OT: ChaCha

[momof1princess]

yes, that's how i understand it. unless chacha receives so much angry feedback from this debacle that they change their minds (as if ANYONE of them was using his/her brain when this idea was proposed), the new pay scale will go into effect on august 14th. i work really hard to give correct answers (even if it takes 4-5 minutes) and i feel like i'm being penalized b/c of the guides who don't give a flying fig and make stuff up. *sigh* i'm going to bed.

 

[Bopsmom]

just read my e-mail about the pay decrease and thought what the bleep! We have been on vacation so I haven't been able to get online a lot. Even when I was doing "a lot" on ChaCha in my book, I was only doing about 100 to 150 a week. I have a full time job and am working on my MBA, I was doing ChaCha mainly for gas money for our Disney trip next month. I think I am a good guide, I answer questions thoroughly and usually under 3 min. Oh well, it is not worth my time for .10!!!

Please correct me if I am wrong, but they will keep paying the .20 until the 14th? So I can answer my rear end off until then to hit my next $100 mark to get a cash out, then I will hit the road.

Lots of luck, the system has been soooo slow that today(on almost all day) I only managed 10 questions and 3 of them got "lost" in the system when it mysteriously logged me out. Whooo making the big.... (whoops it's not quite a buck).

 

[disneyluvrsX5]

Regarding this whole pay scale, I was thinking why wouldn't it make sense (if a person continues to work for ChaCha) while working at the .10 you only do 300 queries, take your time, et cetera. Then the following week you are at .20 if you are lucky so you answer as many as you can. Since you know that you most likely will not get 95% then you will just answer as fast as you can at that rate and do your best but forget the 10 minute questions, Then back to doing one week at .10, one week at .20. Make sense? Not that it is necessarily the right thing to do, but when you are making about $1 to 2 per hour, what other option? It really bothers me that we have no way of knowing any details about our accuracy. I think this is all about their issue with being able to pay people so if they are running low on funds, who is to say they might make it oh say a 98% cutoff. How would any of us know? This stinks! I love the way it was all presented too! like oh this is great!
Amy

 

[dreamergirl78]

I was just doing a few questions (when the system would allow me) and I can kind of see ChaCha's point. I got a question about the monorail in Las Vegas. The person asked another guide what the operating hours were. They replied open 24 hours. Person texts back: The Wynn said it was open until 2am. So I get the question What are the real hours. Do a search, first entry is the monorail in vegas. So I put in the hours (24 hours a day was WRONG!) and add in the prices and hit send. 2 queries later I get the same person again. Apparently ChaCha sent his question out twice. So when I looked in history there was my wonderful answer and someone else who said They needed more info, like where was Las Vegas! WTHeck???? I am sorry but that is just stupid. So I went back to my original site and copied and pasted what I wrote the first time. So ChaCha pretty much paid $1.00 out for wrong information. And they paid me .20 to correct the answer and .20 because of their system mess up.
My issue is I am not sure how easy 300 searches a week will be. And then if you bust your butt to qualify and the next week (your .20 week) something comes up you miss out on money making opportunities AND then you drop back down to .10 because life got in the way of ChaCha.

So after that long mumble jumble, I see both sides. I believe there is a better solution out there! Whew...

 

[AUDramaQueen]

I was just doing a few questions (when the system would allow me) and I can kind of see ChaCha's point. I got a question about the monorail in Las Vegas. The person asked another guide what the operating hours were. They replied open 24 hours. Person texts back: The Wynn said it was open until 2am. So I get the question What are the real hours. Do a search, first entry is the monorail in vegas. So I put in the hours (24 hours a day was WRONG!) and add in the prices and hit send. 2 queries later I get the same person again. Apparently ChaCha sent his question out twice. So when I looked in history there was my wonderful answer and someone else who said They needed more info, like where was Las Vegas! WTHeck???? I am sorry but that is just stupid. So I went back to my original site and copied and pasted what I wrote the first time. So ChaCha pretty much paid $1.00 out for wrong information. And they paid me .20 to correct the answer and .20 because of their system mess up.
My issue is I am not sure how easy 300 searches a week will be. And then if you bust your butt to qualify and the next week (your .20 week) something comes up you miss out on money making opportunities AND then you drop back down to .10 because life got in the way of ChaCha.

