Does anyone else use freelancer here?

Dear Freelancer Marketing Department,

I get all your emails, explaining how to make the most of freelancer and increase your income from freelancing, etc. That's all well and good, and all the advice is good. But here's the reason I pretty much cant use freelancer:

I have enough skills where I could viably make at the very least, a bread and butter income online -- or at best, a very nice full time income. But that can't be bothered using freelancer, because the amount of unnecessary messing around it takes to "freelance" in freelancer completely ruins the process.

You try to bid on a project and there's a bullion nut cases bidding all over the place, No one reads descriptions. People from all over the world are bidding -- many of which can't be trusted and are just looking for an entry point to scam someone.

The BEST way to try to make the most out of freelancer is to get peoples Skype, and take the prospect to personal communication. Trying to use freelancer itself is a nightmare and SIGNIFICANTLY hinders your ability to be able to communicate effectively. This should raise an alarm bells for you, imho. Whether I am right or wrong, this is my perception. The customers perception (especially the one I have) should raise your attention; and I can assure you I am not alone.

In all honestly, when I think "freelancer", I think: "stress", "waste of time", "bid for no reason", "competing with liars", "hassle", "not worth it", "serious guy in a tsunami of ridiculousness", etc

I don't think: "great way to make money", "efficient", "trust", etc.

I can go on and on. But when I read your marketing emails, I keep thinking to myself: "Why don't they spend all that effort improving the quality of the website so REAL freelancers can make it viable?".

Every interaction I've had with support has left me with my face in my hands also. Just saying.

Yeah sure, there are many freelancers that have put in the hard yards and eked out a space where they can be noticed. But for the vast majority, it's nothing short of a time wasting nightmare. In short, you're making money out of (and building a good relationship out of) about 5% of the people you could be making money out of. The rest is all hit and miss. All those people would jump ship in an instant if something better came along. And it will, if you don't listen to emails like the one I have taken the time to write right now.

I really wish I could turn freelancer into a home ncome. I would LOVE to. What a lifestyle that would be. But I am just not willing to spend 60% of the week stuffing around with clowns and cumbersome interaction methods for several months to try and make it work. I know that with a great deal of stress and patience I could also find a way to eke out a living on freelancer, but I couldn't sustain the blows to my income, time and patience to persist.

In short: Freelancer is broken. As a marketing department, you're like an empty or ill-stocked supermarket that's sending people recipes and grocery saving tips, to try to inspire people to come and shop with you. But your marketing isn't going to work if the customers have simply crossed you out. And yes, I know you have a monopoly, but believe me, you're not making it work anywhere near as good as it could be. If you ever have any significant competition,people are gong to flee. Believe me. I'll be one of the first.

This email isn't meant to me spiteful or nasty. It's a frank and honest opinion. I took the time to write it because I genuinely wish freelancer was viable. But it just isn't. Every marketing email is nothing but a reminder that there's a way that I COULD be making money, but it just doesn't work. Every email I get makes me feel sad basically -- not inspired. It's like someone waving a toffee apple in front of me, and it's makes me lick my lips until I remember that all the apples are black with rottenness. What a shame..

Regards,

Leonard,
User: ParadigmPoint76

P.S. I am not expecting you to make a rebuttal or to explain how I am incorrect or not using it right. That is my "user experience". I expect the usual: "Thank you for your input". I hope it provides valuable insight for you to investigate that you can use to improve things. I am going to post this email a few places around the Internet also. So you'll be able to Google it and see what other people think.