Screwed over by a writer; beware!

I hired micuccij to write for me, recently, and was -sorely- disappointed. Usually, I don't mind too much, if it's a time based issue. I've hired a -lot- of people on DP, and it's a great place for PLR site owners, SEO business owners, etc., to find great writers.

However, I recently hired this person, much to my chagrin, and didn't take the time to notice that he had a post count of 0. Yes, I know, I'm an idiot. Not only did he not finish the articles, but he also insulted the content, saying that so much of the information was "incorrect" and "inaccurate", that it was "unbelievable!"

Naturally, they were all articles that I had written originally, and were -all- well researched; aside from that, most of the articles were based on intangible things, like career changes. Not -only- that, but the original articles to be re-written, (no, I don't condone duplicate content sales, nor do I practice it in -any form-) had already been sold elsewhere, to a PLR company that absolutely -loved- the content, and saw nothing wrong with them. I was a full time writer of the owner of the company for almost a year, until he pulled the site down.

I know the business well enough to know that PLR articles are definitely not held to the highest standards, but these are articles from my portfolio, that many people have read, and hired me for over the years. Naturally, I was highly offended.

Hence the thread.

Is there anyone out there who can relate to this? I mean, I know I shouldn't get so pissed, but this is really the first time this has ever happened. Someone, be irate with me. The person who is the most irritated can have his job, lol.

 

I think that the most important question I have about your story is "Why did you hire someone with a post count of zero?" I may be going out on a limb here but did your writer offer you the cheapest quote for the job?

 

Thanks for making this public thread before you hear my side of the story, real professional...

I do understand that you are upset that I was not able to complete the work for you.

But I stand by what I said. I did not mean to insult your work, just point out some of the shortcomings if it.

Look at some of these examples:
(This is just from one article)

"Many people wonder how a hybrid car operates, and runs; the cause an effect of what a hybrid car actually is."

"A hybrid vehicle, can basically run off of one source; gasoline, and another source, electricity, or battery. It can also run, independently, off of one of either sources of power."

"It has no other gears; just one, continuous gear, that goes on."

"When you begin to brake, the battery back regenerates, and recharges itself."

"The computer within the vehicle regulates which source is being used at which time, and what time it is necessary for them to be used, separately, or with one another. "

"Most of the focus is on gasoline, and electric hybrids automobiles, since those are naturally, diesel and electric hybrids cars have not yet been developed within the United States. "

And yes, you must be an "idiot" for hiring someone with such a low post count. I guess to be a good writer you have to regularly post on Digitalpoint.

At least some of the others I have helped here (check my itrader) understand this..

Thanks
Jim

 

You were hired to rewrite some articles. Not write new articles based off the content he gave you. It doesn't matter if his articles sucked or if they were good, you should be able to rewrite them. Granted, I don't like his writing style from the few lines that you have posted, but why don't you post one full article of his work, as posting a signle line tells us nothing.

Anyway, my point it, if you take a job, you have to do it. Especially a rewriting job. I am totally siding with the OP here cause you just acted completely unprofessionally.

Regards,
Nick

 

I don't understand where I acted unprofessionally...

Yes, I was hired for a job that I could not complete. i did not receive any payment or any compensation for what I did. Maybe this is what your are referring to, and while it happens every day, I can understand where your are coming from.

What was not professional was her email response to me. I am not going to get into the email I sent her telling I would not complete the job, or the email she sent back to me.

I will say I believe she misinterpreted what message I was trying to convey for her. I sent her back an email, apologizing if she was offended, etc.

But then I come here and see something like this posted... She didn't even give me a few hours to respond to her email.

I am going to PM you the whole article that I went through..I am not going to post the whole article here...

Jim

 

I will not hire him thank you for the thread.
Jason

 

Oh, I see. I thought she had paid you already. My bad. Well, then I have no bussiness saying anything else in this thread except: can you send me some of your samples and give me your price per review. (I need about 5 a day).


Regards,
Nick

 

Well, "screwed over" usually implies that you paid and didn't receive what you ordered (or anything at all).

So he said the content was crappy and you took offense like just about anyone else would. Big deal. That's no reason to trash someone by saying to "beware," because they screwed you.

I won't comment on the content quality as it's not my place to do so. There's a professional and a non-professional way to let a client know their source material is subpar. The devil is in the details.

And to be fair, a writer shouldn't take jobs he/she can't do--paid in advance or not. By saying yes and not delivering you waste time and cause disruption to someone's business.

