I don't think a national association would help at all--students would have to know about the association, there would have to be fees paid by companies to support quality/complaint investigations, and the whole thing would turn into a new way for certain companies/individuals to make a profit.

Really? Where is the debate? "Semimonthly" means "half-monthly" (therefore twice a month), and "bimonthly" means "two monthly" (or once every two months). This is etymology, not a subjective interpretation of meaning.

It not only can mean that, it does mean that. Anyone who uses it to mean anything else is using it incorrectly.

I made a factual statement; you can't have it both ways. Either there are a lot of unscrupulous companies and writers willing to lie (by promising to deliver a product/quality level they know they can't) or there aren't.

If "getting a service you are not happy with" means buying a piece of writing that turns out to be plagiarized from various sources and cobbled together by someone that has no understanding of the subject matter or English language mechanics, then I think the term "scam" is appropriate. There are many companies and writers that do this to their customers, unfortunately.

While it's impossible to know for sure, I think at least sometimes the "bashing" is entirely true. There are a lot of unscrupulous companies and writers out there that will say almost anything to get students' money.

The thing is, advertisements aren't allowed here, and posting her contact information (or trying to) makes it an advertisement. You can do that on EssayChat.

That's the crap I was referring to. Although now that you mention it, you could have taken the high road in your response instead.

Why is this kind of crap even allowed here?

That wasn't worth the wait at all.

Do whatever you can--if enough people do, something might actually happen.

If foreign writers begin to approach native writers in terms of skill, companies could easily decide to offer lower payouts to these writers for many orders and reduce payouts even to native writers--it's outsourcing, plain and simple, This is far from the only industry it's happened in.

A good freelance writer ought to be able to find clients anyway, but I sense a coming change in US/UK company business models and their eventual demise.

Due to a variety of reasons, my payments process at all different times. If anyone actually makes their living as a freelancer of any sort, budgeting and saving have got to be part of their discipline. When payments process shouldn't really matter to much, as long as it actually gets processed (and of course, a six-month timeline or something like that would be ridiculous).

I really don't see how anything I said was foolish, and it seems to me that you're wasting your time making accusations that you can't actually talk about, but to each their own, I suppose.

Feel free not to repsond anymore if it's too taxing.

What I said wasn't even in response to you, Michael.

I'm a little confused here. You identify yourself as a writer but claim that you were cheated by another writer (which already doesn't make much sense), and then you say you can't actually share any details about what transpired because "it's a secret." It seems like you're just trying to disparage another writer in an effort to boost your own profile, and that isn't a successful way to go about this business. It just makes you seem petty and illogical.

You can always let your customers know what's going on, though.

Then it wasn't very bright to bring it up in a public forum.

What exactly is your game here?

Using a reputable and transparent payment processor gives everyone all the protection they should need.

You're the one who made the accusation, so it makes sense for you to be the one to explain it.

This kind of company makes my blood boil.

Given that many foreign companies/companies with foreign writers pay in the 1-2 cent/per word range while still charging close to the same prices as companies that pay native writers a living wage, I think this is more an excuse for US and UK-based companies to start cutting pay rates to writers rather than needing to cut the costs to customers. There's greater marketing difficulty with so much competition, but customers are still willing to pay $25+/pg despite the fact that there are cheaper (and usually poorer quality) alternatives.

Did you post this in the wrong thread? What exactly are you talking about?

I hate to burst your bubble, but the real injustice is the fact that these companies are charging customers over $20 a page and still only pay $6 a page even to their "top" writers.

Here's a hint: these companies are scams, and are run by unscrupulous owners who will do pretty much anything to increase their profits. Stop working for them.

This isn't true at all. Huge numbers of international students come here on their parents' dime not to work during university, but so they can get better jobs (possibly in the US/UK) after university.

Basically, it's because universities want the money these international students bring and so don't bother to make sure their skills math the university's requirements. The fact that courses in almost every major require full fluent essays is a bit ridiculous, frankly; a Chinese student studying organic chemistry will need to know English well enough to discuss things with colleagues, but they don't have to be able to write essays on Niels Bohr.

This industry would not exist on the scale it does if the university system itself weren't flawed.

Recommendations don't seem to be allowed here--the site is for exposing scams, not for recommending good companies. I know it's frustrating, but that seems to be the way it works.

It seems like positive reviews always meet with this sort of treatment. I'm still figuring things out here, but read a bunch and you'll see that this site is really just useful for exposing scam companies, not for promoting companies whether they're good or bad.

India really isn't. I mean, the majority of people might be able to converse in English, but anyone who has spoken to a few Indians in call centers (I don't mean to sound racist, but the fact is a lot of companies outsource call centers there precisely because there is a large population of English "speakers") knows that this doesn't translate to real fluency and certainly not to the ability to write at a college level (or what should be a college level).

Also, I think a lot of sites promise more than they actually perform, and there's no way for a customer to verify the claims you say are important. Customer feedback is faked all the time, work samples are stolen, and editors might not exist at all or might not be as qualified as claimed.

Again, I don't think being a native English speakers makes you a qualified writer, and I don't think learning English as a second/foreign language makes you unqualified. For customers without a real way to make a determination about a writer before receiving any work form that writer, though, claims of nativehood can be very persuasive and are often used as lies to attract customers to scam sites. It can also be used as effective and honest advertising for native writers.

I'm new to the forum (but not to the business), and I don't know what you're referring to.

It isn't a "faulty yardstick," though. If a company is actually based in the US/UK and actually hires US/UK writers, the customer is much more likely to get a decent paper than if the company is based in Ukraine/Pakistan/India and hires foreign writers for four dollars a page. There is no guarantee that a native writer will complete a stellar paper just as there is no guarantee that a non-native writer will produce something less than desirable, but the odds are definitely different.

Also, there's the legal aspect. A US customer hiring a US-based company has much greater legal recourse should things turn sour (same for a UK customer/UK company), making the question of country of origin even more relevant.

I agree with this, but I think people misrepresenting where they're from is a big problem in this industry, don't you? Before they order, customers don't know what the quality of the product will be, and they use ESL/native status as a means of trying to differentiate prior to payment.

How can anyone figure out who's telling the truth here?