First time hiring a freelancer and really doesn't seem to be going well

First off hi people!

I recently hired a team on freelancer who have good feedback on there to build me a adult website.I had a few issues to start with because when i made a bank transfer to add my funds the bank sent it to the wrong account number and it got returned,this delayed getting started for almost 2 weeks.During the 2 weeks the user kept good communication and seemed eager to start,once i'd finally got the payment sorted on a friday he sent me a message asking me to get the milestone payment done because he wanted to get started so i got the milestone setup straight away and then he messaged me back saying he would start on the next working day.This instantly made me wary because he had just rushed me into setting the payment up saying he wanted to get started and then replied back with i'll start on monday,not a real big deal i know but enough to make me unsure of him.

So on Monday they start,i have a reference site that i sent them that i'd like mine similar to and i sent them that along with details of what i'd like.Anyway to cut things short it's now been almost 2 weeks and in that time i've had less communication than before the project started,i'm lucky if i get a reply to my email and he doesn't listen to what i asked for.The website has barely changed since the second day and it's got the copywrite ect of the reference site on it and even a simple thing like having thumnailed categories laid out in rows of 4 has not been done.I wanted a simple little logo with 2 hands on it and the logo had 2 feet instead of hands.I mailed him yesterday about the logo and the thumbnail layout and have heard nothing and nothings changed.He has added a paypal payment on the page which i didn't ask for and i can't even use paypal on a adult site.

He sent me a email a couple of days ago saying he had completed one of the features i asked for a gave me the link so i had a look and it didn't even work.I keep thinking i should give him the benefit of the doubt as this is the first time i've used a freelancer and how they build the site is not something i know a great deal about but i have had a little mess around on wordpress which is what it's being built on and it looks like it wouldn't take to long to knock together what he has done in 2 weeks! I keep saying to myself i should wait until the half way milestone and maybe it will have all came together by then but i have big doubts.What do you guys make of all this? Any advice would be appreciated.

Well, if the person has kept good communication going I suggest giving them the benefit of the doubt. I know someone is always doing coding projects for me and they tell me to look and see if I like and sometimes it doesn't work. I tell my friend about it and they fix it as most of the time its something stupid that causes it not to work.

I suggest emailing him/her about it and let them see what went wrong and fix it for ya so you can see. From what you have posted I don't see anything to get worried about.

Hi,thanks for your reply but i'm not sure if you've read all of my post.Communication has been very poor since awarding the project.On the 28th last month i sent 2 emails with no reply and then i had to email him egain asking he he got my emails and he finally replys back with "yes i got" then 2 days later i asked how the project was going and the reply was "I will send you update tomorrow" and then i don't hear anything for 3 days even though he said the next day and all he can show me 3 days later is something that doesn't even work.I mailed him 2 days ago with 3 questions and as of yet i've had no reply and nothing has changed.Maybe i'm wrong here and this is normal for freelance work? If i am tell me and i'll shut up lol

Lack of communication should never be an issue for a freelancer. I have a client I constantly do work for. I know he will pay me and he trusts me to do work. I still send him periodic emails about where I am in projects, regardless of how focused on coding I may be.

If they just can't deliver what was promised, tell them to stop working as you aren't going to pay them. But like noted above, sometimes there are stupid errors that take only a few seconds to fix.

Also, make sure they understand clearly what you want. I often times will be asked to do something and then when I do it they tell me it's not what they wanted. Make sure you make sense and that they understand what's going on. Communication is key.

edit: no it's not acceptable or normal for freelance work. If you hired me (shameless plug) I would either email you regular updates or chat with you on the phone or Skype.
edit2: I think yo hired someone who doesn't have the best of skills and is struggling to make what you ask for.

Sorry, I missed that part. Well, no matter how much work is involved a good freelancer should keep you updated. If he or she is going 2-3 days without telling you anything and not giving you much to go on I think you should find someone new. Your paying good money to have him or her code you something and if they can't perform on the level that is expected then move on to someone who can.

Thank you for the input guys it's appreciated,i guess i should file a dispute.Hopefully it will go in my favour,i can't see how he could justify me paying for what he has done.Any tips on where to find good freelancers? This guy had good feedback but his work in no way related to his feedback!

Originally Posted by gibbajabba Thank you for the input guys it's appreciated,i guess i should file a dispute.Hopefully it will go in my favour,i can't see how he could justify me paying for what he has done.Any tips on where to find good freelancers? This guy had good feedback but his work in no way related to his feedback!

Was this from Odesk? Hope it goes well, I typically stay away from that place if I actually need to outsource.

Finding a freelancer isn't too hard, but too many people think they will get quality work done for cheap. I think the best thing you can do is be really specific about what you want. Don't worry too much about colors or fonts right away. Have EVERYTHING you want done written out in a nice format. List the required technologies needed. It is just HTML/CSS or do you need a custom wordpress plugin or cool javascript features? These require more advanced skills and if you know which ones they are (php/MySQL, JS, ASP.NET, Rails)then saying those up front will eliminate any unqualified people. I guess some people will try to screw with the system, doing only what they know how to do and then abandoning the project, leaving you unfinished work after paying for something that should already be done.

Just remember that you get what you pay for. Hiring someone to do things for dirt cheap isn't always the way to go. If you want cheap work for actually decent prices, find college local college students.

It was at the site called freelancer,ty i didn't respond until now because the dispute case was still going.Thankfully i won the case today so they didn't get my money although i still lost the fees but i'm happy that i won.Thanks for the info and advice,i'm now very wary of hiring someone as that guy had great feedback on there!

Just remember that you are the one in charge here, you are hiring him to work for you and to satisfy YOUR requirements.

Best of luck sir!