Recently, through a Google search, I discovered
WriterBay.Com. It is an online website that provides help to anyone who might
wish a written report on just about any topic, for a fee. It also provides
freelance online work to anyone who may wish to undertake such work. I applied
to this website and have been with them for about a week at the time of writing
this review. This review is based on my experience with them in this period.
Before writing this post, I grappled with the question if I
should write a review at all because it has criticism. However, I decided in
favor writing it so that it would help huge number of persons who scout for
freelance online work as well as numerous students that approach this website
for help. My criticism is a constructive one with suggestions for improvements.
If Writer Bay took it in this light, this report shall help them to reinvent
themselves into a productive outfit that helps the world rather than the other
way around and thereby find long-term sustainable growth too.
I got involved with Writer Bay because a boy who works part
time for me in my home and garden had noted that I write a lot of blogs for
free in public service. He had bugged me for sometime that there are people who
are making money writing for online websites and I must try it. Therefore based
on that and some spiritual considerations, I reluctantly agreed. With help of
Google searches I scanned for what all kind of online writing work may be available
out there and zeroed in on writerbay.com.
At the outset, may I warn any reader seeking any sort of
online work to be cautious. The numbers of scams out there far outweigh genuine
work websites. There are websites that will collect a fee out front or direct
you to a service that does, or your private details and then harm. Avoid
outright any website that may wish for a fee in the beginning or even after a
month of free trial. Avoid any that ask for bank or credit card details etc.
outright. Do not trust reviews out there fully. An outfit ready to scam can
easily get positive reviews posted on the web with little effort.
One needs one’s own judgment and help of the Lord to stay
safe in this murky world. I discovered Writer Bay is none of these scams and
therefore applied to work for them as a freelance writer. However, while not a
scam of the type mentioned, my experience was a disappointing one. It needs to
be told, so that students can take care before approaching them for help in
their work and those seeking work may also take care not to waste their time
and effort that might be utilized more productively elsewhere.
The Joining
Before, accepting any writer, writerbay.com has online tests
to verify if a person has sufficient writing skills to be able to do their
work. The tests were well designed and efficient and thus far the experience
was good. They soon emailed back that I had been selected. However for me the
goodness ended soon after. On informing a person that he is selected, writer bay
sends excellent well crafted guidelines and asks the writer to login to their
website and look through available orders. One applies to work on an order one
finds suitable. Perhaps several freelance writers may apply for an order. The
Writer Bay team selects one and assigns the order. The deadlines for completing
work are included in the order and are usually reasonable.
First Problem
On logging in, when I clicked on orders, blank pages and
forms opened up but no orders. I contacted support that is available online,
informing them of the issue. I was
informed it is because my profile is not verified. What they meant to say is
that my phone number is not verified but they did not speak straight as indeed
many others might in today’s murky world.
My first
Recommendation to Writer Bay: If a phone number needs verification say so and
preferably say that in the first email to the writer at the outset that they
would need to verify phone number before they can begin work to save everyone
agony and time.
There was a link asking to verify that supposedly sends a
code on the phone. One then types in
the code to verify as indeed numerous other websites do. However repeated
clicking on the link produced no code, so back to support. I was informed, that
they would do a manual check by calling me in person. The support team member,
Hector, was nice enough to inform that it happens to all. In fact if it was not
for Hector at Writer Bay I may not have lasted this long at this outfit. It is
likely a few persons like him that have kept Writer Bay from vanishing into the
blue long ago.
Second
Recommendation to Writer Bay: Add a
line under the phone verify link that says – Incase you do not receive
verification code for any reason, contact support and request a manual check.
Well, well, the
phone check was finally done. A sweet rep called that night to verify my phone.
She also asked if I am available 24 x 7 and if they could call anytime. I said
NO.
Beware writers out
there, these folks seem to want robots that do not sleep at night or become
zombies by being disturbed through the night.
However, to be fair,
Ally, that was the person who called was sweet enough to understand that humans
sleep, when I explained the matter to her. We had a good laugh over it on phone
when I stumbled on my next problem. I did not know if to wish her goodnight or
morning, not knowing where the outfit is located. The phone she called from was
a 1-800 number so there was no country code to decipher. I could also not find
out where they are located on their website. A Google search result said it is
Philippines but the rep said it was UK, so here is my next recommendation
Third
Recommendation: Please reveal your physical headquarters and address, real
phone number, on your website as indeed any honorable outfit does. Fly by night
operators on the web hide it and surely you are not one of them. Please include
your address and the country you are located in on your website so as not to
give an impression that you are trying to hide it.
Well, all said and
done, I logged in and this time when I opened an order, lo and behold, it
opened up revealing details in full glory. I found that most of the orders were
from students needing help in their term work. However one important detail was
missing – Country. Thus if there was someone asking you to write about
something in taxation law, one might write on the taxation law of Timbaktoo
whereas what was required was an answer on the tax laws of Antigooo stupid. So
here goes my fourth recommendation
Fourth
Recommendation for Writer bay: Please include country a writing order originates
from on the order form as an essential piece of information
However, to my
delight, my first assigned order was on problems caused by huge number of
immigrant foreign-born physicians. It was therefore clear that the order had
come from either the UK or USA. I circumvented the issue by writing cleverly
about both UK and US. But another problem arose. A one-page write-up was
required in APA format. It is a format that requires at least four pages, even
for one-page orders, a title page, an abstract page, the content and a
reference page in prescribed formats. I did all that submitting the 200 words
content as required. However since the content was only 200 words the abstract
was understandably much shorter. The team at Writer Bay then kept writing back
saying the order needed revision, and as I kept sending back through the night,
they kept emailing back that order needs revision, finally revealing that
abstract must be 150 –200 words.
