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FreelanceSuite Consumer Alert!

November 19th, 2008 by Renee Rist

Earlier this week, I posted a review on the new project management system, FreelanceSuite. I purchased it for $69.00, after loving the demo, but since the purchase have been very dissatisfied with the lack of support and the product’s bad functionality/usability. I requested a refund from FreelanceSuite, and it’s very important you read this (if you are in any way, shape, or form interested in this product or just curious as to how this whole thing played out). This post is what the nightly news usually dubs as a CONSUMER ALERT or BUYER BEWARE.

As mentioned in my previous post about FreelanceSuite, their customer support is very quick to respond (although not very good at providing helpful information). The minute I requested a refund, there was no one to be found. After being avoided for several days, customer support finally got in touch with me.

I will let you read the conversation I had with FreelanceSuite below; you can draw your own conclusion as to whether you want to give your hard earned, freelance dollars to this company or not.

Me: “After having trouble during the installation, and then finding out my clients can not track their project’s overall progress through the “task” feature in FreelanceSuite, I would like to request that my $69.00 be refunded. Unfortunately, I have no use for this product if my clients can’t track the progress of their project. Thanks so much.”

FreelanceSuite: “I’m sorry you feel this way. I was just informed that this feature is actually added (along with many other additions) in the upcoming upgrade, scheduled to be released tomorrow.”

Me: “That is good to know for future buyers, but after all this trouble, I am no longer interested in the product. Please refund my money.”

I’m going to interrupt this lovely conversation to tell you TWO VERY IMPORTANT things. FIRST, after my second request for a refund, I was then avoided (again) for a few more days. During this time the so-called “feature update” was NEVER released. This makes me feel as though I was lied to in order for FreelanceSuite to keep my money. SECONDLY, the above conversation was DELETED in my ticket queue by FreelanceSuite. This is what I like to call… suspicious behavior.

Just today, I opened another ticket, marked it as “high-priority”, and sent it with an all-caps title of “REFUND” and wrote the following statement below. FreelanceSuite, surprisingly, responded just this morning.

Me: “When I’ve asked a question about the product, I’ve been quick to get a response. I asked for a refund SEVERAL days ago only to be avoided. Please refund my money as this program is not worth the $69. If you will not refund my $69, then I will open a dispute with PayPal to get it returned. Thank You.”

FreelanceSuite: “Hi. I was going to issue the refund today, in spite of the fact that you’re not entitled for it, since you were able to see all features on our demo so there were no surprises. I will issue the refund later today (btw disputing on PayPal will be rejected since you already have the product). Thank you for your interest, good luck with your search.”

Maybe my anger is fuzzing up my judgment, but I not only found that reply rude, but unprofessional. No surprises you say? Au contraire! There were three bombs dropped on me this week: clients can’t track project progress, your customer support is terrible and offensive, and I was lied to. That’s not enough for a refund? Wow.

I’m a very honest person as I’m sure many of you out there are, and when things like this happen it angers and saddens me. I guarantee my money was not going to be refunded today; they deleted the original refund request as though it was never there! I don’t even expect them to make good on their latest refund promise.

Moral(s) of the Story

1. Be very careful where you spend your money.

2. A product demo is not a 100% accurate judgment of how you’re going to “mesh” with a piece of software, I don’t care what anyone says.

3. Always research your refund options, even if you think you’ll never need one.

Posted in Design, Freelance, Product Reviews |

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12 Responses to “FreelanceSuite Consumer Alert!”

Patrick Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Do they typically offer a refund policy? If not that would definitely be a buyer beware. It sounds like their software may have bugs or glitches that they are working out on your money. Good post, sorry to hear about the problems but maybe this can help others to avoid companies that aren’t honestly there to help you.
Renee Rist Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I went back and looked today when I had issues with them, and I can’t find a refund policy ANYWHERE. Crazy, right? Especially when you are selling software.
Deron Sizemore Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Wow! I would be livid in your position. Seems apparent to me that they are aware the product lacks some essential features that consumers are wanting, therefore they try to somewhat hide the fact that they aren’t available in the full version once you purchase it.

Wish I could give you some advice as to what to do, but unfortunately there’s not much you can do (besides what you’re doing) in this situation.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, remember? Just keep at it, you’ll get your money back at some point. ;)

Stumbled!
Kimberly Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 10:01 am
That is really too bad and a bad judgment on their part, as us designers and arts folks have a large community - if something works, everyone knows about it…if something goes wrong, everyone knows about it. I was very pleased that I did not actually purchase - I ask for a trial, but due to heavy work load I was not able to take time needed to get it up and running. I did receive two emails asking me to purchase but no reply to my request to extend trial time. Thank you for going before us to test this out and I will not be purchasing this product.
chad Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 10:12 am
I’m really glad to see this post. I was considering dropping basecamp and freeagent to give this app a shot. I’m really glad that I did not do that. Even though I do not usually use support I have to know that it there and beneficial to questions or issues that I may have.
Renee Rist Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Thanks for the positive feedback everyone! I’m glad to shine some light on FreelanceSuite, especially since no one knows a lot about it due to it being so new. I hope it will improve in the future, but I still wouldn’t purchase it after this experience.

For those of you looking for a project management system, I’ve found Project Pier (ITS FREE) and very good. I was on the fence about it earlier this year (hence looking elsewhere for CRM systems). However, they just recently updated it and made some new themes (very trendy, sleek web 2.0) that are beautiful. I’m letting my first client use it this week. I’m going to write a review on it too!

Knowing I helped some of you made losing 69 bucks kinda worth it! :)
Dave Engle Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Though I agree their response was less than professional, their point is valid; you had ample time on the demo to test out features, including the missing aspects which you only delved deep enough to find after purchasing the software. You should be a little more thorough in your testing of product demos next time. Glad you receive your money back, but you should be thankful you did, because they were definitely not in a position where they owed it to you.

I only offer this point of view because I work in software development and you always have to look at things from both sides.
Renee Rist Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
@Dave - Very valid point, and I did have ample time and used it wisely (or so I thought). So, I’m either dumb because I didn’t check every little detail (down to the assumed and obvious) or they are dumb for not allowing clients to monitor project progress.

The purpose of this post overall was not to bash this company or cry “oh why me”. If they keep my money that’s fine. I just want to make sure other designers do not miss what I did, because it’s VERY easy to.
chad Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
@Dave Engle - I somewhat agree with you however certain things are expected and for me it comes more down to whether they offer meaningful support. I don’t believe the company ran a beta version to test for unforeseen issues and therefore should have most issues and defiantly all of the basics worked at the time of launch considering the charge.
Dave Engle Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
BTW I was not posting to cause drama; I found the review quite helpful! Keep up the good writing-
Renee Rist Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
@ Dave - I’m glad you found it helpful. I know you weren’t trying to start drama. All comments good or bad are always welcome!
Ryan Says:
February 19th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Thank you for the review of this app. My team and I have actually been in the process of creating a similar app, and just found FreelanceSuite this morning. Although our app upon launch will not be as feature deep as FreelanceSuite, we will provide the necessities for managing and organizing your freelance business — my providing an outlet to organize clients and proposals.

End half shameless plug.

Thanks for the review