I'm happy to announce that we are moving our computing infrastructure to the VMWare cloud computing infrastructure. This is a significant hardware and software investment that will bring a # of improvements:
1) Faster: brand new hardware with faster cpus and more memory for all machines (State of the art quad core, quad processor machines)
2) Better reliability: If any machine physically fails, another machine will take over for it and "migrate" the server to a better machine.
3) Snapshot capability: The ability to backup servers instantly to increase reliability during site enhancements.
The site cloud will also have a dedicated fiber channel Storage Area Network (SAN) which provides additional redudancy and reliability at the hard drive level.
About 50% of the migrations will occur invisibly and seamlessly with no issues to site users. The remaining 50% will require the site to be brought down for maintainence during off-peak hours. We will be preserving all data and will notify you once we have more information on the timing in a few weeks.
Ian Ippolito
P.S. Click here for more information on VMWare cloud computing.
61 comments:
RentACoder has been providing excellent maintenance services without much interfering with the website visitors. Hope through this Cloud computing infrastructure via VMWare, it opens the door to a much more sophisticated technology upgrading their servers, bringing down the downtime.
Congrats to vWorker.com
Best Wishes
-Srini
www.SEOFastGuide.com
Congratulation !!!
RAC is going to next higher level technology. Its a Great Move.
Regards,
-Nitin
www.airzoom.vkscientific.com
Good move Ian!
Glad to hear that!
it really a great news. this proves that RAC is the best of the best
nmrony
RAC Provider
pro.nmrony@yahoo.com
RAC is one of the premier "go to" sources to find and hire quality programming talent. Moving to the CLOUD is a major strategic and tactical maneuver.
I wonder why you guys selected to go with VMWire vs. the many others avail?
www.FerreeMoney.com
A very interesting news to hear.
Go Ahead RAC....sorry VWorker!
I am very happy listening that vWorker.com is going to use the latest technology to server better though still now they are serving better.
Best Regards
Kamal
Brothersteam
Congrats IAN !
It's really happy to see changing world !!
Srini,
>>RentACoder has been providing excellent maintenance services without much interfering with the website visitors. Hope through this Cloud computing infrastructure via VMWare, it opens the door to a much more sophisticated technology upgrading their servers, bringing down the downtime.
Thank you. Yes, I am excited to be seeing the positive benefits from all those things soon. Thanks for the well wishes.
Dolarpond,
Thanks and yes it is amazing technology.
Waseem,
Thanks!
TSE Team,
:)
Nur, thanks!
JNFerree, thanks. VMWare offered the best balance of features with experience and also the smoothest transition period (which is important because we can't afford to take down the site unnecessarily).
Sooraj,
LOL It's an adjustment for me to get used to the new name too. Thanks!
Kamal,
You are very kind and thanks!
admin,
It is very exciting! Thank you.
Ian
great jugaad for users and nice domain name. hope it will work more for the coders and buyers.
www.projectsjugaad.com
Congrats Ian.. This is definitely gonna be better:) Cant wait to see the new site. RAC is one of the best platforms and I am sure vWorker is gonna be the same..
Thanks, Vik
www.esigners.in
Can you consider the following ?
1)Ability to view the complete bid request from the browsing page via expand collapse (i hate opening 16 tabs in FF to read projects)
2)Browse projects should be Ajaxed , next , back , filter , sort all should be done from same page and ajaxed and very light . This will reduce your processing and CPU as well .
3)Upload files should be unlimited number , should allow rar,zip, png ,jpeg , bmp,gif , 7z
Should work with progress like Gmail .
i dont like the name worker by the way .
You should keep RentAcoder for coders only and remove everything else to the new site vWorker.
Consider a web2 ish design , i think the new design seems bulky and heavy , maybe worse than the old one .
Buyers should have a guarantee as well , so they dont post projects just to see how much is worth .
Make a fixed fee like 10$ for posting , not a problem for buyers , but makes my life easier reading specs for buyers who just post while they are working on solving it with other coders .
Having buyers post projects for free is the source of all evils . No need to have buyer post (make me an operating system ) for 30 dollars . bad for every one ...
