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

I will not allow Keystrokes to "shame me" - Learned the hard way

Posted: Jul 20, 2011

"Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!"

Per Wikipedia this means "If you play a trick on me and I fall for it, shame on you for fooling me. But if you play a trick on me and I fall for it again, then shame on me for being foolish."

Keystrokes cut salaries in February. We were given an opportunity to express our feelings about this. We also had an employee satisfaction survey in March. We were encouraged to be honest.

Believe it or not, I was not too upset about the salary decrease. Sometimes cutting expenses is a matter of survival and I do understand that.

I took the opportunity to express my dissatisfaction with several other situations, however. I did receive an email almost immediately---- directly from the owner. How I admired this.... that the owner would take the time to read and respond to each employee.

She empathized with my plight and stated she would rectify the situation I was unhappy with.

Since that time my situation has deteriorated. It has now been 6 months and I do not expect any improvement. I would have preferred no survey and no response than a dishonest response.

Incidentally, I can document each and every situation I was unhappy with, so this is not a matter of paranoia or my imagination.

I have stayed only because I cannot work structured hours because a member of my family is gravely ill (not that Keystrokes would be concerned). My account has a flexible TAT.

I will not be fooled again. I know I am naive, but the worst thing is my disappointment in the company and the owner. I know that management/owner is aware of some injustices and they havee chosen not to act. I wish I did not know this. I really did belleive this was an innately good company.

This is an oft repeated complaint. SM - so sorry

[ In Reply To ..]
This is a common thread for this company. A few days ago the remark was made that MTSO should send out company wide emails asking for suggestions. This has indeed been done over and over. You don't have to give your name, but everyone knows the problems of each account or MT so it is easy to figure out. You must have put your name on it, thereby getting the courtesy of a reply. It is also not surprising that nothing promised was done.

Probably best not to expect anything since that is what you will probably get. Just speaking from experience.

Exact same experience. - arianainvt

[ In Reply To ..]
Had the exact same experience---reassurance directly from the owner that a situation would be rectified immediately. Waited expectantly but nothing changed. (Left several years ago and am so glad to be gone, but did experience the same situation.)

I received the same response from the owner and - guess what I am STILL waiting

[ In Reply To ..]
I should have known better, I have been duped twice.

Try Transcend. They are willing to work with your hours, etc., and - long time transcender

[ In Reply To ..]
most regions are very decent to work in.

too many favorites for my liking. No thanks for trying to do a good job. - not a believer

[ In Reply To ..]
Seems that the same people win any contests when they have them. Team leaders are at best "iffy" in being fair. They are out for themselves, not for the MLS.

Unfortunately you may be recognized and - penalized for making the stmt.

[ In Reply To ..]
No one is safe there. Maybe you can work part-time at 2 places. If you are identified,you will probably start getting QA'd. You can never believe anything that is said and I found out the hard way.

Good luck to you, there are places that treat employees better.

The constant attacks on KS make me think a competitor company - is at the helm of it all.

[ In Reply To ..]
This would be a good way to subvert a competitor considering the attention that this board attracts.

My experience is the opposite. I got my suggestions answered from my survey, and my name was on it.

If you cause financial harm to someone or their business, you can be sued legitimately. I'd be careful if I were the posters on this board.

OMG!! That has got to be one of the craziest excuses yet. - Ninja haters?? Really??

[ In Reply To ..]
With the threats made at the end of your post, it's pretty clear where this is coming from.

And financial harm would have to be based on lies. If what people say is true, then the financial harm is brought about by the company's own behavior, not the poster. But it's a wondrously effective way to silence dissent, although, come to think of it, I don't know that the whole lawsuit threat worked too well in silencing complaints about another company.

But I do have to laugh at the hubris. I've noticed on product oriented boards that as soon as somebody says something negative about the product or says something good about a competitor, it's automatically a ninja marketer. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at anything other than it took so long for someone to think to use this.

Fooled by Keystrokes - Learned the hard way

[ In Reply To ..]

I admired the management and/or owner of Keystrokes for soliciting opinions regarding the raises & employee satisfaction survey. I signed my name as well. I was wowed when I got a very prompt, polite response. I just do not understand I was advised things would improve if they were not going to--the only change I have seen is a decrease in income. I was assured of something completely different.

I am no legal scholar, but I think it is the employees that could sue for financial damages.

I am not going to post (or even look at this message again). I want this to be over. I posted because I have never been so insecure at a company. We are so isolated I was not sure if I was alone in this and maybe they are trying to get rid of me? I was wondering if anyone had seen anything positive come out of the survey?

