Basically just about any and all of these 'work at home' outfits, particularly those who charge an amount to buy their 'kit', are scam artists. Either they send you no material, or if they do, you work your butt off for little or no pay. The Better Business Bureau often advises against signing up with any of these 'firms', for much the same reason I just gave.
Unfortunatily, a lot of people get taken in by these operations, particularly those who are unemployed.
Any place that charges YOU to get paid by THEM is a scam. I've worked for one. :(--> I took people's last $100 for a promised job my company didn't have for them. We had a sweat shop in the back room of people scouring the Help Wanted sections just like these people would have been doing on their own.
Beware also that there are MLM scams posing as "work from home" companies too. One of my girlfriends got into this and started sending e-mails out to everyone on her joke lists and harvesting e-mail addresses from the jokes where people don't remove all the other e-mails before forwarding the joke.
I know a few ladies who sell on e-bay as a part-time job. They shop yard sales and thrift stores for clothes, books, collectibles and sell them the next week. There are a lot of places to go to check values of books, etc.
My wife has worked with them since they started over 5 years ago. Since then, they've gone from 1000 agents to 20,000 or some such thing. We even partied with the WS bigwigs in Vegas once. But she really cant help much, as far as getting someone on a project.
It might be kinda hard to get a project at first. Depends on how professional your application is. And I would say, take whatever they offer you, even if it is small, just to get your foot in the door. And dont be afraid to inquire about your status after a reasonable period of time.
Keep in mind: its not easy work. Same office politics and other b.s. as meatspace jobs (lazy fellow employees, cliques, middle management issues, etc...), but minus the dry-cleaning, panty hose, bad commute and bad lighting. ;)-->
Your hardware and connection has got to be pretty up to snuff, though they use some groovy platforms that help a lot.
If you get any sort of call-center type job (which many of them are), non-professional sounds are a big issue (babies, animals, etc..). "Deal-breakers," if you will.
um...some projects may keep you at your PC for hours on end, and multi-tasking something fierce. And so, make sure to pee before you log on, have meals planned around your strange present "absence," etc... A lot of people think that just because they are working from home, they are not also working in a call center. Sometimes friends and relatives dont get it either. they oftyen seem think you are just free to log off at will.
ok, all i got for now.
bottom line...its real work, and they pay. Sometimes it pays relatively good. sometimes it pays relatively ok.
Now I know that they don't gaurantee when you'll get your first job and all that, but I was wondering. How long did it take your wife to get her first job from them? And have you heard about how long it took other people that you know anything about?
Apparently at least it sounds like they offer some real work at least, which is good. Better than these 'fly-by-night' ops.
well, things seem to have changed a lot at WS since my wife first started. but back then, she got a small gig right away. something real tiny...like only 2 hours per week. but she took it, and other gigs soon followed.
and sorry Garth and all, i havent heard specifically how long it has taken others to get a gig in the recent mega-status of WS. but i do know they are always hiring new agents. and my wife has worked with folks who have more recently signed on.
If anybody ever has any questions concerning a business or an opportunity, the first stop for information would be one's state attorney general. You can find out how many complaints have been filed/received concerning the company, if there ever were any formal actions taken, what the results of those actions were, if there is a legitimate business/corporation formed, if the 'resident agent' is an actual address or a PO Box, and all sorts of other very interesting things about any company in your state. And you can contact any other state attorney general, too.
Another source that I usually check out is the BBB (Better Business Bureau) site. All I have to do is type in the name or website of the business/organization in question, and it usually gives me a good run-down of the complaints, satisfactory rating, et al of the firm.
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GarthP2000
Act2,
Basically just about any and all of these 'work at home' outfits, particularly those who charge an amount to buy their 'kit', are scam artists. Either they send you no material, or if they do, you work your butt off for little or no pay. The Better Business Bureau often advises against signing up with any of these 'firms', for much the same reason I just gave.
Unfortunatily, a lot of people get taken in by these operations, particularly those who are unemployed.
Hope this helps.
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Belle
Any place that charges YOU to get paid by THEM is a scam. I've worked for one. :(--> I took people's last $100 for a promised job my company didn't have for them. We had a sweat shop in the back room of people scouring the Help Wanted sections just like these people would have been doing on their own.
