The craziest thing I see here is doing that much work .. without payment in advance, I hope you learned from that. Secondly, whether it was substandard or not.. notice they negotiated prior to the deal, at the end of the deal, PSO decided what was fair. If the translations were done mechanically, as the IM suggests.. then PSO got screwed by some renegade translators. If the translations were done by actual people, and were just 'substandard' then firstly, that's a matter of perspective. I swear I am the best gambling writer on these forums, (contractible) .. but I betchya.. there's someone that disagrees with me. I am asked for my references 3-20 times per week. . . examples of my work, and actual people that new clients can PM for a reference.. did you check references? From the IM it sounds like he's plain shady, I didn't see where there was a denial to those allegations of automated translations... but you should have found that out earlier, when you looked at his previous work .. (of course that would have meant nothing to you.. so you should have asked a friend to look I suppose) .. Hind sight is 20/20 however.. a lot of things that should have happened on both ends didn't .. of course again that's subjective.. if you didn't use human translation.. then WOW that's some spendy translation.. an a topic that's really missing in this thread.. I think ... and I am only guessing here.. that the point is likely moot.. it doesn't really look as though PSO intends to change their decision via some public vote.. other contractors will I'm sure get their payments up front from the site.. and I'm sure translations here will be triple checked as soon as they arrive. . . Aside from that, what is there left, legal action if you cannot resolve your differences? Oh and the examples from Donk.. (nothing personal..) I wouldn't try those.. stealing a service in most places is a felony, it's a much bigger offence than just stealing something.. go shoplift, but don't screw the cab driver (especially not the cab driver, because i used to be one !)
Also, if you screw a land based service provider.. the auto mechanic persay... you generally have the right to place a lien on the title of the car. Same for the contractor at your house.. just try not payin him.. see how fast he places a lien on THAT title
Now, all tht in mind, that legal stuff seems to get a lot trickier when you're working online.. with people from various countries, deciding jurisdiction etc.