With the first two suppliers, the writers ignored half of my criteria despite my specific say-so and emphasis that they must be adhered to the letter. Instead of canning the project though, I was willing to extend the deadline, so long as the criteria were met. I was happy enough with the general quality of the articles to give these writers another chance to deliver on the project.
The third writer produced the best articles but had some severe internet access troubles and was the last to deliver.
Whilst I had some bad experiences, ultimately I got what I wanted. Here is some advice when outsourcing work on such sites as rentacoder and elance:
- Never pay out until you are 100% satisfied with the completed work. No matter how long the deadlines are extended and how frustrating it gets, never cut your losses and accept lesser work - always insist on 100% satisfaction or don't pay a penny.
- State explicitly what you need in the original tender and state that this must be met. Do not leave any room for ambiguity, be as specific as you can.
- Be willing to accommodate the writer's circumstances. For instance, if there is an emergency in his/her life, kindly extend the deadline. We are all human.
- If the work submitted is not as requested, be polite but demonstrate how this is the case, extend the deadline, and insist on a resubmission.
- Always communicate via the website as all communications are put on official record and cannot later be denied by either party.
- Don't be fooled by ratings of 9.9. Make sure to check the comments as well as the ratings. If you still have some doubts, try a smaller project first. For instance, I have 3 small projects and may well choose the best person to do a larger project on later.