Ability to download attachment from the browse page is also desired .
About Fee ,
Consider wire transfer option for payment .have been used since years on other web sites . Coder provides SWIFT and account number and that's all whats needed to make it work .
Western union is the only option for some of us , huge fee .
Place a warning beside the project re-post if it went to arbitration before .I guess that's fair .
I saw some buyers making the project 6 times and taking to arbitration each time , making great benefit from the arbitration system . Coder needs to eat sometimes too not buyers only .
Vik,
>>Congrats Ian.. This is definitely gonna be better:) Cant wait to see the new site. RAC is one of the best platforms and I am sure vWorker is gonna be the same..
I am excited to see it as well. Thanks!
Ian
Ian,
Its nice to know RAC is improving site effeciency by using advance tools. But I think it is a good time to discuss the ISSUES as well the Coders are facing (hope you will reply this message as well like you are replying those who are just congratulating) :)
- In other forums i.e. Elance, if Buyer posts un-realistic and harsh FEEDBACK and Rating to Coder, the Coder has right to get the forum involved, investigate and REMOVE the FEEDBACK if they found that the Buyer is Un-Fair but on RAC it's not like that.
- RAC is the most costly forum for Buyer especially for those parts of world where PayPal Service is not available.
RAC Commission: 15%
Remmittance Fee: $10
Western Union Fee: (could never understand. Every time different)
PLUS: WesternUnion gives the WORST Rate (very less than the banks)
So, as per our calculation, coder has to finally pay 25% to 30% in some cases (KILLING)
I wrote the RAC Finance department many of times to use MoneyBookers which is the CHEAPEST Source for money transfer, but RAC did never send positive and logical response
- A project goes into arbitration, twice, must not be allowed to post again or RAC must put some NOTICE that the Coders should be careful from such buyer.
Thank you
Shams Gulzar
Chief Executive
CROSSBIZ
rac@crossbiz.net
Great JOB! Love the site and will continue with you guys for a long time to come.
Shams,
>>Its nice to know RAC is improving site effeciency by using advance tools. But I think it is a good time to discuss the ISSUES as well the Coders are facing (hope you will reply this message as well like you are replying those who are just congratulating) :)
This blog is supposed to be for the topic of cloud computing, but as you can see I've been respoding to even the off-topic posts.
>>- In other forums i.e. Elance, if Buyer posts un-realistic and harsh FEEDBACK and Rating to Coder, the Coder has right to get the forum involved, investigate and REMOVE the FEEDBACK if they found that the Buyer is Un-Fair but on RAC it's not like that.
RAC does sometimes remove feedback...here is our current policy:
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/RatingAndRatingCommentChangePolicy.asp
If Elance has a discovered a repeatably method that is repeatable, fair and does not impinge on preserving both party's rights to express their opinion we will certaily take a look at it. What is the link to this policy of theirs?
>>- RAC is the most costly forum for Buyer especially for those parts of world where PayPal Service is not available. RAC Commission: 15%
First, you said "buyer" but you seem to have meant "coder".
Second, your blanket statement of 15% is not always correct. The max on pay-for-time is 10% (and 9% for a repeat buyer) and goes as low as 6.5%. The max on pay-for-deliverables is indeed 15% for a new buyer, but 12.5% for a repeat buyer, and it can go as low as 7.5%
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/dotnet/Docs/FindersFeeComissionSchedule.aspx
Third, if you compare *all* the costs, we are not the most expensive and often the most affordable.
As an example, on elance they charge you a monthly subscripton fee of $9.95-39.95/month (which we don't). They also charge you $66 - $133 to exercise your payment guarantee (and we do this for free).
To compare all 7 major sites, see this link:
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/DotNet/misc/CompetitorInformation/WhyRentACoder_ForSellers.aspx
>>Remmittance Fee: $10
Correct, for WU, Payoneer, and check. For Payapl it is $2 (but as you said you can't use that).
>>Western Union Fee: (could never understand. Every time different)
First, this is not our fee, but something created by Western Union. But you can go to their website and they layout the payscale for you so you can know how much it is in advance.
(continued on next email because this has exceeded the size limitation).
