Article Writer that's not Delivering?

Hi,

I hired an article writer recently for 20 articles and they were cheap, that is $3 per 200-word article, seemed enthusiatic and had a decent rep here. We spoke by PM and they then quoted a rate of $0.02 per word, that is $4.00 per 200 word articles not $3, assuring me this would make my articles their top "priority".

A month later I've got just 2 articles, and only those because I pushed for some kind of results. The 2 articles I got weren't good at all, I don't know quite what to expect for just $4 but one of them was a very close rewrite of a Wikipedia article - so close that I've had to credit Wikipedia for the article content, so it's not an original article at all.

Are such close rewrites acceptable, or should I get be getting original content for $4? And is it fair to request a refund?

Thanks all for your help,

Regards,
Jeremy

 

Who's the writer?
Do you have an example of the article you bought for viewing?

 

Thanks for the reply:

Here's the article I got:

"The debt-snowball method is a form of debt repayment that can easily be applied to revolving credit such as credit cards. The Motley Fool (fool.com), Money Saving Expert.com, and What’s the Cost (whatsthecost.com) all recommend using the snowball method in paying off debt. To use the snowball method, follow these steps. First, list all of your debts in ascending order from the smallest balance to the largest. Next, be sure to pay the minimum payment of every debt. After that, decide how much additional money can be applied to the smallest debt. Then, pay the minimum payment plus the addition money towards the smallest debt until it is completely paid off. Next, add the minimum payment of the first and smallest debt plus the extra money and pay it towards the second smallest debt. Use and repeat these steps until all debts are paid off in full. This is called the snowball method because as you climb the ladder towards your biggest debt you have accumulated more money towards these larger debts from the minimum payments you used to make for the smaller debts. This allows for you to be able to pay off the larger debts faster and more efficiently."

Here's the opening of the Wikipedia article:

"The debt-snowball method of debt repayment is a form of debt management that is most often applied to repaying revolving credit — such as credit cards. This method has gained more recognition recently due to the fact that it is the primary debt-reduction method taught by Dave Ramsey.

Snowballing is also recommended by many other finacial websites such as The Motley Fool, Money Saving Expert.com and What's The Cost (Where a calculator can show the savings you'll make by snowballing in the correct order).

Method

The basic steps in the debt snowball are:

* List all debts in ascending order from smallest balance to largest.
* Commit to pay the minimum payment on every debt.
* Determine how much extra can be applied towards the smallest debt.
* Pay the minimum payment plus the extra amount towards that smallest debt until it is paid off.
* Then, add the old minimum payment from the first debt to the extra amount, and apply the new sum to the second smallest debt.
* Repeat until all debts are paid in full.

In theory, by the time the final debts are reached, the snowball will be "rolling" quickly as it has picked up a lot of financial mass. Hence, larger debts will be paid off faster."

 

Hmm, it is very similar, I gess for that kind of money it would be difficult for anyone to write a original high quality article, though I guess that's what you were promised.
I'm sure it's different enough to avoid a duplicate content penalty, though you were probably right to credit them.

 

Did the writer promise you a unique article? If not, prolly it's just 4 buck burnt.
Good call on crediting Wikipedia.

Who's the writer?

 

Who is this writer ? I don't want to do business with them.
It would also help if you showed us the thread where you hired them, if possible.

 

Pay him the $4 and get a refund for the rest. Then leave negative iTrader feedback.

If you don't get a refund then contact paypal.

 

Just waiting a whole month for the articles it's wrong. I would expect a 5-10 business day delivery on this small amount of articles.

What you posted seems completely plagiarized. Good call on the wikipedia credit, but plagiarized content doesn't worth a penny unless you are buying redistributed content, which is not the case here.

 

I guess the statement "you get what you pay for" could apply here.

 

I've found that hiring article writers is a trial and error process. You almost need to "audition" them with a trial run of small numbers of articles.

One problem is that there is no standard of agreed-on content quality. A writer can promise you original and good content, and in his or her mind they are being honest, even though they couldn't write their way out of a paper bag.