LOL, LOL, LOL I
shall not be surprised if soon I get a 100 word writing order from
writerbay.com next that needs a 200 word abstract!
Fifth Recommendation
for Writerbay.com: Please educate all concerned that an abstract is a brief
summary and has to be considerably briefer than the article it is about.
However, not having
the time to argue or educate the staff at Writer Bay, I recopied most of the
article in abstract and resubmitted it. The order finally went through and I
received two congratulation emails from writerbay.com complimenting me on my
proficiency : -)
Having discussed all
the minor issues that arose in my dealings with writerbay.com, that can be
fixed with ease following the preceding five recommendations, now the two most important
issues that will need a little more effort and reflection to fix, first for
students that might approach writer bay to get an assignment done, and next for
writerbay.com
For Students
Dear students when a
professor or teacher gives you an assignment to do, a thesis or paper to write,
it is to help you learn the subject being taught. If you approach Writer Bay
and pay to get it done, you shall learn nothing and cheat yourself as well as
your professor by lying to him or giving him the impression that you have done
it yourself.
Please note that it
is not wrong to seek guidance from tutors or others, even Writer Bay but the
final submission must be your own work to avoid cheating. Please use the work
from Writer Bay as a guide, template or illustration and redo the final
submission yourself
Sixth recommendation
for writerbay.com:
Please include the
above message to students on your website, else you shall likely be willfully aiding the act.
However, it is
possible that a student will just submit what he receives from writer bay
nevertheless and cheat. But that is something Writer Bay shall not be
responsible for provided they have included the message as stated.
Now For Writer Bay,
most important issue
It must be noted that
writers seek to work for writerbay.com to earn some money not for fun or to
while away time. The compensations paid at Writer Bay are very low, in fact
pitiable. A task that requires a day’s work may pay only four dollars. That is
something much less that what the lowest page workers; a laborer on a
construction site gets in India for a day’s work.
To compound the
problem, Writer Bay also has bidding as in fish markets in the East. Work
orders contain notices that if they bid a lower amount they are more likely to
get the order. It is disgusting to bid lower on already such low rates and
while I applied for any orders that appeared interesting on writerbay.com, I
did not enter bidding so guess what happened? I did not get any. The two orders
I did at Writer Bay was because first was an introductory one that was allotted
right away and second from one of their team members, Hector, because I
mentioned that if no orders are forthcoming I should quit the website.
Seventh
Recommendation for Writer Bay: While Writer Bay may not be able to fix its
compensations structures right away; it must immediately cease the bidding
process. When an order is delayed or assigned to the lowest bidder rather than
the most competent or deserving one, the client may end up with crap. It will
destroy sustainability of business. It is clear that it is an attempt to
satisfy someone’s greed for more profits but it is not from endless greed that
businesses succeed; rather they do from sustainable and worthy models of
business.
There are several
other suggestions I could offer to Writer Bay, but this is enough for now. I
might, if I learn in future that they have implemented or not implemented the
essential ones of this note.
In the meantime, my
best wishes are for all the freelance writers seeking work out there, for all
who own and work for WriterBay.Com and the many students and other clients who
approach Writer Bay for help with their work.
Concluding Remarks
Someone may ask, with all those issues, how come Writer Bay has been doing
business for so long? Well it is because there is a need for their services out
there and they have a large amount of support staff that keeps up their tirade
of sooth saying to keep workers hanging for a bit. I received a huge number of
emails saying nice things from them to keep me engaged. Finally when a
freelance worker throws up their hands and leaves, others join in to become
suckers similarly, and the music goes on. Besides writer bay likely maintains a
small core group of writers that they treat properly and keeps their business
alive
In conclusion, may I
apologize to Writer Bay for the criticism, it is frank but it has been put out to
protect the public at large and because there is opportunity for writerbay.com
to reinvent and become a leading service in the world in the area of their
operation if followed through as suggested.
It may be pointed
out, I have never hesitated from criticism because of being a professor and
followers of spiritual masters who recommended,
Do not hesitate from reproof. The fool will hate you for it and move
away and you shall be well rid but the wise man shall love you for it and your
words shall add beauty and goodness to the world.
It is because of a
similar even more critical note earlier this year in this blog,( see
here:
https://steamcenter.blogspot.com/2018/02/microsoft-please-call-spade-spade.html) to Microsoft that they revised a decades old silly practice in nomenclatures of their products such as Windows 10. Such changes help the entire world.
https://steamcenter.blogspot.com/2018/02/microsoft-please-call-spade-spade.html) to Microsoft that they revised a decades old silly practice in nomenclatures of their products such as Windows 10. Such changes help the entire world.
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