Shams (part 2)
>>PLUS: WesternUnion gives the WORST Rate (very less than the banks) So, as per our calculation, coder has to finally pay 25% to 30% in some cases (KILLING)
>>I wrote the RAC Finance department many of times to use MoneyBookers which is the CHEAPEST Source for money transfer, but RAC did never send positive and logical response
First, you can get a mailed check for $10 flat and there won't be percentage fee charge like with Moneybookers. So if you are getting a $1000 check, it would be 1%.
Or you can use Payoneer which is a fixed fee plus a few dollars a month, and again no percentage fee like Moneybookers.
We contacted MOneybookers a few years ago and found issues with them, and just re-examined this a few weeks ago and found that some things had improved, but other had not. For instance, sending payments to thousands of people every two weeks is a complicated process and things always go wrong that need to be fixed. With PayPal (for example) they provide us with a dedicated account rep who fixes those issues. With moneybookers you can't even reach a human being on the moneybookers phone line, as it always goes to "leave a message". That's simply not acceptable when you are sending hundreds of thousands of dollars of transactions.
>>- A project goes into arbitration, twice, must not be allowed to post again or RAC must put some NOTICE that the Coders should be careful from such buyer.
First, you can see the arbitration record of every buyer, so if you don't want to bid on these projects, you can avoid them.
Second, if the buyer lost the arbitration he generally doesn't repost it...so this normally a case where the coder messed up.
Third, in the situation where the buyer didn't lose the arbitrations, it's not impossible to get 2 arbitrtions on a project. For example, they post it and the first coder declines in the 24 hour cancellation period (arbitration #1) and the 2nd coder they pick doesn't deliver as they agreed (arbitration #2). Putting up a warning on such a situation would be excessive.
Ian
Joel,
>>Great JOB! Love the site and will continue with you guys for a long time to come.
Thanks!
Ian
i just want to know about the money transfer fee calculator you have put on you site is not correct or something. my brother send me 300 $ from USA to pakistan the fee was 15$. but on the rentacoder fee calculator the fees amount is 29$. can you expain this please.i am confues
Westren Union at Rentacoder.
i examined and i am very confuse about the rentacoder fees calculator stuff. the fee calculator of rentacoder is not matching up with the orignal westren union fees on their site.
i just made a test payment on the website of westren union for 300$. they charged me 10$ to send the money to pakistan.
now if i have 300$ in my rentacoder account. firt of all the processing charges will be taken which will be 10$. then remaining amount is put in to that calculator to calculate the westren union fees. for 300 which will be 29$. so 29+10 is equal to 39$. there is a difference of 29$ i dont understant. the 10 $ for process is good, but can you expalian why is the difference on the site calculator fees and the calculator at the westren union official website. please explain. i think the fee calculator thning on tht site is not correct comparing to westren union.
I am excited to see your new site too, as I have had some technical issues with the current RAC site. I too do not like that I must open new window after new window just to get to what I want. It's annoying. Also, there have been many times where I would be continuously asked for my login/password and I nearly stopped using the site altogether for this issue. But hopefully the new "virtual worker" -vWorker, site is better and easier.
I am happy for you, and us.
Thank you, Daniel Ambrose
Affiliates Paid $100.00 to sign up for free!
We have always experienced the best with Rentacoder.
Good luck
Balaji
www.svastisoft.com
Dear Ian Ippolito,
We were a group of small time developers.
Rent A Coder provided a great opportunity for us to enter the global market.
Most of the RAC facilities are perfectly balanced between buyer and coder.
An important suggestion I have is regarding rating. I strongly suggest introducing a facility in RAC (may be for a fee) to check the communication
between user and buyer to decide whether the rating is completely uncalled for.
regards,
Sujith S
D e v e l o p e r s I n c
Daniel,
>>I am excited to see your new site too,
I'm glad to hear that.
>>as I have had some technical issues with the current RAC site.
I too do not like that I must open new window after new window just to get to what I want. It's annoying.
It's difficult to know exactly what you're referring to without more details. In general a new window is opened becuase we think the user will want it that way, but if you don't then please do send in your suggestion to the suggestion box.