Beware also that there are MLM scams posing as "work from home" companies too. One of my girlfriends got into this and started sending e-mails out to everyone on her joke lists and harvesting e-mail addresses from the jokes where people don't remove all the other e-mails before forwarding the joke.
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act2
Garth and Belle, thanks so much for the feedback. That is why I didnt give them my credit card #.... :)-->
Sure wish there was something legitimate that one could do from home on the computer/internet.
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coolchef1248 @adelphia.net
please act2 don't give your credit card # to anyone you don't know!!! glad you did't! good for you
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karmicdebt
I know a few ladies who sell on e-bay as a part-time job. They shop yard sales and thrift stores for clothes, books, collectibles and sell them the next week. There are a lot of places to go to check values of books, etc.
It could be fun...
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sirguessalot
I agree with much of the above general guidelines re: work from home outfits...
...if they want to charge you to get started, forget about it.
imo, here are two legit outfits worth checking into:
www.Guru.com
Working Solutions
peace
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GarthP2000
Sirguessalot,
Thanks for the reference to Working Solutions. I've applied and am awaiting confirmation. Have you had any direct experience with them?
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sirguessalot
Garth,
My wife has worked with them since they started over 5 years ago. Since then, they've gone from 1000 agents to 20,000 or some such thing. We even partied with the WS bigwigs in Vegas once. But she really cant help much, as far as getting someone on a project.
It might be kinda hard to get a project at first. Depends on how professional your application is. And I would say, take whatever they offer you, even if it is small, just to get your foot in the door. And dont be afraid to inquire about your status after a reasonable period of time.
Keep in mind: its not easy work. Same office politics and other b.s. as meatspace jobs (lazy fellow employees, cliques, middle management issues, etc...), but minus the dry-cleaning, panty hose, bad commute and bad lighting. ;)-->
Your hardware and connection has got to be pretty up to snuff, though they use some groovy platforms that help a lot.
If you get any sort of call-center type job (which many of them are), non-professional sounds are a big issue (babies, animals, etc..). "Deal-breakers," if you will.
um...some projects may keep you at your PC for hours on end, and multi-tasking something fierce. And so, make sure to pee before you log on, have meals planned around your strange present "absence," etc... A lot of people think that just because they are working from home, they are not also working in a call center. Sometimes friends and relatives dont get it either. they oftyen seem think you are just free to log off at will.
ok, all i got for now.
bottom line...its real work, and they pay. Sometimes it pays relatively good. sometimes it pays relatively ok.
good luck
:)-->
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GarthP2000
Sirguessalot,
Now I know that they don't gaurantee when you'll get your first job and all that, but I was wondering. How long did it take your wife to get her first job from them? And have you heard about how long it took other people that you know anything about?
Apparently at least it sounds like they offer some real work at least, which is good. Better than these 'fly-by-night' ops.
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sirguessalot
well, things seem to have changed a lot at WS since my wife first started. but back then, she got a small gig right away. something real tiny...like only 2 hours per week. but she took it, and other gigs soon followed.
and sorry Garth and all, i havent heard specifically how long it has taken others to get a gig in the recent mega-status of WS. but i do know they are always hiring new agents. and my wife has worked with folks who have more recently signed on.
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CoolWaters
If anybody ever has any questions concerning a business or an opportunity, the first stop for information would be one's state attorney general. You can find out how many complaints have been filed/received concerning the company, if there ever were any formal actions taken, what the results of those actions were, if there is a legitimate business/corporation formed, if the 'resident agent' is an actual address or a PO Box, and all sorts of other very interesting things about any company in your state. And you can contact any other state attorney general, too.
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act2
I am back... thanks for those 2 sources, sirguessalot. I will check them out next week.
Garth, let me know how your deal works out.
CW, thanks for the info on the st. atty. gen. office.
I love being at home but want to do something in addition to cleaning, mowing, visiting family and friends, etc.
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GarthP2000
Cool,
Another source that I usually check out is the BBB (Better Business Bureau) site. All I have to do is type in the name or website of the business/organization in question, and it usually gives me a good run-down of the complaints, satisfactory rating, et al of the firm.
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CoolWaters
Yep, Garth...BBB is often a good source of info.
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