ChaCha Inc review: Fraud and scam 57

I agree, chacha is a scam, I got several emails telling me how well I was doing, I had a 95.2 percent answer rate when the required amount was 60 percent, I had a 100 percent quality rating, then all of the sudden I got a email saying my account was deactivated for fraudulent searches, I was provided no proof of any wrong doing, I sent several emails and never received a response, I never was rude, racist, or broke any rules, I tried to be the best guide possible and took the job seriously, I tried to answer every question with a appropriate answer and my name was tarnished because of what, I don't even know because still to this day chacha has not provided me with any information other than my account was deactivated, that is very unprofessional, who accuses someone of fraud, basically fires them and doesn't even say why, I am contacting my state labor board at the end of the week if I have not received a response from them by then, I also may contact the media ! I want my money !

I am SO upset over this absolute BS. I lost my retail job (no fault of my own) and I found ChaCha.com on a Yahoo post so I signed up and started doing it. I actually LIKED it and I spent at least 5 hours a day (at different time periods) vetting. I was trying to make $10 a day which I was doing pretty good at. Especially with the Red Alert money and contests. My quality rating was in the 90s, I was active in the forums, I went through the guide material to make sure I was doing everything right. My account was up to $180.23, I was waiting until $200 to cash out. Then this morning, they sent me an email saying my account has been permanently deactivated due to "fraudulent searches". I don't even know what fraudulent searches are or if I did something wrong. I emailed them and told them I didn't understand, all I want is my money that I worked hours and hours for. I literally begged them. No answer yet and I'm not counting on one. I've got screen caps of the amount of earnings in my account. Every posting I've found says that when you're deactivated for "fraudulent activity", you don't get any of your money. Being that I actually liked doing this, I'm just so upset about it. But I now I could really care less, I just want the money that I worked so many hours for. If you're thinking about doing ChaCha, DON'T DO IT! It will seem like it's going along well and then they'll hit you out of nowhere with a two-line deactivation email with no detailed explanation. On top of that, I feel humiliated that I bought into this scam.

I am one of those unfortunate souls who cannot work outside the home because my brother and husband are both disabled, and took on this job to help make the bills each month. I worked for them for two years, no problems, then lost my position with them after SUPPOSEDLY being fraudulent and scamming the customers. What a load of crap! I made them send me the exact Q&A's that I was fired over, and am now gleefully pursuing a class action lawsuit. And you ChaCha cheerleaders make me sick to my stomach- EVERYONE who has ever worked for them knows the pay sucks as does dealing the mindless children who make up 99% of the customer base and their fit pitching, cursing, abject abuse and complete lack of respect for anyone and anything. YOU KNOW CHACHA SUCKS, so drop the whole 'Oh, it's your fault because you can't do the job' BS. It's answering questions, for Gods' sake, not freakin' rocket science or brain surgery.

I haven't been working for ChaCha for very long, and it's true I haven't even tried cashing out yet, but keep in mind that site is not a good way to get a serious income. It's good for some extra money, if you have a lot of free time, but if you could be doing something more profitable, by all means do it. It is completely a matter of opinion about whether working for ChaCha is fun, and if you don't think it is, you don't have to do it. I'm working for them and feeling helpful - it's not the company's fault what sort of questions come in, and honestly I'm answering more fun facts questions than lyrics or sex questions (though don't get me wrong, they're out there). If you happen to have a lot of free time where you're doing little else than scrolling down Facebook or Tumblr, it's a good opportunity to make a few bucks on the side.

Chacha is an outright scam to get fat people with no lives to work for them for pennies. The current wage rate is literally a HALF CENT per unit. If you want to make a $1/hr answering question after misspelled question about beating drug tests, teenage pregnancies, penis size, adolescent sex, who's gay in what podunk town, [censored] rap song lyrics, phone numbers for the local Payless or jail, name that discharge and masturbation techniques.