>>Also, there have been many times where I would be continuously asked for my login/password and I nearly stopped using the site altogether for this issue.
This is usually a cookie related issue (sometimes a cookie gets corrupted or a 3rd party software such as an ad remover or firewall interferes). If you are having technical issues, please don't hesitate to contact technical support, becuase that is what they are there for.
>>But hopefully the new "virtual worker" -vWorker, site is better and easier. I am happy for you, and us.
Thanks.
Ian
Balaji
>>We have always experienced the best with Rentacoder. Good luck
I'm delighted to hear that. Thanks!
Ian
Suhith,
>>We were a group of small time developers. Rent A Coder provided a great opportunity for us to enter the global market.Most of the RAC facilities are perfectly balanced between buyer and coder.
I'm delighted to hear that.
>>An important suggestion I have is regarding rating. I strongly suggest introducing a facility in RAC (may be for a fee) to check the communication between user and buyer to decide whether the rating is completely uncalled for.
I'll put this in as a suggestion from you. Thanks.
Ian
great example:
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/BidRequests/ShowBidRequest.asp?lngBidRequestId=1402038&txtForceRefresh=5220101925249197
* 2-page brochure
* Text for both pages will be provided in Word 2007 format
* Need a modern clean and original design
* Would like to see some samples of previous work
* Company logo also needed
* Should have a fast turn-around time.
Max Accepted Bid: $30.00 (USD)
Congratulations!! Glad to hear that.
Pavel,
>>Congratulations!! Glad to hear that.
Thanks!
Ian
Natalia/Stiro,
>>great example:
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/BidRequests/ShowBidRequest.asp?lngBidRequestId=1402038&txtForceRefresh=5220101925249197
This is completely offtopic to the vWorker cloud computing topic being discussed, but I'll respond to it anyway.
First, as I mentioned when we talked about this on the other blog posting, if you don't want to see jobs like this, you can set your filter so they aren't shown to you. So you only have to see jobs like this if you've chosen to do so. So assuming you've chosen to see these...
Second, there is no doubt that many buyers do not know how much work is required to do a job. To know that, would mean they would have to have a technical knowledge...and if they had that, they wouldn't need to post the project in the first place. So by definition, many buyers will have no idea how much a job is worth. A few buyers will have experiernce and know pricing in advance, so if this aggravates you so much, you can limit your bidding only to those buyers. However you will miss out on the opportunities to turn around newer buyers...it's a choice you have to make.
Third, a buyer can post something, but that doesn't mean they are going to get it. It's premature to get aggravated at the buyer for just posting something. If it's too low, no one will take the project and bid and they are forced to raise it. If they don't have the budget, then they just have to wait until they do, or never get the project done.
Or perhaps someone actually thinks the price is fair enough for them to bid. Just becuase it is not worth it to you, does not mean it is not worth it to someone else (they may be looking at future compensation from the buyer for instance, and doing a "loss leader" type of marketing where you get the buyer hooked and then raise the price...a common technique not just in services but also when selling merchandise, etc). So in that case, it's worth it to them and they are happy with the result (and so is the buyer) so as long as they are happy, that is fine too.
But if none of those are the case and the buyer ignores the designers telling them it's too low AND manages to get a bid from someone who bids low enough AND they happen to be awful:the project goes into arbitration where the buyer gets a refund and the awful person has their profile updated so that others avoid them. We advise the buyer in arbitration to raise their price, and they can then choose to raise it, or not get the work done.
Ian
Natalia/Stiro,
As a followup to the above, I understand the frustration you are expressing and believe it is valid in the cases of some buyers. Stats show that 18% of buyers choose the lowest bidder:
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/Dotnet/misc/About/ThePulseOfRentACoder.aspx#BiddingStatistics
However I think it is a waste of precious energy to target those buyers who simply don't have the budget and never will. Forcing minimiums, etc. is not going to suddenly make those buyers pay more...it will just make them drop off the site. And there are many coders who have used those type of buyers to create lucrative careers for themselves, because they allowed them to break onto the site against competitors with many more ratings (and by taking jobs those competitors didn't want to do):
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/SoftwareCoders/Articles/default.asp
Then they use the good ratings to target the other 72% of buyers.
