For what it's worth, point them here. I'm not doing anymore business with freelancer in the face of reading this. Maybe I'm making an uninformed decision but at this point there is little reason for me to stick with them over their competitors if this is even possibly a fair summary of the transaction.

> It won't hurt to try

This minor shitstorm will probably convince them to release the money, and maybe someone from Freelancer will even reach out to him.

Thanks Elle. I have responded in this thread.

Regards Matt

link doesnt work for me

Excellent comment, and truly helpful. I think we all should email the CEO and get him to resolve this. He'll be hearing from me.

Good point- I have also emailed matt@freelancer.com. I have spent a good amount of money with freelancer.com, but never again.

Edit- got an email back from Matt in about 20 minutes, saying they are looking into it. Fingers crossed, OP - we are behind you.

I really want OP to get paid for his work. I feel bad for everything he's going through with Freelancer and what they've gone through the past two years and most importantly, the stress in which his wife is going through. Thanks for emailing on behalf of OP, glad to hear Matt was able to respond to you quickly.

He did respond a second time and basically said nothing helpful (see his response down thread - he copied it into the email)

They've lost my business, and I trust the rest of this community will respond in kind.

Penny wise, pound foolish, as they say.

Update: I've emailed several times now with Matt, and he's definitely on top of the situation. I get the impression that he's being vague in his responses to respect OP's privacy (and the others involved). I appreciate that, and he's done a stellar job of responding in general.

Anyway, I think there is more than meets the eye here, and I should have given Freelancer.com a bit more benefit of the doubt. I do hope that eventually more information will become available, as this is a serious issue.