Online Freelancing, watch before you throw in your weight

I recently applied to an online freelance site that promised to bring me in contact with clients from all over the world. I was excited about this because this opportunity afforded me chance to make input into knowledge and development issues as well as making some money by the side. As usual, I filled up a number of forms online, spending a lot of my time trying to be as up-to-date as I could so as to give clients the rest of mind they deserved. I had equally applied to the myriads of jobs that suited my competencies and experiences and I had landed my first job. The site had promised to be a clearing house for the deals between freelancers and clients, so I was excited about this.

However , I woke up to a rude shock this morning. I got a mail informing me that "We noticed you're using our services from a country not supported by (name of site).Unfortunately,we're not able to support users in all countries...because of this your membership has been cancelled,effective immediately". This is indeed disturbing to use the most humble words.This is because the world has become a global village and I was not informed about this in the Term of Agreements. It hurts that I was not given any chance to respond to the mail before actions were taken. And typically, I rushed to my computer, tried to log in , and I found the username "expired!".

Now back to reality, I sent in a mail asking what happens to the money earned? I am yet to receive a feedback. Now the lesson, look before you leap. Many persons try to develop their skills by joining several online sites that provide such opportunities, while helping them earn. Yet, it appears to me that the majority of these sites are not helping globalisation as I wonder how a few countries will be exempted from the process. Sadly, I feel that during the sign up stage, there should be filters to prevent such candidates from registering in the first place. This will prevent the waste of resources, in the area of manpower and time wasted already.

I commend sites that bring a melting between freelancers and clients to ensure they d this to effectively satisfy both parties without recourse to making the freelancer scapegoat.

Have you suffered such before?Lets hear from you