What we are focusing our efforts on instead (rather than trying to "squeeze blood out of a rock" as they sometimes say) is bringing in a new class of buyer that is willing to spend more. Please see my other blog postings where you posted originally as I've talked about this in great length to other people who posted after you did.
Pavel,
>>Congratulations!! Glad to hear that.
Thanks!
Ian
As a buyer, I applaud RAC for not having a minimum project size. If I need a file converted or a few minutes of technical help, that may only be worth $10 or $15 but at least I can still use the same marketplace as I do when I have my larger $500+ projects.
Also I am looking forward to the more streamlined vworker web interface.
Why did you find VMWare to be a better choice than AWS?
Poster,
>>As a buyer, I applaud RAC for not having a minimum project size. If I need a file converted or a few minutes of technical help, that may only be worth $10 or $15 but at least I can still use the same marketplace as I do when I have my larger $500+ projects.
Thank you for your support. I pesronally have used the site for these sorts of things and both parties found it mutually beneficial. I think people get frustrated with buyers with low budgets for lower projects, and want to block projects like this...not realizing that the two are not always related.
>>Also I am looking forward to the more streamlined vworker web interface.
Thanks...so am I!
>>Why did you find VMWare to be a better choice than AWS
It was substantially cheaper for our volume while offering essentially the same features, plus the advantage of control of the infrastructure (there is a risk when using a 3rd party: Amazon can go bankrupt or even if not, could decide to shut down AWS, etc.)
Ian
I wish there was a way to back up my projects on my local pc before this upgrade. I'm worried that there is chane even if very little that my data might be lost.
Joe,
>>I wish there was a way to back up my projects on my local pc before this upgrade. I'm worried that there is chane even if very little that my data might be lost.
I understand your concern. The company we've hired to do the conversion has done thousands of conversions and is very experienced and the project plan takes every possible precaution to protect the data. Despite that...if something unimaginable happens, your data will still exist on the old servers as well, and those won't be decomissioned until at least a month after the conversion (just in case). At the same time, I still can understand your concern. You may wish to purchase a spidering program for a few dollars that will spider your web pages on the site and download all the attachments, etc.. associated with your projects. That way you will have your own private backup (in addition to our backups) that you can immediately access and control.
Ian
Hi Ian .. Thank you for the quick reply. Can you recommend something good?
JoeSmith,
>>Hi Ian .. Thank you for the quick reply. Can you recommend something good?
You're welcome.
We wrote our own spider, so I haven't used any commercial programs, but here are a few that turned up from a google search (in order from cheapest to more expensive). I hope this helps.
Ian
Free:
http://download.cnet.com/WinWSD-WebSite-Downloader/3000-2377_4-10562531.html
$16.95:
http://www.web-site-downloader.com/entire/?pu=false
http://www.websitemanagementtools.com/robot-manager/standard.php
http://www.inspyder.com/products/Web2Disk/Website-Downloader.aspx?referrer=goog&gclid=CMDnw-y7vKECFQRinAodcgG2_A
Looks none of these work on RAC ... If anybody knows a way to do it, I would appreciate it.
Also, this $16.95 app seems to be the same exact freeware here:
http://www.httrack.com/page/1/en/index.html
Joe, perhaps someone else will post. However, what exactly didn't work with those programs with RAC?
Ian
It seems that most of these apps are not able to login. Even though, I first will log in, and clicked on remember me.
I did pay someone $200 to create a app specific for RAC (Bid Request Id: 1283097). There were some changes on the HTML make up of the site and not it is not working well. I tried to contact the coder but got no response.
I wish there was a way where RAC itself allowed for an organic ONE click backup on my pc.
MT,
>>I would also suggest to atleast add MoneyBookers as an additional payment gateway as it Supports Pakistan and is much cheaper than western union. Western Union not only takes a high free but also offers much less exchange rate. I vote for MoneyBookers.
I appreciate your feedback. At the same time, this is not a situation where any of us have a vote. We're waiting on MoneyBookers to reply to show that they can address the 2 issues...which is going to determine what happens.
