When I first signed up for Freelancer as a customer back in 2015, I wanted to hire someone to build me a mass URL shortener with features like geo-targeting, and multiple types of redirections. The first freelancer I picked was an Australian guy who built a fairly decent bulk shortener. We agreed on the price, and everything; I remember it being exactly $156. As soon as I deposited the money, the guy vanished before I could even pay him, and of course, the project vanished along with him. The second freelancer I hired was Indian. He promised that he’d send the script as soon as he got home from his office; he tricked me into approving the milestone by telling to approve it partially, and since I was new to Freelancer, I tried doing that to no avail, so I approved the milestone, thinking that I could still report him if he ran away with my money, but we all know how companies, in general, would stop at nothing to avoid responsibilities, so once I approved that milestone, both the Indian scammer, and my money ($93 USD) were gone. I didn’t even bother to let Freelancer know; instead, I took it like a man, and embraced the “fool me once.” approach. Anyway, because I’m not a racist person, and I don’t like to use trauma or betrayal to justify racist behavior, I decided to hire another freelancer who claimed to have a team. He was super nice, and patient. He let me take my time to test the script, and everything; a script which I had to turn into a dull single URL shortener with iFrame redirection. He charged $58 for the project, and since I only had $63 left, I approved the milestone, and sent him the remaining $5 I had as a bonus. I vowed to never hire anybody after that ever again although the last experience was great.
Thing is, I only wanted to hire someone to build me that mass URL shortener for the sake of saving time, since even back then, I had already had 9 years of experience in IT, but I only knew the basics of web programming. Little did I know that, “If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.” Anyway, from that basic single URL shortener, I turned it into a web application full of features in like 6 months, and made thousands of dollars off of it before I abandoned the project. As it turned out, all I needed to learn web programming was — once again — common sense, Google, and the love of my life, Stackoverflow. I’m good with languages, in general, so apparently, that applies to programming languages, too.
Unlike scammers, I’m not really vengeful at all, and my only revenge when people do me wrong is that I just ignore them to death, and never acknowledge or care they exist ever again. Life is a lot more peaceful that way. Also, I never stress myself into making money, and I don’t need an obscene amount of money to survive in my home country; Whenever I say that, I remember the lyrics from OneRepublic’s Say (All I Need):
Well, all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest my head