without consent from both parties, which we did not have. During this time, the freelancer escalated the case to our arbitration team. They are responsible for deciding where the funds should go when it cannot be worked out between the two parties using our site. This is the first arbitration case for the freelancer and the 4th for Mr***Our arbitration team ruled in Mr***’s favor awarding him all of the funds in SafePay and not charging the arbitration fee. Those funds are currently in his account available for use or withdrawal. We are only able to return the amount being held in SafePay. I’m not sure where the amount of $is coming from as I can’t only see $if both amounts are added togetherUpon further review of the account, I can see a total of $that was spent from the day the account was opened in October of until todayI’m also not sure where the figure of “thousands of dollars” is referring to. The money that was in dispute is in the employer’s cash account awaiting withdrawal and Mr*** is free to contact us if he has any issue returning the funds to his original payment method

Good afternoonThe information below is being provided in response to Mr***.While it’s unfortunate that Mr*** is having his most recent payment held for days, it’s been explained to Mr*** by a member of our fraud prevention team that we need to hold the payment due to an inquiry from
PayPal.It seems that PayPal has contacted us and asked us to review the transactionFor whatever reason, they seem to find the transaction suspectDue to this suspicion, we need to hold the payment for days to ensure PayPal does not end up revoking the transactionIf PayPal revokes the transaction, Mr*** would be receiving unauthorized funds.These were the options given to Mr*** by my coworker, Lisa, who handles these types of cases:Unfortunately, we are not provided with the exact details that are used to determine a second review request If you wish, you may continue working with *** directly, outside of our system. Regarding the existing payments that are being held, you can either wait for the 60-day time period to lapse - if no chargebacks or reversals occur we will automatically release the funds to you Or, you can issue a refund of these payments and we will return the funds to ***'s PayPal account From there, he can pay you directly. Please let me know how you'd like to proceed.Mr***’s response was to tell us he would be contacting the FTCIn either case, we are willing to work with him if he chooses an option.Let me know if you have questions.Thank you, Jake Z***Support Operations Manager, Guru.com

Good afternoonThe information below is being provided in response to Mr***’s complaint.I’m sorry to hear that Mr*** is frustrated with his arbitration rulingWhile our SafePay system is meant to secure funds for the duration of the job in order to safeguard both parties (the employer and
freelancer), we cannot disallow a freelancer to dispute an employer’s request for a refundIn cases where both parties cannot negotiate a resolution, the option of arbitration is available.In this case, our arbitration ruled that, based on the evidence provided, the employer was due $and the freelancer was due $This decision was made by a panel of arbitrators using the parties’ comments and supporting evidenceIt would be completely unethical for us to allow employers to demand full refunds after the job has begun without a dispute resolution processIt’s obvious that if this were the case, that ability would be abused by unscrupulous employers.Furthermore, all users must agree to our Terms of ServiceIn this instance, Section B (c) of our Terms of Service: (c) You agree that the decision of Guru.com, acting as an arbitrator, shall be final, binding, and not subject to appealAccordingly, within a reasonable time after we have rendered a decision, we will transfer funds in accordance with the arbitrator’s decision.We can’t morally satisfy Mr***’s desired settlementWe had an arbitration review the evidence and they made a decision with Mr***’s dissatisfaction squarely in mind; it was his primary reason for requesting a refund and he stated as suchUnfortunately for Mr***, there was enough evidence indicating the contrary, which led to the decision posted by the arbitrators.Please let me know if you have questions or need any clarification.Thank you, *** ***Support Operations Manager, Guru.com

Good afternoonThe information below is being provided
in response to Mr***’s complaint
I’m sorry to hear that Mr*** is having trouble
with a freelancerWe can certainly help him with that by showing him how to
use the “request refund” and dispute
resolution tools provided on our site
Regarding his complaints regarding our response times;
Our office hours are am until pm ET, Monday thru FridayI see that he sent
emails on Saturday and am assuming he also attempted to call over the weekend
We respond to messages left over the weekend on MondaysThat said, we had no
voice mails from Mr***
One of the emails we received on
Saturday (@ 2:am GMT) received a response from Mary at 5:am GMT the same
dayThe other email received on Saturday (@ 2:am GMT) received a response
as of 1:pm GMT todayMr*** has since responded to our emails
The resolution Mr*** has proposed seems to be
directed at the freelancer he hired and not at Guru.comHe is correct that the
freelancer is to deliver work firstThe employer then reviews and approves or
declines the work
Members of Guru.com’s support team have been in touch with Mr*** to help
him navigate our dispute resolution process and work toward his proposed
resolution
Let me know if you need any further
clarification

