Writers Beware.

I hate to do this, but I feel everyone has the right to know who they should; or in this case, shouldn't be dealing with.

A member of this forum who goes by the name Manik Chandra Das has refused to pay for articles I delivered to him. He wanted them in 2 hours and hounded me every step of the way. I had a feeling it wouldn't end well for me; and my instincts were spot on.

After 3 days of sending him the article, he never responded. I finally send a little nudge on Skype asking what was going on. He quickly said that my article was copied from another site and removed me from his contact list before I even had a chance to say "BULL SHIT!"

First off, my articles are never spun, copied or stolen from another site. I have been writing for 8 years; not once has a client ever had this thought go through their head.

You may be saying this is my word against his; and you would have a valid argument.

However, I have Skype conversations and emails that clearly show we checked the article on Copyscape together. He insisted I stay on Skype until it was checked. I waited for more than 10 minutes before he replied stating the article was good to go.

Normally, I would just chalk this up to doing business. However, this is the 2nd time in 1 week that someone from Digital Point has scammed me. Once I gather the information on the other douche-bag, their story will be outed as well.

Never in my 8 years of writing have I encountered this problem.

Take this long-winded post as you will. If you feel the need to call me the sucker, so be it. I am a sucker to an extent in this matter. My objective is to let everyone know what SCUM these members of Digital Point are.

 

Never, ever type one keystroke for anyone unless or until they pay you, at least some money, up front.

Clients always have the option of not paying.

Writers never have the option of undoing work that has been done.

On a side note, charge extra for rush pieces. Always.

 

I like this advice and getting something, even small, upfront is a good idea if you can pull it off. It immediately filters out the real cheapasses for one. It also goes a way to showing you regard yourself as valuable and professional, with at least some confidence ... which should inspire some additional confidence in the right client.

 

If you can't pull it off, move on to the next client.

There are some fantastic clients to be found on DP. I have worked with several of them for years now and none of them have ever had any issue paying upfront.

Value yourselves, friends. If you don't, no one else will.

 

The only problem I have with clients is rate. Some clients pay ridiculous rates, and expect a lot in return. These types of buyers do disgust me.

 

OKay, if he is not satisfied, you take the articles over to the DP marketplace and put them up for sale. This way you will definitely get paid.

I had a similar experience, except when the buyer said he was not satisfied with the flow of the articles, I told him that I would not make him pay for them and I would keep the articles for myself. I found out later that he INDEED used the articles! They were posted on ezinearticles with promotional links in the byline. I contacted him and told him to pay me, and he did not reply. So then I contacted ezinearticles.com, and showed them our conversations. Ezinearticles deleted the articles from the account. WHAT AN ASS!

 

I've dealt with all kinds of weirdo buyers. One guy who gave a single word description of what he wanted and when I asked for more details like length, he told me to bugger off.

 

Can I know all his contacts, email and his Skype name?
Considered visiting my previous thread: https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/caution-about-collecting-paypal-payments-for-sending-and-blog-posting-scams.2766988/

Please give me his contacts, thanks!

 

Hi PatrickReeves,

Terribly sorry to hear of your mishap.

And no! You are not the "sucker."
There is absolutely no need to start
seeing yourself as anything else than
what you really are: a professional.

And that person should be very lucky
that you are acting quite gently-manly
about this whole unpleasant situation.

Patrick, as you already know, there are
many more good clients out there, than
there are bad ones.

You will be fine. I am just glad that you
didn't respond to this situation in any way,
so as to lose your reputation as a content
provider.

Good job! You will be fine.

Cheers.

Alodieanne

 

It's always hard to know what's going on, especially when doing business online. As others have mentioned getting some payment upfront is best. I also find that a vague client with a vague client is usually bad news. I don't think you are a sucker the same has happened to me. Have you ever considered using a locked PDF to deliver the work before payment is made and releasing the originals after payment is received? This way clients can preview the work, but will need to pay to release the actual content to be used.

 

^^I sent it as a Self-Destructible message on Telegram. The entire file, with a timer. That way, they couldn't copy it.

 

Hi Patrick,
Before dealing with new clients, dont provide bulk task without taking a single bucks . Atleast ask them to pay you half amount before starting the task or just give them one sample content and if they like it , please ask them to pay you $$$ because writers efforts should not be wasted. It really took lot of time for writing quality content .Better be aware of cheaters whose main aim is to get content n exploit writers....