Then by all means, Chacha away. You are an idiot and they are taking advantage of you. Because any excuse to terminate your contract and save themselves paying you, they will. I did it for a week and had about a three bucks built up. After a day of the same ### texting over and over again, "how do I arouse my husband?", I went crazy telling her to surprise him with her strap-on and another man to rape his mouth. And it got raunchier from there.

The only people making money through Chacha are the five people in some Carmel, IN office who dreamed up this business model that allows them to screw the masses out of time and money. There is a ### above saying she is making $500 a month with them working 4-6 hours a few days a week. That is a straight-up lie. If she only works 15 days a month for 5 hours each, that's almost $7 dollars an hour, nearly minimum wage. And impossible with the Chacha rate and questions per hour limits. Even if she gets a lofty $.10 per question, a fast vetter can't do more than 300-400 an hour. That is hardly $4/hr.

Clearly don't waste your time with Chacha, for its imbeciles - coming and going.

Up until yesterday I would have never said ChaCha was a scam. I've worked for them for years and never had an issue with being paid. Out of the blue (and with a lot of money in my account that I didn't request to be paid yet), I was deactivated and accused of fraudulent activity. I have been inquiring about the money in my account and no answer has been given. My warning is to keep in mind that they can and are willing to delete you at a moments notice. When this happens you will have no way of contacting them or getting your money.

Don't believe me? Try to contact ChaCha without using the underground which you cannot do without access to your guide account. Their is ZERO way to contact headquarters other than a couple of email addresses that they can and will ignore if they feel like it. Their phone number has a recorded message to send a fax and they ignore their fax as I have not heard anything by contacting them through it.

I just want answers and my money. And I'd happily go without answers if they would give me the money they owe me. I know that I have not committed any "fraudulent activity" and they cannot even tell me how I committed fraud . It's insulting. But I am so through with the company that I don't care anymore. They can say whatever they like. I just want the money that I spent many hours earning. If I had scammed the company it probably wouldn't have taken nearly as long to make the small amount of money I am owed. I should have left a long time ago. I stayed with them through the many changes and decreases in pay without complaint. I figured that what little I could make through them is better than nothing. I can't believe they basically stole the money I earned while accusing me of something as serious as fraud. I can't believe how little they care about their guides. They deactivated me and refuse to give me an explanation or even an answer about my earnings. I also want to add that I was a dual ex/vetter and my quality percentage was consistently 100% with more than 95% completion. I even participated in contests and received compensation on a regular basis which required high quality performance and shows that I was not at all an inactive guide. This all was and still is a complete shock.

Bottom line...beware. Oh and cash out OFTEN!

I wouldn't call Cha Cha a scam as they do pay. I worked for them and I was paid. That doesn't mean I defend Cha Cha because I don't. I quit Cha Cha because I was tired of being expected to act as a free phone sex girl. If you want to answer stupid questions for 2 cents a pop or be asked 1, 000 times if you'd like to have sex with the person asking the question, then Cha Cha is great. If your idea of a good time is making 2 cents an hour to forward black jokes or gay jokes to teenagers, have at it. If you want to be paid 2 cents to do some kid's homework for them, this is the perfect job for you.

I busted my behind for several weekends straight yet my earnings never went up. I couldn't get that addressed. Don't even try to turn in underage kids asking questions, the Cha Cha cheerleaders will reply with "well, they're lying." Yeah, they're lying because we all know that anyone under 13 will be honest about it. The forum on Cha Cha is a complete farce. Don't ever complain about anything there or you will be banned. The Cha Cha cheerleaders will come out in droves to insult you for saying one negative word about their beloved Cha Cha. Much the same as you see here. I'm starting to wonder if the chronic defenders of Cha Cha aren't paid extra to flood every comment section on every negative report about Cha Cha.

Cha Cha itself is not a scam, but it is completely useless unless you have all the time in the world to answer inane questions from kids who just discovered they have sex organs. I could make more than 2 cents making knock off purses in China.

I have been working with them for a few months and have had no problems at all so far and im only doing it for a little extra spending money throughout the week so i dont see a problem with it

ChaCha is a scam that openly viloate U.S. labor laws. They need to be sued into abject poverty. Please will someone start a class action lawsuit so I can get paid for time wasted earning money for chacha. com!

