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Good insights!

I've never hired a VA but have used a few freelancers for various things over the years. The only real problem I had was when someone sounded very knowledgeable but weren't, or they sold themselves as fluent in English (and their profile was in perfect English) but weren't.

At one time, I had a writing team, along with another writer. We had a big job and used several writers we knew (for years) wrote well and were very familiar with the client, format and project needs. We offered a reasonably good flat rate per 500 word article and still got less than great copy from one of the star writers. We had to do some fixing. That one was disappointing but all the rest were fine. So, we didn't experience the same drawbacks from using a team that you did but aside from that one, received great work and most of it ahead of the deadline.

There is always going be good ones among the bad when you're hiring someone you've never used before. The trick is finding them, of course. I think you've made some great points above, very helpful.