You are not alone in your feelings of being - insecure

[ In Reply To ..]
I have felt that way for a long time and have a second job because of it. I never trusted KS. I also think MT's should sue for fraud, after being hired and not having an account and no work period. There has been a lot of lying and misrepresentation on Keystrokes part. If they don't want the truth posted, then KS needs to change and own up to what has been going on.

I did see things positive happen. - The cut in pay was only $0.05 per line.

[ In Reply To ..]
And still we are paid better than most. The competition for all-American services is very hard since most companies employ overseas MTs that work for beans. I think KS is doing a very good job of holding the line, but they have to stay in business to do that and provide the all-American choice for us.

You're not the only one. I know of two others. - - Just so you know...

[ In Reply To ..]
dd

If you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps - is the one you hit. n/m

[ In Reply To ..]
n/m

What the heck kinda crazy fortune cookie wisdom is this? - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
x

I love this quote. I'm gonna remember it. NM - Maggie

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

throwing a stone - shuer

[ In Reply To ..]
In the 7th grade... I had a teacher that quoted this more than once... " If you throw a stone into a pack of dogs... The one that yelps, is the one that got hit" Draw your own conclusions... I see it as a way to draw out a lire.. or someone guilty of something..

Does that mean I can sue an MTSO for - lying and misreprentation?

[ In Reply To ..]
What about promises of making good money and then making peanuts. There certainly has been financial harm to myself and others. Maybe we should get a group together of those who have suffered "financial harm" by the above mentioned MTSO.

Class Action, Baby!!! - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
x

No class action, baby! - RM

[ In Reply To ..]
You obviously have no legal background at all. Do you have any idea what the causes of action for a class action are? Do you realize the level to which an alleged tort must rise to allow a judge to even hear such a case? Nope, didn't think so.

Class Action Lawsuit Filing Info... Here you go - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Class Action Lawsuits: What They Are and How They Work

A class action lawsuit in a civil lawsuit that is brought by one person or a few people on behalf of a larger group of people who have suffered similar harm or have a similar claim. Class actions can be brought in either federal or state courts, though a recent federal law, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, makes it easier for defendants to move class action lawsuits from state to federal courts.

Class actions are generally used when too many people have been affected by the subject of the claim for each of them to file a separate lawsuit. For example, class action suits are frequently used for claims of injury from hazardous products including pharmaceutical products and dangerous drugs. Successful class action cases have involved tobacco, asbestos, Agent Orange, breast implants, and a contraceptive device. Class actions are also frequently used in securities cases (such as fraudulent financial statements and practices like releasing false information about stocks and other forms of market manipulation); in employment cases (such as mass dismissals and violations of wage/hour laws); and to stop illegal or harmful practices like oil spills, manufacturing pollution, or violations of state or federal constitutional protections.

How a Class Becomes Certified A lawsuit becomes a class action when one or more plaintiffs, often called Lead Plaintiffs, file a lawsuit claiming some kind of harm. The plaintiff(s) can then ask the court to certify the case as a class action. To have the case certified, the Lead Plaintiff and class action attorneys must show that the case meets several criteria:

* There is a legal claim against the defendant(s).
* There is a significantly large group of people who have been injured in a similar way and the cases of members of the class involve similar issues of fact and law as the case of the Lead Plaintiff(s). Class certification might be denied, for example, if people have suffered different kinds of side effects from a defective drug. The differences in injury would require different evidence for many class members.
* The Lead Plaintiff is typical of the class members and has a reasonable plan and the ability to adequately represent the class. The Lead Plaintiff must also have no conflict with other class members. A Lead Plaintiff who seeks money damages for him or herself, but is willing to agree to coupons for all the rest of the class, is probably not adequately representing the class.

How Potential Class Members Are Notified If a lawsuit is certified as a class action, the court will order that the class of people affected be notified, which is done through direct mailings as well as through the media and Internet. Class membership is automatic in all but a very few cases. Everyone affected by the action or product complained of will be part of the case unless they choose to opt out.

Class members do not take part in the case directly unless they have evidence to offer, and they are not involved in the decision of whether or not to accept a settlement offer. The Lead Plaintiff consults with the class action attorneys to plan the strategy of the case and to accept or reject settlement offers. Other class members have only the option of opting out of the settlement.

How the Recovery is Divided

The court decides how to divide any recovery at the end of a class action suit. The attorneys are given costs and fees, often calculated as a percentage of the entire recovery, the Lead Plaintiff(s) receive an amount partly determined by their participation in the lawsuit, and the rest of the recovery is divided among the class members.

http://law.freeadvice.com/litigation/class_actions/class-action-lawsuit.htm

Are you trying to force all work offshore? sm - Long-time MT

[ In Reply To ..]
If I was an MTSO, I would send everything offshore just to not have to deal with employees here, or I would have all contractors. Do you all even know or care what you say and the damage that you do?

