WONDEMAND - Amanda Miron

from an email:

I did work for Amanda Miron of WONDEMAND. Amanda gets work from Elance and from other sources, and then hires out people, such as myself, to do the writing. For months, I have gone back and forth with Amanda over payment. She put me off, said she had not been paid, and eventually asked if she could be on a payment plan. At that point, she owed me over $1,600, so I knew a payment plan would likely be the best course of action I could take. I agreed to the payment plan, which was $100 a week until the amount owed was completely paid off. Amanda broke her payment plan. Apparently, she had an unexpected business trip to Cuba. I'm not sure how many people who own a freelance business need to travel to Cuba for business. I'm also not sure how she can afford to go to Cuba, but she cannot afford to either pay me in full or at least make the payment owed on the payment plan, as she apparently has the money to go to Cuba.

Now, she owes me over $900, and I have found my work published online. I have not been paid for this work. Amanda is running a scam. Amanda has lied to me about clients. She makes her clients look as if they do not pay, when they have actually paid. Clients have left her feedback on Elance, but yet she acts as if they did not give her any money.

People need to avoid Amanda Miron and WONDEMAND at all costs. She makes you beg for payment and she also "forgets" that she has not paid you. I have reported Amanda to Elance and to the Better Business Bureau, but I will likely have to take legal action in order to get my money.

IRA Internet Research Associates?

From an email:
I want to know if anyone else has has problems with this company. Here is my story.

I have worked for IRA twice now. The first time I worked there, I was told that I was being terminated (out of the blue) becuase a client thought my articles sounded like they were written by someone who didn't speak English. I wasn't given any more details, and wasn't even given the information about which project it had been. I fought my way back, explaining to Clark and the editor I was working with that there was no way that could have been my writing - simply becuase I know I speak AND write English very well. After a lot of arguing on my part, I got an email from Clark, saying I could have one more chance, but I'd be fired immediately if there was another complaint.

Well, when I got back into the system, I went to the articles that I had done, turned in, and not been paid for, as they were the ones the client didn't like. I was able to access the articles, because this is the way it is set up - and the ones that were there were articles of mine that had been tampered with. The grammar was all messed up, punctuation was in the wrong place, and things like that. I didn't say anything, becuase I'd been warned I'd get fired if I caused any more trouble - but I worried.

Sure enough. I turned in a project the other day, and I got the same email back again - the client thought the article was written by someone who didn't speak English, he was ticked off, and was no longer going to order from IRA. Again, I wasn't told which project it was, or even which article, just given an ambiguous client number. From the number, I guessed that the client had been talking about a certain article, which I pulled up on my own computer. I couldn't find any instances of the article being written like I didn't speak English, so I can only assume the same thing happened again. I've sent numerous emails to Clark now, explaining what I think happened. I even attached the article I'd written, and asked him to check to see if that was the same article the client got. But I haven't heard back and its been almost a week.

I think that IRA is a great company, but there is obviously an employee working there who wants to take down other writers. Unfortunately the way the work side of things is set up, employees can have access to the articles that others are turning in. I know that Clark wants to believe the best of his employees, as I'm sure we all do, but the writing community has snakes in it just as any other community. Writers know each other, and if a writer is taking too much work, or getting to work before other writers, sometimes people get really mean, catty, and vindictive.

I lost a total of 86 dollars working for Clark. 50 from the first project that was tampered with and that led to my first firing, and 36 from this most recent one. If you add that to the 55$ worth of work that I had done for the site and hadn't had a chance to upload before I was terminated, thats $141. That's a day and a half of work for me - and a tenth of my rent payment. I can't afford that kind of treatment and I'm upset about the entire thing.

Jhon Rhineck

Hi

I'm really happy I bumped against your blog at present I've been cheated out of almost 30,000 Indian rupees. Yes, I know its a huge amount and everytime I think about it My heart burns.

But this is a warning to almost everyone who works with GAF. At present, there are a huge amount of job offers from buyers who are offering $3 or $4 per article but they are totally sham buyers. NOT A SINGLE ONE IS PAYING FOR WORK FROM WRITERS!

They promise to pay you weekly and I have a strong doubt that all of them are from the same person. They promise you money but after a week they land up not giving you anything. THEY JUST UP AND DISAPPEAR. I'VE HAD THREE EXPERIENCES ONE AFTER THE OTHER. THE WORST PART IS THAT GAF CAN DO NOTHING! ONE SUCH PERSON IS

clapclap@munich.com called as Jhon Rhineck

I wrote over $90 of work for him on time in 24 hours and I have his emails commending me for my work and originality. But ask for payment and he disappeared even after repeated emails. I have only the strongest of words to tell him and it appalls me that some one is capable of doing this to poor hardworking writers. I live with my inlaws and the time I spend on my work takes me away from my child and my husband and my inlaws are not that appreciative or supportive either. I desperately need that money for a separate house.......I can only think that GOD will look down on them one day for what they have done to me.

I needed a place to vent and sorry, but you turned out to be it. Thank you for letting me vent here. I am also willing to retract these statements if I get paid but I seriously doubt that payment is going to happen anytime soon :(

Thanks anyway