So after that long mumble jumble, I see both sides. I believe there is a better solution out there! Whew...

I think everyone agrees that there needs to be better control on these guides who don't care. The problem is having to log in part time hours now (it would take 15-20 hrs a week to answer 300 questions on average). They should check for accuracy or quality and not so much quantity.

The guides that don't care are just gonna answer faster and dumber and get the same amount of money in the same amount of time and take more questions away from us who are trying.

This is HQ and QC's problem because they didn't have some sort of weeding out process in place to begin with or if they did it wasn't very good. You would have to know if you hire a bunch of random people off the internet based on a few tests that you're gonna get trouble makers. Hire a real HR department and act like a real business if you want to succeed. Oh wait, that would mean outsourcing to other countries...never mind.

 

[Jennifer823]

Here's the info from the Knowledgebase that I was able to see:

Thanks for posting. I really like how they say that they are "rewarding" us for our performance. Where's the reward? At best, we get what we were getting already. If QC sees every question, like they say they do, why can't they flag answers that lower our accuracy, so we can see what we're doing wrong and correct it? Whatever... I don't want to work hard and get my 300 questions answered just for them to decide it's not good enough and not tell me why.

 

[Jennifer823]

Just read that too. I know I answered to get my $100 for the month then quit and have been reading the forums all night. I guess I should be trying to up my money while I can, but I just don't feel like it now.

Yup. Same thing here. I don't want to waste my time anymore.

 

[Nanu57v]

I kind of think the boycott is a bad idea. (Don't flame me). I mean, its your employer...would you do this in a day job? Plus, if you are going to boycott, shouldn't you do it when you aren't making 20 cents? (or 15 in my case?)

I'm dissapointed, but some pay is better than no pay.

 

[Jennifer823]

I kind of think the boycott is a bad idea. (Don't flame me). I mean, its your employer...would you do this in a day job? Plus, if you are going to boycott, shouldn't you do it when you aren't making 20 cents? (or 15 in my case?)

ChaCha isn't our employer.. remember we're not employees, we're "independent contractors."

 

[Jennifer823]

There might be a problem here... can someone check and see if it's happening to them? Yesterday afternoon, when all this new pay system controversy started, I decided to cash out and hit the "pay me now" button. It said my payment was processed.. this morning I log on to ChaCha again and the money I cashed out is still showing in my current earnings. I logged on to the FirstIB website, and the money's not posted in my account. I tried "pay me now" again, same thing! What the heck - are they not paying us at all now? Someone tell me it's just me!!

 

[AUDramaQueen]

I kind of think the boycott is a bad idea. (Don't flame me). I mean, its your employer...would you do this in a day job? Plus, if you are going to boycott, shouldn't you do it when you aren't making 20 cents? (or 15 in my case?)

I'm dissapointed, but some pay is better than no pay.

No flames, but we are independent contractors and are not employees. A day job would not cut your wages in half even if you had no prior complaints and say work more hours even though we agreed you could work these certain hours and THEN we MIGHT pay you what we paid you before.

I'm not boycotting, I'm just quitting

I think the reason people are boycotting during the 20 cent period is to let them know, "Hey. We feel like we have been insulted and under-appreciated and don't want to work for a company who treats us as such."


ETA: Just found this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080500797.html?nav=hcmodule

 

[momejay]

I have been complaining about the pay me now button for days! I have yet to be paid. I started July 12th. I have my account, debit card & PIN. Chacha says the bank never sent my accoount number. The bank says they did.

Ok nevermind the pay scale thing did you see the way they cleverly worded the winnings for this weekends contest? Now, after contest is over, they state we had to be logged in for every hour. Who in their right mind is going to stay up until 3AM & still be a "WOW" guide? I saved the email about the contest it doesn't say we have to be logged in the whole time it says random drawings during each hour & guide that answers most questions in that time period.

I think they need to look at our history of accuracy instead of creating a quota.
OVER WORKED & NOT PAID!!!! MY $.10 worth answer!

