Elance abuses Privacy! I have just been informed by a 3rd party that elance released my transaction history to the said 3rd party! This 3rd party is not a registered user of elance, there was no subpoena, no warrant and no request from any law enforcement agency but this 3rd party was able to send several well crated emails to elance inquiring about my account, acting as a 3rd party (not acting as me) and was able to get access to my transactional history!

Be warned of elance they do NOT protect your privacy.

Elance.com charges a monthly fee to place an ad on their site in order for freelancers (like me) to find work. This is a common and reasonable business practice that pre-dates the internet (newspapers and trade magazines, for example). However, Elance also wants 6% of your wages! This is tantamount to a tax and I don't know how they legally get away with it! I've worked for staffing agencies in the past and if they take a percentage of your income, then they act as your employer and they withhold taxes for you, give you paid holidays, and in some cases, discounts on medical insurance as well. But all Elance does is host a website that allows you advertise (which you pay for, monthly), PLUS they want 6% of your gross earnings! I hope the justice department looks into this (it sounds like the electronic equivalent of indentured servitude). If there's nothing illegal about it, I hope that people aren't foolish enough to just hand over their income to these clowns for doing essentially nothing to earn it, except for allowing you to post an advertisement (which, as I pointed out previously, you already pay for separately on a monthly basis). Elance, shame on you for your greed!

I used elace.com to have some writing done. I just do not have enough time in my life. Most of the providers did good work. One provider did not finish her project and just disappeared. After a two months of trying to contact her I asked elace.com for a refund which I had prepaid for the project. I was told to down load a 4 page word document and fill it out and upload it. As I looked at the document I realized that the reason elace.com did not have a web form was elace.com was trying to complicate the refund procedure so they could keep my money. It was just not worth my time to get a refund. They were keeping my money. I will never use elace.com again! I hate cheaters!