Ian
Ahsan, (same as Haik since your message was essentially the same).
Ian
JoeSmith,
>>It seems that most of these apps are not able to login. Even though, I first will log in, and clicked on remember me.
That is very strange. Is the https/ssl the problem? If so, this product says it supports https:
http://www.surfoffline.com/
>>I did pay someone $200 to create a app specific for RAC (Bid Request Id: 1283097). There were some changes on the HTML make up of the site and not it is not working well. I tried to contact the coder but got no response.
I see you posted it back in 2009, so yes the site has changed since then. Since you released funds 100% we can't help you with arbitration...but even if we could, it wouldn't be fair since the coder did deliver to his contract at the time.
You could post it out to someone else if you wished.
>>I wish there was a way where RAC itself allowed for an organic ONE click backup on my pc.
Thanks for the suggestion...it's been added to the suggestion box. Just to let you know, this is not something that many others have asked for (in fact you are the first). With over 500 items in just our short list and many, many more requests beyond this, more users would have to want it as well in order to prioritize it higher.
Ian
Arslan,
>>Wao, this blog is actually very enlightening So since we are talking openly here, any chance of my account getting unbanned IAN? It was banned because of confusion and misconceptions. I hope since Ian is talking more frankly here, I'd be able to explain things in a better way. Arslan
This is offtopic to the discussion. If you have an issue with your account, you can call in or email a facilitator. If we made a mistake we'll fix it, but on the other hand, if no mistake was made then your account will have to remain banned.
Ian
Ian, I did not ask for this to be done for free by the coder or anything remotely like that. I want to pay him/her to get it compatible. As you can see, I already paid for the previous version in 2009.
I wanted the same guy to make the changes since I will not need to explain to him what is needed. I was just showing how important that "feature" was to me.
Hi Ian - great job and am looking forward to it. Big question on affiliate links - will there be payments for bringing new coders on board in the near future - as well - any new banners?
Nick.Clark
RAC Provider
www.webtemplex.com
Hi Nick,
>>Hi Ian - great job and am looking forward to it.
Thanks...me too.
>>Big question on affiliate links - will there be payments for bringing new coders on board in the near future - as well - any new banners?
There will indeed be new banners. As far as coders, we pay affiliate payments based on the income you bring in. Unlike other sites that charge coders a subscription fee, we don't. So there would be no income to split with you. Hope that makes sense.
Ian
Hi Ian -
on being an affiliate of the site... the idea of bringing in Coders who may not have heard of the site to bring in more outsourced people - hence, being able to keep the project on vWorker instead of the Customer bouncing to elance or guru.
We know that most customers often post a project on several sites - that being said, if it were the coder that found vWorker through my aff link - it would only seem fair to gain a portion of that profit from their first job. Much like getting a portion from the Buyers.
Also - would love to see a couple more items I had requested in the past.
1. Notes - the ability to keep a small 250 character note on "Favourite Coders" - often I'll save the profile of (example) a Graphic Artist - but not remember why I thought enough to save their profile - same goes for clients - would be ideal to blip a little reminder of why they were important enough to save.
2. Ability to Block/Ban Clients/Coders. Often we receive requests from clients we wouldn't ever work for or through their background reason for ourselves why not work to for them - same with a vWorker - would be fantastic to block them from responding to our projects or contacting us for work.
I second Mr. Bluffspot's two requested features:
1. Notes - the ability to keep a small 250 character note on "Favourite Coders"
2. Ability to Block/Ban Clients/Coders.
These are cheerful news, but... I prefer to see first and then party later.
I have been a RAC coder for 7-8 years now, and I cannot remember of one single time that I have had a smooth experience in their website.
Lots of server errors, SQL failure and wrong pages, to not mention the usual delay on response to searches and load simple text pages.
Talking now about a complete and drastic change in a website that couldn't be tuned and barely behaved as a beta version along almost a decade, sounds very scary for me - from the point of view of the user.
I believe that RAC staff is full of good intentions, but based on my past experience as a RAC user, I think that it is going to be more like a big disaster than a remarkable improvement.
