There are no wrongs or rights when it comes to experience, that is just what I have experienced.
And it's MY experience about doing business on these PLATFORMS, so you can't really state - "there are good devs just not on those platforms, so you are wrong about what you say about freelancers on those platforms". My guess would be you are from India. You are making assumptions and comments without focus and understanding of the subject. A common problem. Just as same as
@Gogol . This just proves my point guys.
And I didn't have few bad experiences.
From about 20-30 devs I tried to work with and 2-3 agencies, only 1 freelancer was a pleasant experience. Agencies were a nightmare as well. So the ratio is too low to waste time on them. And I did tried to hire freelancers with high hourly rates as well in hopes they will be different. They all shared very different mentalities and ways of thinking, most of them feel no shame to lie at all. And be sure when I say that I did deep due diligence, interviews, and selection process before hiring.
Yes, I agree that when you find that one good apple, it's a nice experience, but till you will find it - you will lose money(a lot of it), nerves, time and any happiness you still got in yourself.
And again, I have no problem about nationality or race, this forum is full of super cool guys from India and so on, they are way smarter than me, more successful, and way more experienced. My favorite logo designer is from Bangladesh. He's borderline genius and makes unique logos for under $100. But when it comes to freelancing platforms and software development - the chance you will lose money if hiring someone from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh - is high and this risk must be counted in.
When it comes to hiring from Ukraine, Russia, Romania, and other eastern European countries - the bad apple ratio is 2/10, not the 9/10.