Beware IC ads - Stillstupid

Posted: Aug 14, 2014

I'm not sure why I'm still here, ever posting on this board or answering these "employment" ads, but here I still am as are these readers. I have now answered 3 ads over the past several months and received 3 positive responses and took the jobs. (Consider air quotes around the word "jobs" every time you see it, please). I have 32 years of experience and type approximately 350 lph. (I know, I don't really type 350, and I didn't really type 475 lph when we did "gross" lines, some are automatically saying to themselves). Remember "gross" lines, folks? That's from back when we actually got paid, you know, with a real paycheck, you know, one that could pay the rent, etc. We all know what "IC" means by now; it means ways for companies not to pay employment taxes by misclassifying you as an IC versus employee, blah, blah, blah. Hey, how about this "IC" = 'IRS CHEATING' -- get it? Just made that up! (proud of self) Anyway, this is what I did 3 times, so shame on me, at least twice. I answered an ad for a company that was "desperate" and needed one to start "immediately." Immediately, as in that moment, literally the moment they respond to your answer. "Sure, I have no life/money, bring it," I answered. And bring it, they did. In the first instance, there were approximately 6 reports per day, though 2 days out of the 5 in the first week, there were none at all. For these 6 reports, I was to sit and wait from 1PM until approximately 9PM. In addition, the system never worked and so I had to do most reports 'manually,' with no footpedal. I asked a few times for the mgr to help me configure the footpedal, to which he replied, on my 5th day of work, so typed about 18 reports total, that I was too much trouble, in that I should have known my equipment didn't work from the start, and I shouldn't have taken the job. "My equipment didn't work,"-- gotta love it. Had a new Windows 7, Word, Infinity pedal, etc., cable Internet. Said he wasn't going to pay for any of the reports, because I failed to do one last one that came in late on the last day, and I hadn't seen or something...whatever. You can multiply that experience x 3, as I've had roughly the same experience, that many times now. Strangely, I recently got an email from experience #2, saying he had a check for me, and needed my "new address." There was no new address. My guess, someone ratted him to the authorities and he scrambled to pay all those he'd screwed over the months or years. Obviously. Now, I know you understand that these companies get about 800 or more responses to their ads for us to work for them on any given posting. They could and DO conceivably go down the line of resumes, using and abusing each one, until that poor, individual transcriptionist can't take it any more, for whatever reason. Are these in effect, scams? Should the moderators be asking these companies how many reports per day they're intending to give to potential transcriptionist, hours, pay, etc., before allowing to post? And should that information appear on each ad, as a prerequisite to using the site? Has this happened to anyone else? I'm sure it has. Please feel free to post your experience/s. I have no answers, personally. Well, maybe one, the obvious one, that getting out of this mess is long overdue, simply put.