Online Writers, Make Sure You Get Paid
Any writers out there ever run into problems getting paid? I’m sure some of you have. Here’s my story.
I write for a living. That’s how I pay my bills. Some of my writing is for online sites such as Triond, but most of it is for books or e-books, sold through Amazon and the usual online spots. I’ve been making this my career for a few years now, since being let go from a newspaper after having been a journalist for twenty years. I decided to go out on my own.
From time to time during these three years, there have been a few snags here and there when I try to receive payment from one company or another. Nothing major, just a delay of a few days because of a glitch or a holiday or something. From time to time I’ve had to provide some extra information to receive payment, or I’ve had to jump through a small hoop or two. While I’m obviously not happy having to deal with such situations, none of them have been overly strenuous.
Until now.
No, I will not use the name of the company, and no, it does not appear elsewhere in this post. I don’t need the hassle of a bunch of e-mails spouting legal mumbo jumbo about how some company will have its legal department get in touch with me. And frankly, I do not wish to give this particular company even one single bit of advertising, even if in a negative way. Also, I will be changing a few of the technical details below so this company cannot be readily identified.
I will say this, however, if you are a writer for many of the content creation sites, you have probably run across the site of which I’m writing. You might even be a writer for the site.
I have been a writer for the site for nearly three years. It does not pay much, but that is familiar territory for such content sites. I never planned to get rich, just to make a little extra cash. Over the years I have received payments from this company, usually about twice a year, the amounts not a lot of money but at least enough to fill up the gas tank in the car or to take the family out to eat. I never had any problems.
Then about eight months ago I requested a payment, which is how the site operates. A couple of months passed and I still had not received my payment. I asked for payment again. I was told there was a problem with my mailing address. I could not understand this as I had been at the same address for several years, but I tried to work with the team behind the site. Months passed again. Twice more I was told my payment had been sent but there was a problem with my mailing address. At this point I admit to becoming frustrated, but I never took it out on those I was dealing with at the company. Part of my frustration was I did not understand how my mailing address could be a problem when I had had the address for several years and had never had any other problems with it.
At this point the company’s representatives suggested a new online payment program they were just beginning to test. I thought that sounded like a good idea, so I agreed to give it a try. I was told I would receive an e-mail from a different company, the one in charge of the payment program. A month passed and I had yet to receive the e-mail.
I complained, nicely. I was asked to be patient and that my e-mail was still coming. About this same time I stopped providing new content for the site, and have not done so since.
A couple of weeks passed. No e-mail.
I contacted the writing site yet again. This time I was not so nice, but I did not curse or call names or makes threats nor anything like that. I simply wanted to let them realize how frustrated I had become. I was told again to be patient, that my e-mail was coming.
Another week passed, then one morning I received three e-mails in a matter of minutes. The first e-mail was telling me I had received my payment and that is was available in my account with the new payment program. Yippee! I thought, at least I will have my money.
Then I looked at the second e-mail, which was from the writing site. Here I was told that my situation had been corrected and they were glad of it. Okay. Well, I thought this was a little presumptuous since I had yet to contact them, but whatever.
And then I checked the third e-mail. It was from the payment program site informing me the payment that had been sent to me had been withdrawn. Yes, withdrawn.
That was Monday of this week. It is now Friday as I write this. Since then I have traded e-mails several morning times with my initial contacts at the writing site. Apologies were given to me a couple of times, but frankly I’m sick of apologies. I want results.
I was asked to give them another mailing address. I don’t have another mailing address. Then I was asked to provide them with another e-mail address, and while I do have more than one e-mail address, I refused to do this. I had done enough, as far as I was concerned. I had been mostly nice up until the last couple of months, and I had already been waiting for more than half a year for my money, which isn’t even all that much money in the first place. And since I had initially put in my request for my money, I had earned more money, but I’ve yet to request those funds.
At this point the company’s representatives told me they could no longer help me since I was not being cooperative. Me not being cooperative? After everything I’ve already been through, after all my patience and waiting. No, to hell with them.
The last e-mail I sent told the representatives to close my account. I did not tell them to keep my money, but I did mention I believed they would do so anyway.
Now, that was a few hours ago. Since then I have come to a conclusion. Either the company I was dealing with is an out and scam, or it is run by some pretty inept people.
Frankly, it should not take that long to receive a payment, and one should not have to jump so many hurdles to receive a payment, especially a payment that was not even more than a hundred U.S. dollars.
So, all you other writers out there, be careful. If you’re not getting paid, stop utilizing the site. If you’re not writing for money, that’s fine, do as you will. But you still need to be careful.
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June 22nd, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Thats a shame you had to put up with that crap and now have to walk away from the payment it sounds like. I only write for a few select sites and so far have been good with payments so I have not gone through this. Cross my fingers lol.