 

I agree with you here, but if you look at how she wanted him to rewrite it, it's way too much. Somethign that no writer would do, especially for what she was paying him.

Again, it's all in the details as you have said. This thread was pointless.

Regards,
Nick

 

*rolls eyes at fitinfopro*

Man, you don't even know what is going on.

 

In my own defense, ladies and gentlemen:

I told him exactly what I needed, and made the price I was paying for them completely known. He was not "in the dark" about any part of the project whatsoever. Every single microscopic detail was ironed out for him. I posted the price I was paying for the articles in the original "Hiring" thread! So don't tell me it was just -too- difficult for what I was going to pay him. He wasted around two weeks.

The time he dropped the job was the day after I reminded him of the fact that the articles had to be re-written twice. Another fact that was also in the original thread.

Don't rush to his aid, please. As previously stated as well, they're PLR articles, the quality of the content is not going to be pristine; hence the need for them to be re-written? Duh.

And yes, there is a point to threads that state: beware. Be aware, that one among you strung me along for two weeks, and never delivered. I don't see him spilling how much work he did in those two weeks either. Four articles were finished, if that many. That was all. Once again, these were re-writes, notably easier to write than originals.

Being professional to your client, as a writer, is not openly insulting their work.

So, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. If it looked too complicated from the beginning, you should have said so. If you hated the articles that much, respectfully decline before you get started. If the pay was too little, ask for more; I'm not averse completely to reconsidering a wage.

Don't insult me; and you know you did.

For the skeptics; by all means, feel free to doubt. But I'm not going to sit back in a forum, where I have made many great business relationships, hired many other great writers; and not just say a word if someone out there is not delivering. I would expect any of you to do the same, if some degenerate you hired to do the job, said he could, and didn't. I would certainly want to know.

There's my rant. I wash my hands of this.

 

I agree with almost everything you've said about the person proving himself incompetent. But, I think calling him a "degenerate" is going too far. So the deal didn't work out and you made a thread about it. Both of you are giving us your respective sides of the story; so, it's a good idea to not insult the other person.

Actually, the reason I'm posting this is because I find myself in micuccij's position today. A friend of mine is in a REALLY bad medical condition in the ICU (his survival is still a contingency); so, I won't be working for a few days. What I've done, however, is explain the situation to my clients at hand and refund every one of them 100%; plus I've handed over all the work I've completed for them (costing me over $700 in total).

Aside from my impressive integrity , what I'm emphasizing is that the writer needs to take responsibility here because he's basically the one at fault. As annicanclick has said, if you can't take the heat, dealing dope isn't for you.

On the flip side of that, the buyer needs to cut him some slack too... you've made yourself totally clear; just move on, don't insult him.

 

In response to Annicanclicks thread

It was not the day after you reminded me they had to be rewritten twice. That email was sent on Feb 4th, I sent my final email on Feb 8th.

I did not "waste" two weeks. Initial contact was on Feb. 1st. Thats one week and one day when I sent you my final email.


I never did openly insult your work like you are insulting me here... What I said was in a private email and could be interpreted as an insult. Also, I did not know you wrote those articles. Considering you are a professional writer charging $0.06 per word (as per your website), I would have never expected it.

I don't like how you are over exaggerating here trying to make me look bad. If you are going to make statements, make sure you are right..

I don't have the problem with her being upset. She thinks I intentionally insulted her work, I don't think I did.

The problem I have is her coming here and posting a public thread trying to sully my integrity before she even gives me a chance to respond to her charges personally...

If what I did was unprofessional or not, thats up for interpretation. In hindsight, I should have never taken that job. I take responsibility for my wrongdoings and emailed her an apology. She just continues to insult me. She hasn't even emailed me a response and she is still posting here trying to make me look bad.

The "Degenerate"
Jim

 

This thread makes both of you look very childish. Just be the bigger person, and get on with your life.

 

The problem for me, though, is that if I don't defend myself here, I look like a money-stealing scammer, which is totally not the case.

I have alot more to loose here than annicanclick does.

 

Ok, well make one statement for your defense and end it .

 

yeahh i know where you're coming from, that happened to me once!

 

Not that many read a particular thread in this forum, so there is no worry.

I wouldn't have even bothered to reply back.

 

Marketjunction summed up nicely what I was going to say.

Neither of you seem to have acted professionally in this transaction and this thread does nothing for your credibility as clients or writers.