Hopefully, I will not be around too very often to feel myself bothered with that as I am busy with outside projects, but talking for whose ones that have not the same luck and depends on RAC for living, I sincerelly hope that I am wrong.
After to read a few comments, and talking now about RAC policies, I have a few comments about it too.
I like the way RAC protects coders mostly of times, but I don't like the way as RAC step aside in other situations. Nowadays I have almost 200 projects concluded, and as far as I can remember them only time I got a rating that wasn't a 10 was when I picked a project from a begginer buyer (it was her first project), and regardless the fact I have done on time everything that she asked me, she gave me a 6 just because I have used red letters in a message and then she thought I was 'shouting' to her.
Because this misunderstanding, I got my overall rating screwed forever. In that time I have asked help for RAC in order to fix that, but RAC guys just told me 'sorry, pal, but we cannot do nothing about that'.
I really felt frustrated about this, and think that RAC actually do not mind about mediate situations unless their comission is in jeopardy. Once the project has been accepted and they got their cake slice, everything else is just 'details'.
About payments - I think that RAC should consider to expand to more options. When I started working with RAC, my first payment was a NY check that I couldnt withdraw anywhere (I am from Brazil). Hopefully I had an american customer, so I sent the check to him by regular mail, he deposited the check in his account and then sent the money for me through MoneyGram.
Nowadays, fortunatelly, I get my money through PayPal and then use XOOM to transfer it to my bank account in Brazil. But I keep thinking about several other coders that have similar problems in other countries.
Finally, I don't understand that crazy RAC thing about to make an international phone call to me to confirm if I am really buying a service. A couple times I needed to act as a buyer and performed scrowings with my credit card and then someone from RAC made a phone call to my house - it was very stressful because I couldnt be in home and my wife do not speak english.
I think that RAC should review these points.
YanKleber,
>>After to read a few comments, and talking now about RAC policies, I have a few comments about it too. I like the way RAC protects coders mostly of times
Thanks.
>>but I don't like the way as RAC step aside in other situations. Nowadays I have almost 200 projects concluded, and as far as I can remember them only time I got a rating that wasn't a 10 was when I picked a project from a begginer buyer (it was her first project), and regardless the fact I have done on time everything that she asked me, she gave me a 6 just because I have used red letters in a message and then she thought I was 'shouting' to her. Because this misunderstanding, I got my overall rating screwed forever. In that time I have asked help for RAC in order to fix that, but RAC guys just told me 'sorry, pal, but we cannot do nothing about that'. I really felt frustrated about this, and think that RAC actually do not mind about mediate situations unless their comission is in jeopardy. Once the project has been accepted and they got their cake slice, everything else is just 'details'.
First, YanKleber, please keep your language appropriate to a business setting...or we won't be continuing to converse. Your complaint is that you were "sc#$ed forever" by this 6 rating given to you by a buyer. This brings to mind a number of thoughts:
1) You're complaining this incident caused you irrepairable damage early in your career, but also revealed that you won 200 projects. There are many coders who wish their careers were so damaged as to win 200 projects.
2) Even if #1 were not true: what you're saying is not totally accruate on what RAC's policy is. RAC will change ratings when it is appropriate (see: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/RatingAndRatingCommentChangePolicy.asp)
As an example, we will interfere if the buyer rates you incorrectly (i.e. gives you a poor rating, which is a 3 rating of below) on a project you completed . It's important to understand that this is because that is factually verfiable as incorrect. However at the same time, we only change factually verifiable errors. It is impossible and not desirable to change things that are not (such as opinions). If you have an opinion that a buyer you're working with is just an "average" buyer...even if their own opinion is that they are "perfect 10"...we cannot tell you that you are wrong and the buyer is right. Both of you are entitled to your opinions. Our role is to be as transparent as possible and show everyone what the opinions are, and let them make their minds up for themselves.
The same is true in the opposite situation. Perhaps you felt you were a perfect-10, but for some reason this buyer's opinion of you was that you were just "average". If so, that buyer has a right to express that opinion.