 

[momejay]

And another thing... How many of you printed out your handbook?
In mine it states I am to be paid $.20 per question! (Page 5!)

Nowhere does it say they can reduce wages on a whim!

 

[megthewonderful]

I sent some nasty feedback to ChaCha this morning about their new pay for performance. I told them how I felt devalued, under appreciated, and insulted by their new system. Basically, if I can't answer around 300 questions a week then they don't value you. So, what if you go on vacation? Or what if you are sick or have a family member who is sick? Or what if you just have other commitments and can only work 10 hours a week? Then, I guess ChaCha really doesn't want you.

I think the idea of a boycott right around the Olympics when you know they are going to be overwhelmed it a great idea. However, it's also one of the last chances to make 20 cents a question! It's a tough call. I am hoping that ChaCha receives so much negative feedback before then that they either keep the pay rate the same or keep the current pay rate and give those Guides who answer over 300 questions w/high accuracy a little bonus every week. The bottom line is, there is no need to cut our pay when we are making so little as it is.

I'll keep everyone posted as to whether or not I get a reply from ChaCha. I'm just another disappointed ChaCha Guide.

 

[AUDramaQueen]

Forgot to tell you, but the feedback I sent yesterday didn't go through. Just one more thing....

 

[Jennifer823]

ETA: Just found this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080500797.html?nav=hcmodule

Funny.. the article says that we answer about one question a minute. I wish! LOL I've found for an accurate answer, you spend at least two minutes from the doorbell to sending off the validated answer.

Like DH said last night - you'd make more money picking up pennies off the sidewalk.

 

[Mom2micayla]

I rarely get an answer off in a minute, unless it's "tell me a joke" and I use the quick link and don't search elsewhere. Otherwise I'd say on average a question takes me 2-3 minutes, sometimes longer for the really hard ones.

 

[WDWBetsy]

Sadly, I think I'm done with ChaCha. I have only been doing it for about a month and don't put in enough searches to qualify as a Top Guide under the new pay rules. I only work a 2-3 hours at night after my daughter goes to bed. I truly cared about the answers I provided. Sometimes they took a couple minutes - often more. I've never received a QC email, nor have I made Top Guide. I missed the July 15th cutoff by a couple bucks.

It's just not worth my time to look up complex questions and try to fit an answer into so few characters - and even then, not know what my performance is or if it's even evaluated. I'm honestly sick of the racist, harassing and juvenile questions. I'm disgusted by the answers that I've seen other guides give. The "Universe" doesn't work efficiently, and my software developer husband laughed at what they have in place.

Sure, it was nice to think of earning some extra money instead of playing Scrabble all night, but ChaCha is proving to just not be fun, reliable or flexible as promised.

I really don't even want to work up until the 14th to bust my rear for 20 cents a question when I'm seriously doubting that I'll even get the paltry $148 I've earned thus far. DANG - why did I not choose the Pay Me Now option??

 

[momof1princess]

No flames, but we are independent contractors and are not employees. A day job would not cut your wages in half even if you had no prior complaints and say work more hours even though we agreed you could work these certain hours and THEN we MIGHT pay you what we paid you before.

I'm not boycotting, I'm just quitting

I think the reason people are boycotting during the 20 cent period is to let them know, "Hey. We feel like we have been insulted and under-appreciated and don't want to work for a company who treats us as such."


ETA: Just found this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080500797.html?nav=hcmodule

HAHAHAHAHA! that article is AWESOME! LOVE IT!

 

[Miz Diz]

I have not done any searches in less than a minute. I can't believe they say that the guides average a search a minute. Sometimes the system is so slow, I see 30 seconds count out while I wait for it to go to the search screen.

By the time I do a search - the chacha search is worthless so I always google- click the link, validate the answer and send, it is never less than a minute.

I have only been doing this 1 month. I've only made top guide once. I figure I am making about $5/hour and was already thinking this was not worth my time. If I didn't have some unexpected medical bills, I wouldn't even be doing it right now, but at 10 cent a question, I will not do this. It is not worth my time.