Compelling clients to post complete job discriptions or at least require them to respond to follow-up and clarifying questions.
A common issue many writers have with this site is that you allow clients to post incomplete job descriptions, and then do NOT compel them to respond to clarifying questions. This forces us to bid blindly--or not at all. FIX THIS!
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Official comment
Many thanks for your suggestion. I will pass it on to our product team.
Please let me know if I can help you with anything else.
Comment actions -
Kelly
As a photographer I see far too many projects with grossly inadequate project details, and the fault lies with this site's management and programming.
Within the past few days we have had several project owners post requirements for event photography lacking the essential information - date, start time, end time, venue, and number of attendees - ALL of which affect our costings.
I have been hearing this "official comment" for at least the past two years, and this site has taken no action whatsoever about this problem. That indicates either:
- a lack of interest in the problem by the site management;
- a lack of willingness to resolve this issue by the site management;
- a lack of understanding about how badly it affects the day to day working of the site from the perspective of those bidding on jobs; or
- a belief by site management that the problem is not important.
There are two problems that needs to be resolved, and could be, almost at a stroke with two minor changes to the "new project" set-up screen.
The big visible problems that we, as bidders, suffer are:
- the word REMOTE; and
- the BUDGET (or lack of it).
This big problem about BUDGET that is not so obvious to bidders is that on the project set up page it is optional. Please make BUDGET mandatory, and like rival site freelancer.com, make the BUDGET a range, not a single figure.
See this link for a job with a BUDGET RANGE I have just completed on that site.
The second big problem is the section marked ADVANCED OPTIONS in the project set up page. They should also be made mandatory.
See this link with grossly inadequate information for a date and location specific event based photography job on this site, and this link showing the fact that essential fields in the project posting page are optional and not mandatory.
Please don't just send this to the product team and forget about it. Tell the product team that we need feedback, and that includes the date by which they propose to implement the changes please.
I for one am fed up with these problems being ignored.
Thank you.
Barney
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This is an increasingly frustrating problem. All we get is the standard KellyBot response and no inducation that te 'producttion' team is actually looking at this.
I've suggested that if clarifications are NOT responded to, or at least shown to have been read, after 3 days that the job is paused.
And if not dealt with after a further 7 days then the job is cancelled and proposals refunded.
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This is a message for Kelly (see above)
Please provide a detailed written response to all of the points raised in this thread.
Please DO NOT repeat that it has simply been passed to your product team. We require please:
- Details of which changes they are going to make in response to this thread, and
- The date by which those changed will be implemented.
Please DO NOT ignore this request.
I have software programmers who could make these changes in less than one hour. If your product team is incapable of implementing these changes, perhaps you'd like to post a project asking one of your freelancers here to do the job for you.
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In many ways I agree - but I have been here since they began (ten long years nearly) and built up a great reputation. it would be such a shame to lose that.
I just wish they could rewind five years and start fresh. It used to be brilliant.
There was a time when I got 4 or 5 hourlie sales EVERY DAY! Because they would promote them on our behalf via emails.
Now I sell one a week if i am lucky.
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I too have been here for nearly 10 years. And in that time period accumulated a substantial client base and many repeat customers. But with the decline of this site, I am losing my clients to other sites. Therefore, this site is undermining my reputation by association. If it does not make an abrupt about turn, I will follow my clients to other sites.
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I am quite sad about this actually. I really feel like I want to find a way to make it work. But, like you, I am losing my clients.
I dread each time a client comes back to me and says that they didn't realise they have to pay fees. Or they say they will accept my proposal and then disappear. No doubt because they get to the fee section and realise they can't afford it.
I am having to explain policies on behalf of PPH and appease my clients. That's not my job to sell the service for PPH.
What other sites are there? Upwork is no better. Freelancer is awful. Bark is a rip off.
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I agree on Bark and Upwork, but disagree on Freelancer. I am very happy there and am close to the 50 feedbacks there.
TBH this site is starting to feel a bit like the way Zivity has gone - not caring about the people who pay the bills - us!
The worst thing here was the hike in the commission fees. Correct me if I am wrong but it used to be 14%. Now it's 24%.
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Actually, you might be right. I read a blog on the founder, Xenios's site the other day and it mentioned that PPH first made a profit in 2013 - it had been running at a loss until then.
I might be wrong, but it was about that time that things began to go downhill for everyone but the shareholders.
it is such as shame that the only way to make a profit these days is to run a business that has few ethics.
I am of the belief that PPH is part of a strategy that is coming to an end for the owners. I expect they are building up the profit sheet to offer it for sale or merger.
Judging by the trustpilot score lately - it is doing a poor job.
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Suggestion: why don't the contributors to this thread post every single project they see that doesn't provide enough information, but would have done if this site made the "additional" options mandatory?
I'll start:
https://www.peopleperhour.com/job/photography-and-video-1776150
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