Of course, not making the deadline is a whole other story. If some of these guys could write articles as well as they make up excuses, they'd be doing great busniess.

 

Yeah, that is ridiculous. I charge slightly more than that and would have gotten 20 articles done in around 5 days...

 

If the writer promised to meet a deadline, he or she should have met the deadline.

If the writer promised original content, he or she should have done more than work Wikipedia a little bit.

Do you get what you pay for? Sometimes. Sometimes you get less. Occasionally you get more. In this case, you got shafted.

My clients don't pay me when I'm late--the content is on the house if I can't deliver as promised. They get a 300% money back originality guarantee. They get well-written and fully-edited articles.

Plus, they don't pay much more than you did.

The problem isn't the rate you paid, the problem is the person you paid. Yes, your odds of dealing with a good writer increase along with payment rates. However, there are professionals out there who take pride in their work and understand webmaster margins and likely ROI for purchased content.

You just have to pick the right person. Get samples. Get references. Get them to make you promises if they don't have them right up in front from the get-go. Take them for a test drive before committing to major expenditures. Try to deal with professionals for whom writing is a career, not a diversion to raise beer money--people who take their work seriously.

As noted, it can be hit or miss. It is possible to find a good writer at a good price, though. I'd cut my losses on your current disaster and would start shopping for someone else, personally.

CDB

 

Looks to me like you hired the wrong writer. Now, don't get me wrong ... you're also paying a pittance for something that requires true skill if you want it done right, so that's almost like asking for trouble.

Take care whenever buying cheap articles to search for some of the content elsewhere EVERY time because it's almost always going to be plagiarized. I highly doubt that most people willing to work for that rate are going to put their heart into the work.

Sorry to sound unsympathetic, but if you want a professional job done, you need to pay a professional rate. I'm glad you didn't invest a lot before finding out that this person is ripping you off, though.

You got lucky!

 

Although Writers do have to do their research somewhere (as they are not experts on every subject that their clients demand), and most commonly they use Wikipedia as their source, this article is way too close to the original (mainly the opening lines and debt management). The other major problem with this article is the quality of the writing. Hopefully the writer will read this thread and take the time to improve his research techniques and writing style.

 

The old saying "You get what you pay for" definitely works in this situation. The writer promised you orginal content delivered in a timely manner and yes, they should have followed through with that promise. However, working for a measly four dollars per article can be hard to motivate anyone.

I would strongly suggest hiring article writers who can provide samples of their work next time. If not, give them a trial run; have them complete a few sample articles for you and see how that turns out.

The next time you decide to hire an article writer, shop around to find the BEST person for the job. My apologies that you got ripped off. Next time, hopefully you'll know better Best wishes.

 

Yeah, you definitely get what you pay for. If you want fast professional results, you can't pay scraps like $4 per piece ... unless you find an amateur just dying to have anything and everything published. Then best of luck to both of you. Heck, they could get more than that easily just posting their random articles to Associated Content. If you want real quality and not re-written junk pulled from the Web, you need to find a way to invest in it. Quality content will make you enough in the long run to more than pay for itself. Otherwise, you'll just be like every other content site that's been seo'd to death and essentially worthless against its competition. Just my $.02.

Jenn

 

Just remember, if one writer doesn't work out, there are plenty of others available on DP...

 

I am nowadays writing Search Engine Optimization articles for a content development firm. Ready for a trial run. Could be sending you my profile...

 

You didn't.

 

Its all wrong. You should definately be expecting unique content and not just re-writes. Secondly, a month is a ridiculously long time to write twenty articles, and only submit two. I would definately request a refund for ALL my money.

I'm a content writer, and this is the highest level of inefficiency and misconduct.
I guess this was just one of those times you got swindled. Goodluck. And definately try to get a refund, if not on those two articles, then on the rest that he hasn't delivered. And give him negative iTrader feedback. And do let everyone know who this writer is. I can't stand cheats!