They have paid me on time so far, two paydays for a total of $550. I hope that doesn't change. They wired me the money about 5 business days before their listed payday so that I would receive it on time. I could care less if they are based in the Ukraine or Ethiopia as long as they pay me my cash. Those two paychecks really restored my faith in this 'industry', with all the gloom and doom around I almost quit. For now, I'm glad I didn't.
For the last poster, I don't mean to be rude or anything but if the level of grammar and spelling shown in your last message is applied to your essays, I won't be surprised if there would be an adverse reaction among your clients leading the company to hold your pay.
A few casual and objective observations:
1. They made me a premium writer a couple of weeks ago, and I distinctly remember that they had a "premium writer" link (apparently removed) where they elucidated on the benefits on being one. Supposedly, a premium writer gets a higher CPP and could get any order at will. Turns out a premium writer could only get 4 at a time. Still a decent proposition though, as you could get choice subjects without having to compete with others. As for the higher CPP, didn't really notice any difference. Shucks.
2. When you get a repeat customer, you would supposedly get a 20% bonus on the order. I had three repeat customers last pay cycle and I never got any bonus. I'm still waiting word on this.
3. The number of orders have gone down dramatically over the past week. While I haven't really felt its effects as I'm busy with my day job, I am really curious as to why this is happening. I can only empathize with those who write full-time; the lack of choices make it all the more difficult.
4. I have had a pretty decent experience so far with their support staff. However, past couple of weeks they seem to be less visible than usual, and seem to be harder to reach. I wonder what is up.
So there. My Academia experience has so far been generally positive, which makes me all the more believe the "selective compensation" theory I have read in one of the earlier posts. While the intrinsic shadiness is enough to spook anyone (the phone number that is next to the impossible to get through, the empire state building address that has since been removed, etc.) for me the most important thing is that THEY PAY and that it is ON TIME. I will be the first one to post here if they didn't. They really seem bent on staying in the business, and as long as the money keeps coming they're okay in my book.