3) Even if #1 and #2 were not true: one bad rating will not ruin a record. Many people recover from ratings as low as -3 and go on to succesful careers by just working a little harder in the next project and not doing the same mistake. In your case, you did not even have it that bad: you did not get a bad rating because you completed the project, and it obviously could not have completed ruined you forever, since you went on to win 200 projects.
(continued in part 2 due to size limit)
Ian
YanKleber,
(part 2)
>>About payments - I think that RAC should consider to expand to more options. When I started working with RAC, my first payment was a NY check that I couldnt withdraw anywhere (I am from Brazil). Hopefully I had an american customer, so I sent the check to him by regular mail, he deposited the check in his account and then sent the money for me through MoneyGram. Nowadays, fortunatelly, I get my money through PayPal and then use XOOM to transfer it to my bank account in Brazil. But I keep thinking about several other coders that have similar problems in other countries.
Yes, if you started with us several years ago, we had only 2 or perhaps 3 payment methods. And since then those have expanded to many more including:
PayPal
Western Union
Snail Mail
Payoneer
And for those countries who can't receive the above:
Intl. Priority Mail
Intl. wire
>>Finally, I don't understand that crazy RAC thing about to make an international phone call to me to confirm if I am really buying a service. A couple times I needed to act as a buyer and performed scrowings with my credit card and then someone from RAC made a phone call to my house - it was very stressful because I couldnt be in home and my wife do not speak english.
I apologize that it was stressful. At the same time you were not singled out. Every single buyer on the site goes through the same process and it is to prevent payment fraud and increase the ability of coders to trust buyers who have been verified. And we warned you in advance (both in your welcome email and then when you posted your project and then when you ran through your first payment) what was going to be done, so that you could make arrangements if you needed to.
Ian
YanKleber,
>>Lots of server errors, SQL failure and wrong pages, to not mention the usual delay on response to searches and load simple text pages.
>>Hopefully, I will not be around too very often to feel myself bothered with that as I am busy with outside projects
This sounds less like a specific request for help and more like venting. But if you would actually like some assistance on any connection problems you are having getting to the site, please contact us via the phone or email.
Ian
Mr. Bluffspot,
>>Hi Ian -
on being an affiliate of the site... the idea of bringing in Coders who may not have heard of the site to bring in more outsourced people - hence, being able to keep the project on vWorker instead of the Customer bouncing to elance or guru. We know that most customers often post a project on several sites - that being said, if it were the coder that found vWorker through my aff link - it would only seem fair to gain a portion of that profit from their first job. Much like getting a portion from the Buyers.
I see what you're saying. So perhaps half the bounty could go to the employer referrer and half to the worker, or something similar. We will definitely consider it...thanks for the idea.
>>Also - would love to see a couple more items I had requested in the past.
>>1. Notes - the ability to keep a small 250 character note on "Favourite Coders" - often I'll save the profile of (example) a Graphic Artist - but not remember why I thought enough to save their profile - same goes for clients - would be ideal to blip a little reminder of why they were important enough to save.
2. Ability to Block/Ban Clients/Coders. Often we receive requests from clients we wouldn't ever work for or through their background reason for ourselves why not work to for them - same with a vWorker - would be fantastic to block them from responding to our projects or contacting us for work.
Both of these are good ideas and already on the list. Thanks.
Ian
Joe,
>>I have comment about Emran's comment. As a buyer, sometimes, I get these $20 bids on work that I know will take a whole lot of time to do properly. Those $20 bidders are ridiculous. And they are almost always newbies. It would be nice to eliminate some newbies by filtering them out.
I personally would like to see a quick way to setup filters.
For example I want to set up these filters:
- Allow only coders who have over 20 ratings on site to place bids
AND/OR
- Allow only coders who have an a cumulative average of 9.5 average on this site
AND/OR
- Allow only coders who have an average of 10.0 average on this site on their latest 5 projects
.......
or something of the like ..
That is a good idea. As a side note: I often tell sellers that just because a person bids low, it doesn't mean the buyer will choose them (and not to waste their time getting upset). You're a good example of a buyer for whom that's true. This has been been appended to the earlier suggestion to add tighter filters for coders as well on projects. Thanks.
Ian
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