How much leeway did they have? As in, did you give them a complete set of specifications, outputs, etc etc and say "write this"? Or, were they encouraged to "think outside of the box"?
I likely wasn't very clear in my post - my primary complaint with any outsourced work, regardless of the company, nationality, etc - has been an inability to improvise. That's a problem with me; frequently the very clients that I'm working with do not know what they themselves want.
So, to be specific, in my experience the statement, "I want X Y and Z, nothing more, nothing less.", works very well with outsourced employees.
However, if I say "I'd like something sort of like - but not exactly like - this, with a few changes to be determined later." ....forget it.
I’d agree with that - my jobs were very specific tasks with a complete set of specs and expectations. I was open to suggestions and input in every case.
The thing is, domestic freelancers and outsourced freelancers all had the same types of jobs (and in some cases, the same jobs), and the outsourced talent did much, much better at a much better price.