So you are saying, no matter what they do, people should endure it for the sake - of a job?

[ In Reply To ..]
So if the rate drops to 4 cpl straight typing, that people are required to be at their desk for 12 hours/day five days a week, get paid only for their lines whether it be 50 or 5000, require the same on weekends and holidays, stop supplying staff lists and require the MTs to look up that information, dock them 2 cpl for any report with more than 1 error, dock them 2 cpl for a greater than 2% to QA score, and call an MTs home if they are inactive on the program for more than 1.5 minutes?

And we're supposed to be content because, gosh, the jobs could go offshore? That's pretty much ridiculous. That is the reason there are labor laws, and they shouldn't be ignored.

And it's the people who say just sit down and be quiet and don't make waves who allowed it to get worse and worse and worse, and stripped the job of the respect it garnered 20 years ago.

Naive - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I keep hearing about how the MTs WON against MQ in that big class action lawsuit. Let me ask you all, did that result in a better work environment for their MTs? Take a peek at the MQ board and decide for yourself.

Go by the converse- what has not complaining gained them? - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
What has enduring the flexing, taking pay cuts, and the rest of the MQ horrific policies gained them? It seems to me that laying down by their bowl has only brought on more trouble- they just pretty much cut everybody's pay who was making over some strictly arbitrary level. They created the cesspool. They force people to use their PTO even when it's MQs fault that there is no work.

So tell me how exactly being good obedient little serfs has helped. It seems that they rolled over once too often and now the employees are a boulder headed down the side of a mountain.

Naive - Cynic

[ In Reply To ..]
Yeah, they "won" all right--some crazy course from AHDI, which, IMO, is of the same ilk as MQ. That does not make up for the lines that were cheated.

No class action - In the know

[ In Reply To ..]
Why don't you ask the MQ MTs how their class action came out?

Right on, let's make some lawyer rich - Vet MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Class action gets each MT $2.50 and the lawyer about a mil. Besides that, Keystrokes isn't any worse than any of the others. Suck it up or go somewhere else and suck it up.

Or, Novel Concept, stand up and fight for what is right - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Reality check - Been there, done that

[ In Reply To ..]
As far as "standing up and fighting for what is right," you will waste your time and lose your money. Look what happened to us in the MQ lawsuit. Even our own lawyers were backed into a corner by the MQ bullies. Sometimes you just gotta face reality. MQ and other large companies play by the Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules.

Yeah, no one would want to cause financial harm! - Katniss

[ In Reply To ..]
An MT is hired by a reputable company only to find out - there is no work, the account has been overhired, the account is lost, or the platform is so bad that no lines can be made. Suddenly financial harm has been caused by that company to the MT. The bill collectors don't care and neither does the company. Instead, the MT is QA'd to death in order to get enough "dirt" to cover themselves when they fire her. Then a valuable MT who has worked for years to gain the knowledge and experience is without a job, still broke, with shattered self-esteem and a mark against her on her work history.

Yeah, let's not post anything on here that might cause financial harm. On the other hand, I think if everyone who had this type of experience with a company really got stirred up, there might be quite a few legal cases to deal with. Might not want to open that pandora's box.

Reputable company? - Not hardly.

[ In Reply To ..]
The joke is KS has been trying to repair their reputation for many years and shocked that they even have a bad reputation.

seriously nuts - unknown status

[ In Reply To ..]
Keystrokes even has a problem getting new hires started. IMO, the process is painfully slow, with minimal communication, and all sorts of problems. Recently, I was assigned an account from one of the companies that KS acquired. The multiple techs could not get the most basic and (IMO) antiquated platform to work properly. This was over many days with a lot of time wasted for everyone. Note, as an employee, there was no payment for any of this time. I spent a good amount also on phone calls that were not toll free to call into on-line meetings and to try to contact people to resolve problems.

I was then reassured that I would be assigned a different account. Contact has been nonexistent. Payment for work I did produce has not been received.

IMO, Keystrokes causes their own name to be harmed. I have never, nor have any of my colleagues ever dealt with a service that turned into such a ridiculous bunch of nonsense.

And I have since had private conversations with multiple MTs who told me all sorts of details about their experiences with KS that would, IMO, keep anyone from considering working for this company.

Try Oracle/OTI - no set hours, just lines per day on daily calendar - Relieved

[ In Reply To ..]
They give updates on account TAT status and send out the occasional "we need extra hands" email but no spotlight, breathing down your neck tactics.

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