DesignCrowd Designcrowd.com not paying for freelance services and why you should avoid them NSW Australia

 I am a freelancer in field of graphic design, been working online for a while, using the benefits of different online sites offering jobs and freelancers for hire. My experience with Designcrowd should be a warning to both freelancers looking for work and business looking to hire. My design at Designcrowd was awarded as a winning design and chosen by the business that initiated the job. I was expecting the payment since the business that has chosen my design has already funded the job and Designcrowd was in total control of the funds. After 40 days past without payment I have started writing emails to their customer support, it took them 2 weeks to finally answer my third email. The answer was that my money was being held for "security reason" and that they will update me with further development. It;s been 4 months since then and no follow up has occurred. I have written more emails tried to call to different countries for service (US, Australian and GB) but they newer managed to even answer the phone. If you are a freelancer stay away from this site, total waste of time since even if you manage to win design competition there is a chance you won't be paid. If you are a business owner, better spend your money directly on freelancer cause you need to ask yourself what kind of Designer will want to continuously work for site like Designcrowd, yeah that's a beginner or wanna be designer with mediocre designs at best. Also when contacting their service as a designer didn't work I tried to contact them as a business owner with no luck, once the money has exchanged hands you can forget about hearing from these guys. For conclusion, if you want to do business/work online, there are far better sites for online outsourcing, do yourself a favor and stay away from Designcrowd.