A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

I used to LOVE working at Silent Type. I am sm - sad MT

Posted: Feb 22, 2013

so upset at the way things have turned out there.

You are not alone - Another sad ST MT

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It used to be such a great place to work. I thought I'd be working there for a very long time.

what happened? - sm

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Were they gobbled up by the big company?

sad MT - being lied to!

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How have they turned out? Let me guess - It is playing out for you just like I said it would in my previous post. Did you miss the posts on here from other Silent Type longtime MTs? Did you think for some reason they would treat you differently. If so, why would you think that, after all you are probably one of the longtimers with them who never rocked the boat or questioned them, or missed a shift, and I could go on and on.

The bottom line is IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. To them you are just a body. DO YOU THINK THEY CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU? Their silence should give you the answer to that.

So like I asked before; what is the difference in having a job and making no money because you do not get work OR making no money because you have no job? Answer - There is no difference, there is still no paycheck. So stop letting them threaten you with their tactics of firing you, THEY WANT YOU TO QUIT. In a business it is called "trimming the fat". They do not have enough work for all the MTs and that was okay until they all the employees start complaining about not being able to earn enough to keep their benefits. So what happens; they have to "trim the fat" and start getting rid of some of the employees, but they do not want lay you off or fire you because that will cost them, so they pressure you and threaten you, all the while still giving you no work, until finally you QUIT. Save yourself the stress. QUIT and go file against them anyway, you have a valid claim to get UE because of NJA! I, just like you, loved working for them when I started, even hung in there when things started rolling downhill. That is why I can tell you this...IT PLAYED OUT FOR ME EXACTLY THIS WAY. I mistakenly gave them my good faith, but I was not willing to give them my health and listen to the lies and getting stressed about it every day, them trying to make me feel that I WAS WHAT HAD CHANGED and it was my fault I was not making production and getting a paycheck. I had not changed.

I mean really - you get paid by production, nothing else, you have been doing it for years and this is how you have made your living, so why suddenly WOULD YOU JUST STOPPING PRODUCING IF THE WORK WAS THERE?? You wouldn't! Plain and simply..THE WORK IS JUST NOT THERE, so stop listening to the lies that and her trying to beat you down and make you feel like it is your fault.

Again, this is just IMO!

NJA - Going to NJ

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Thought something was odd with having to travel to NJ to be trained for that job on your own dime. Then have to stay there for 2 days for training. Who does that these days?

Plus they only reimburse you for $500, which wouldn't cover nm - COMT

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the entire cost of the flight and hotel for me. On top of it, the recruiter wouldn't tell me the pay rate and I was just supposed to blindly agree that I would fly to NJ without knowing the particulars. Two years later, I'm so glad I passed on that.

You get some reimbursement - alice

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but the training is a joke - it didn't even take 3 hrs. Our trainer was more than 2 hrs late. Sat in this big empty building, with multiple empty work stations, waiting and waiting. First big red flag. Everything else that followed was just more red flags, not to mention that training came before salary and benefits were explained - everyone seemed to think someone else was responsible for explaining all that. Needless to say, didn't stay.

NJA - being lied to!

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Not all of us got the promised at least $500.00 reimbursement. Another lie.

One person I know got more. - alice

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The hotel costs alone were nearly $500 and she thought ST had some kind of arrangement with the place the way the lodging details were laid out. Big surprise when she checked in.

How long ago did you train? Can you still keep bugging her for the remainder?

NJA - being lied to

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I GOT NOTHING!! She never even acknowledged my e-mail regarding reimbursement. My thought is, they know they owe the new hires reimbursement and THEY should have a system in place to reimburse the employees after the 90 days of employment. You should not have to ask for it.

That is horrible. - alice

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You should keep trying, no matter how long it has been.

Re: Being lied to and cheated - Old Pro

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You might want to file a letter of complaint with the Fraud Division of the Attorney General of her state and the state in which you reside. This whole thing doesn't sound right.

Old Pro - please sm

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I'd be interested in your thoughts on this: MTs have 24 hours to get their "8 hours" in (mind you their paychecks say 75 hours every 2 weeks, no matter how many "hours" they work). There is no time clock. If you have 24 hours to complete your work, doesn't this imply no shift? The owner says if employees work the day shift, they are to be available for 10 hours. If the MT is not going to be available for those 10 hours, they are to email her to tell her the time of the start of their shift. Again, what shift?

Reply from Old Pro - Old Pro

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It sounds rather strange to me. Are these people IC? From what I can see, they are expected to be available anytime the owner wants them to be. I'm sorry, but that is not realistic. While I have worked for some companies that allow you to have 24 hours to complete your work, but like you to do stats if they come in right away--and I had no problem with the idea of doing stats, well, STAT, but for this idea of shift or no shift, it is very nebulous and to my mind, not very businesslike. As to the paychecks saying you worked 75 hours no matter how many hours you worked--well, I have some labor law considerations about that. If it were me, I would ask the owner to set forth in writing: WHAT shift?