Revdex.com:
This is response to Guru.com Their response is factually faulty. I did not ask them to personally reimburse me I asked them to refund the money that was being held in "escrow"When I requested the refund, the customer service rep was extremely rude to me on the phone He told me he did not care whether of not I used their serviceAfter further research with the assistance of the federal government, that what they are doing is called "escrow fraud" The federal government informed me that Guru.com's practices are questionable in regards to the "escrow" Customers should be made aware of this business practice You will note on the Revdex.com website that over 75% of the complaints against this company are in regards to the "escrow" My money was refunded, but only after I informed them that I had filed formal complaints with the Revdex.com, PA Consumer Affairs, GA Consumer Affairs, Federal Internet Fraud Agency, Paypal and several other agencies
Regards,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. Reason it does not resolve our complaint, GURU did not review our statements and evidences, because if to they had, they 'GURU' missed to noticed & acknowledge that we canceled and declined agreement in time, we requested REFUNED in time, still we were forced into arbitration by GURU and other partyWe have no control and other option as our money is sitting in GURU SAFE-PAY accountGURU ITSELF STATES ON THIER WEBSITE THAT WE DO NOT PAY UNTIL WE ARE SATISFIED WITH THE FREELANCER WORK 100%, AGAIN AGAIN WE NOTIFIED GURU ON THIS BUT WE WERE IGNORED, PLEASE SEE ATTACHEDIT BUT For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below

While it’s unfortunate that Mr. [redacted] seems to havepaid a freelancer and has since regretted the decision, he seems to be underestimatingthe tools we provide within our platform. The entire point of Guru.com is toprovide protection against fraud, communication breakdowns and disagreements.The...

feature of our platform that provides this service is called SafePay. Youcan learn more about it here: http://www.guru.com/help/employer-help-center/pay-freelancers/safepay/We listen to any complaints or trouble all users have ifthey reach out to us. However, there is very little we can do if an employerchose to pay a freelancer and then regretted the decision; that freelancer nowhas full control of that money and is the rightful owner of it.If Mr. [redacted] would like to provide us with specificexamples of our shady practices we would surely address them for him. Hisstatement that there are many examples of similar cases to his is partiallytrue; many times employers hastily pay their freelancers upfront and then seek outa refund through us, without completely understanding that they’ve paid thefreelancer directly and we no longer have control of that money.When SafePay is used properly, we control those fundsuntil they are released and can offer dispute services. It seems that Mr.[redacted] did not use SafePay. If he wishes to continue on our platform he cancertainly contact us for guidance the next time around. Let me know if you haveany questions.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 11914942, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
Jamal [redacted]

Mr [redacted] requested a refund through our system on Jan. 5, 2017.  Our policy is to give the freelancer 3 business days to respond to this request before our system automatically returns the funds to the employer’s account.  In this case, the freelancer did not respond and the money was...

returned January 11. The money has been sitting in the employer’s account, available for withdraw.  Today, January 16, I have returned those funds to the payment method originally used.    Sincerely, Joe Guru.com Support Team

Mr. [redacted] did make two payments to the same freelancer on our site.  [redacted] did reach out to our support and the information given is correct.  All payments made are finale.  Once the freelancer withdraws those funds, we are no longer in control of them.  The freelancer in this...

case did withdraw the funds. However, it is clear that the freelancer does admit the error and intention to pay the employer back, but does not currently have the credit on our site to do so.  In this case I’ve made an exception to debit the funds from the freelancer’s account now and credit them back to Mr. [redacted]’s account.  This is not common practice, but given the amount of the dispute, I’m fine with making this exception. The funds are currently waiting in the cash account.  If Mr. [redacted] logs in and adds his withdrawal method back to our site those funds can be returned.  Otherwise they are waiting there for future use.  [redacted] can feel free to reach out to us if he has any further issues.      Sincerely, Joe Guru.com Support Team

Hi I read your response, unfortunately it is very inaccurate.  I tried several times before the dates you listed to reach someone regarding the matter. I emailed once on September the 5th, 9th, 16th, I can forward each and every email sent. I also called the ###-###-####, option 1 during normal business hours over 8 times leaving messages four times, twice on the 09/16/2014 once on the 9/15/2014 at 12:37pm, once on the 9/08/2014.  I can forward a screenshot of the phone log also to prove it. With each call I left my buyer ID, the company I was dealing with and my contact information. I never received one call back or email stemming from any of those calls. They never answered the phone once it just goes to voicemail. I don't accept the response because I used the Guru website in good faith they did not offer assistance until the end after my complaint Revdex.com. The sad part is the assistance offered here does not solve the problem if I would have received a response I could have avoided paying the crooked freelancer half of the money but they never responded so I felt trapped. Guru seems t be a safe haven for crooked freelancer's and since the company driving the site and quite often is not there to offer help they go unchecked.
I would like either the correct file delivered to me as I stated (complete with no admin controls to adjust or change the file as we see fit with no hindrance or assistance from the freelancer) per Guru's policy before I approve the final amount disbursed from safe pay. I will still approve the final payment since I am a man of my word. If not I would like a total refund of my amount paid of $200.00