Do We Need an “Angie’s List” for Freelancers and Clients?

Or: I Just Don’t Want to Visit Cook County Small Claims Court Ever. Ever. Again.

So, here’s the back story.

Last year, I did some freelance work for an Illinois publisher that I hadn’t worked for before. The people were very nice, their communications good. Their rates seemed very reasonable. I finished my assignment (editing a cookbook), turned it in on time, and submitted my invoice. A few days later, they sent me positive feedback on my work. Everything seemed hunky dory. I looked forward to working for them again.

Then, everything went sour. When they opened my invoice, they refused to pay me the amount that they’d agreed to in writing. They cited a clerical error, saying they’d quoted me the wrong rate. They asked if I would resubmit my invoice for the “correct” rate, which was less than one-third of what they’d quoted initially. I pointed out, politely, that the error was their own, that the terms of my contract bound them to pay me what they’d written down, and that I would not have accepted the assignment in the first place at the lower rate. Their response was, essentially, “Tough cookies.” When I hinted that I would go to small claims court over the matter, they tried to intimidate me, hinting back that it would be a waste of my time.

So I took them to court. When they got the summons, they consulted their lawyer and then settled out of court, paying me the amount that I thought I’d be getting paid in the first place. I could have argued further to have them pay my $175 in court filing fees. But at that point, I just wanted the whole painful mess to go away.

But Enough About Me

I am hardly the only freelancer with a story like this. Neither are stories like this unique to the publishing industry – I had a similar debacle with an employer back when I used to do promotions work.

Likewise, many publishers have been treated poorly by freelancers: missing deadlines, being unresponsive, turning in poor work, or generally being difficult to work with.

On the flip side, I’ve worked with publishers and agencies that were excellent. They treated their freelancers with respect, paid on time, resolved issues promptly, and generally made their hired help feel valued. And every publisher has a list of go-to freelancers who do fine work and are pleasant to deal with.

A Rating System for Us

Should we formalize and document all this knowledge? Do we need an equivalent of “Angie’s List” for the freelance industry? Should I start up a “Jen’s List”?

I sure would have liked to have a Jen’s List before accepting a job for the abovementioned client. It might have saved me a massive amount of stress and time.

Also, a Jen’s List could lead you to clients that you’d never considered before and forge new relationships beneficial to everyone. Times can be tight for freelancers when the work dries up temporarily. A Jen’s List could be a good source of places to make new professional connections and find work.

I imagine such a list being similar to Yelp in the sense that reviews can be anonymous or you can use a pseudonym to write your reviews. (I’ve never seen the real Angie’s List, so I don’t know how the reviews work there.) I also imagine it being free, not a pay service.

What do you think? Would a list like this one be useful? Would you use it, and how? How would you feel about being reviewed on the list yourself?