Old Pro - please sm

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She only hires full-time employees. The thing is, most days she is unable to provide the MTs with enough work to be full time, although she says there is plenty of work. If the MTs don't meet their minimum requirement (due to NJA), not only does it make them ineligible for their PTO, but they also lose their job.

From Old Pro - Old Pro

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I do not know this MTSO or her company personally, but the whole thing sounds dysfunctional. Having people come THERE for training (what's up with that?), not providing a dinner or get-together for the new hires once they get there, slowness in reimbursement for expenses, lack of work, etc. I know that this is not very helpful, but I really would stay away from the whole deal.

Something I have always wondered - Old Pro

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is just exactly WHY people have to go there to train? Nobody else does this.

I always thought this sounded - crazy too.

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maybe alright for folks who live close by or if pay was extremely good, but to have to come in from another state and get a place to stay and then get reimbursed? It's a miracle they get anyone to work for them.

Our trainer wondered that as well. - beam-me-up

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Maybe to justify the real estate? Write off? Who knows...

my experience - ex-STMT

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First, I was told on the phone that many people make six digits. Then she tells you which airport & which hotel you have to stay at. If I'd been able to choose, I think I could've stayed within the $500 budget. I don't need a fancy hotel just to go sleep for 2 nights. My trip ended up costing me around $900.00. The training could have easily been done remotely. She doesn't hire newbies; we already know our way around a computer.

I had to wait 6 months, not 90 days, to get the reimbursement. I hope you saved receipts for your expenses. If you've been there 6 months, send her copies. I don't remember if you have to make a certain quota in order to get reimbursed, but I wouldn't be surprised; another way she controls things and avoids paying.

During the phone interview and at the training, she was nice as can be. But as soon as I got home & started working, it was like a major personality change! I had to double check the name on the emails to make sure it was the same person!

As for the work load, everything was great for the first 6 months I was there, and then suddenly the work started drying up with no explanation. And of course it was MY fault if I couldn't make my quota... everyone else was making theirs! After not being able to pay my bills for 3 months, I started job hunting whenever the NJA came up. I finally found a great job that I love. It's so nice to not have all that stress... will I make my quota?... can I pay my bills this week?... will I put a comma in the wrong place and get ripped apart for it?... will my line counts match my paycheck? There's no way to check if they don't. And what if something comes up and I need a day off? I can't give 2 weeks' notice for an emergency.

Eventually maybe enough people will quit so that those that are left can once again make a decent living there. I'm glad I didn't wait around.

ex STMT - being lied to!

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OMG! Your post is so deja vu, I feel like you are describing MY EXPERIENCE.

That is almost step-by-step my experience, with the exception I never got reimbursed for my expenses, even after asking about it twice, and it cost me over $1000.00 for my trip for "training" if that is what she wants to call it.

Everything the so called "trainer" went over with me could have definitely been done remotely, and I still had to go back home and wait for the equipment to be shipped to me before I could start work. Out of the two days I was there I think I probably got about three hours total of training, although I spent two days in the office.

You would also think that if a company is expecting you to travel to their location to train, you not knowing the area and having no means of transporation, they would make some arrangement for you to be provided with lunch or at least an invitation to join someone in the office. No, it was left to you to take care of yourself. Even in the evening you are left on your own. Makes me really feel bad for those who made the trip alone to train.

I too was told she had people making 6 figures. To believe that I would have to see their payroll stub.

To sum it up, IMO regarding Silent Type, I can honestly say that the only thing better than hindsight would have been foresight. So, if you are considering her invitiation to travel to NJ to train - take these posts as foresight. The decision, of course, is totally yours.

The more I hear - Old Pro

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the more amateurish it sounds. Caveat emptor.

Yet she's been around for decades - alice

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was one of the first "agencies" in the northeast. There was Metro Transcription, Med-Scribe (NJ) and Silent Type.

alice - being lied to

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Yes, she may have been, but much of that time was before MTs had a forum to reach out to others to get information on the way particular companies treated their employees.

You sound like you are defending Silent Type more on a personal level rather than from an employee or ex-employee standpoint. I am just putting my experience out there and it sounds like more of us have had that same experience (the one I detailed earlier) in dealing with Silent Type, but it is your right as it is anyone else, to believe what you choose to believe.

I'm not defending anyone. - alice

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You are misinterpreting my posts. I had a very dicey experience with this company as well. I was fortunate to live a few hrs away so didn't have the travel expenses.

The prior poster said M sounded like an amateur. That poster might not have known she's been around that long and needs to learn how to treat people and run a transcription company.

You need to keep on her to get your money back. That comes from watching someone I trained with nearly get screwed but who with persistence was finally reimbursed.

alice - being lied to!

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My apologies Alice, I misunderstood your post.

No problem. - alice

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.

Training should be easy - nowadays by phone-see msg

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I have always thought that was a little odd that they require in-house training, unless you live near the company. Even 13 years ago, we could train on software by phone, which is exactly what I did.

Then things got more electronically sophisticated and we had online Webinar-type of stuff.

I never applied for ST, because I kind of felt that if it was so complicated that I had to be there in person to "get it," then I didn't want to work there.

And $500 travel expense is a drop in the bucket if you're even considering airfare.

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