June 22nd, 2012 at 3:30 pm
That’s so sad. People are struggling and they want to mess with their money.
June 22nd, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Well,many peoples have this problem online..The writer do the hard work and do not get even a cent sometimes…I write for only the trusted sites…And I took the advance payment if someone wants any review or any content…Smile..
June 22nd, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Thanks for the warning. And it is the best thing to do. Just stop dealing wih them, that way the crooks will go out of buisness faster by losing good writers. As a Polish proverb teaches, “the greedy always lose double,” meaning that by trying to cheat now, they will lose more later.
June 22nd, 2012 at 4:32 pm
I just wish you had mentioned the site so we will all be really warned against signing up or continuing to do work with such a cheating site. I have also a forum site that delays payments to members. I was due for payment for a month now, but it pays members in trickles, like one at a time. It is very frustrating.
June 22nd, 2012 at 5:27 pm
I’m sorry to hear that. Just don’t give up mate.
June 22nd, 2012 at 6:09 pm
The best thing you can do is to mention the site. I had a site owing me almost $2,000 stop paying me. I told them I would take out ads on the Internet saying they were not paying.
That did no good, so I took out the ads. Within a few hours the owner contacted me and we worked out a payment plan. I have since been paid every penny they owed me.
The best thing you can do is to tell people that a specific site is not paying you. Once it gets around the Internet that a site is not paying, that site is dead meat.
June 23rd, 2012 at 5:06 am
Thats a real hassle ! We should stop writing for such sites to discourage their paying behavior. Nice warning! Thanks!
June 23rd, 2012 at 6:12 am
It is sad, but do nt give up.
June 23rd, 2012 at 6:57 am
It’s incredible the lengths people will go through to rip you off a couple bucks..
They loose in the long run.
June 23rd, 2012 at 7:33 am
You can write at http://www.iwriter.com. This company pays weekly and you never have to wait more than a day to receive your payment.
June 23rd, 2012 at 8:24 am
That was interesting. Thanks!
June 23rd, 2012 at 8:48 am
Hope the rant made you feel a wee bit better and I agree that somewhere, at some point, you should expose the company name.
June 23rd, 2012 at 11:22 am
Good luck, it’s one of the hazards of freelance
June 23rd, 2012 at 12:33 pm
The site you have written on Triond are good at paying albeit small payments, I liked your article because it was written with genuine anger, rather than just for something to write about. I agree with some of the respondents the site needs exposing. Good luck for the future and thanks again for writing the article.
June 23rd, 2012 at 12:57 pm
I’m sorry this happened to you. Name them and shame them. I have two possibilities in my mind as to which companies it might be.
As far as I’m concerned, theft thrives in secrecy.
If they are registered with any monitoring agencies, like the BBB, you can report them as well.
June 23rd, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Hi jharmon,
Sorry, to hear of the unnecessary burden the publisher levied against you by withholding the monies that they owned to you. They have not gotten away with anything, because God sees and knows all things and unrepentant crooks will one day stand before God having to make an account of all of the things that they done against the Word of God.
John 13:30-35
“30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.
31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.
33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Also, Roman 13 is an excellent teaching revealing the Wisdom of God regarding matters such as the one that you are currently dealing with.
Also, forgiveness will go a long way to peace and joy in your own heart and by forgiving those that have done you wrong, it will serve as an example to their heart just how dark it has become in them. The act of forgiveness will shine a light in someone else’ life and will lead them out of the darkness unto the Glory of God and hopefully unto the Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Forgiving a money debt is not the easiest thing to do, until you realize that money is nothing. It can hold no power over you unless you allow it to. And that is no good way to live a peaceful, loving and joyous life at all. The moment that a money debt is forgiven of someone that owes it to you, then the power of money, the power of darkness and the power of evil loses this battle that they waged against your heart, your joy, your peace and the love which the Lord Jesus Christ has given to you.
Sincerely,
Nelson Doyle
June 23rd, 2012 at 3:35 pm
What a story wished you would have mentioned them by name but glad you did not stop writing.
Best Wishes
stevetheblogger
June 23rd, 2012 at 7:14 pm
wow scamers are every where these days ,I would be upset also because I put a lot of time into what I do
June 23rd, 2012 at 9:43 pm
Thanks for the warning. I would have appreciated it more if the company name was given though. So that we could stay away from the site.
June 23rd, 2012 at 11:24 pm
they are all the same. i am not really taking these sites seriously, but still always on a lookout for a better site.
June 24th, 2012 at 12:46 am
For those who would like me to reveal the company, I will likely do so in the next week. I am still waiting, thinking I will hear from this company at least once more. I do not expect them to do right by me, but I will at least give them a little more time before I out them. Perhaps they will do right by me yet.