I just got a notice after sitting here all day waiting to answer questions thinking there was some technical issue that I was banned from ChaCha I have answered almost 2000 questions just got my pin for my ChaCha card and no reason I have emailed and still nothing I really liked doing it as it gave me something to occupy my name...really sad they couldn't even send me an email or a warning if I actually did do something wrong :-( I had to go search everywhere for the little memo to say oh you have been banned!

I've worked at ChaCha since July of 2010 and I haven't had any issues with ChaCha. I get paid every month after the 15th. At first, you won't make a whole lot of money but with time you will get better. Visiting the forum and educating yourself on how to improve your speed will greatly help. I have no problem making $4 - $5 per hour when traffic is good and it's been pretty good since school started. All the contests they have bumps up that hourly even more. I love not having to go out in the heat or cold, sitting in my bed doing ChaCha while I watch tv, staying in comfy clothes, making my own hours and not having to pay for child care, gas, work clothes and eating out. I'm a stay at home mom and it's great that I can bring a little extra in to help. You can't expect this to be your only source of income. I work about 4 - 6 hours daily but not everyday and I have made more than $500 each month. That $689 I got right before Christmas was great. I'm sorry that people are having issues but I've not seen any problems in the forums like what I've seen here. I just wanted to put my two cents in and no I'm not getting paid for this nor am I a long time guide.

Oh you will get paid alright, just like if you collected cans and day and turned them in for recycling you would get paid. Will you actually make a profit? Not really, if you consider that the time you put in, the resources you use to do it.
ChaCha is making out pretty well because they don't have to use their own resources to send answers, (i.e. computers, electricity). Then they have this small group of faithful Guides who will shoot down every complaint made in the forums and endeavor to make the complainer look like a [censor] with no brain in their head, a thankless, worthless, human being until the said complainer gives up and moves on.
ChaCha faithful Guides will claim that it is fun and a privilege to work for ChaCha. This is a matter of opinion, but if you don't hold this opinion in the forums this group will degrade you comments until you will not comment again.
Here's another opnion, ChaCha might be fun for a few hours because it is a new experience, but after that it is work. If you find answering degrading sex questions fun, don't sign up because not only will you be degraded by answering those questions you will be degraded in the forums for bringing it up.

I have worked as a ChaCha guide for four years off and on. I have never really made much because I don't put much time into it. But, what little bit I do make instantly goes onto my ChaCha debit card. I have never had to make $100 before being able to get paid so I don't know what that is about. I can have $15.00 sent to my card and have the $2.00 fee deducted automatically even if that is all I have made. I haven't had any problems other than letting my account go dormant. ooops. My fault, not theirs.

I think those who are defending ChaCha are paid posters to counteract all the complaints. True all online pay companies are very sensitive to having complaints aired on the forum. I.E. Assoicated Content for one. I tried Hubpages and still never made it to the $100 mark - an amount set too high so that most folks don't ever get paid from Google Adsense.

I just started ChaCha & my feeling is that this company has not yet told me what the payrate is. I found the answer HERE.

I signed up & did my interests. I made myself available - and yest I still have not been able to do the readiness test so that I can start answering questions. BTW I had to play the mandatory basics video twice because the system did record that I'v completed them.

I am still waiting for my readniess test but after these posts - I am going to continue to look for paid online at other places.

Chacha is a SCAM ... I did 50 dollars in 4 days and for some strange reason my account was suspended for fraudulent information, my problem is, it wasn't a fraud when going threw your system of answering questions, just when it came time to get paid ... these scams are old ... you trick enough people and your rich in no time! CHACHA IS WAS AND ALWAYS WILL BE A SCAM!

ChaCha is not a scam. I am sure there was probably an error on your behalf. Also by the sound of it, you did not address the issue properly. The Mods on the Forum are guides, just like me. They are sub-contracted employees of ChaCha and have no hand in payment arrangements. It seems like you didn't read anything you were supposed to, like how to handle a payment issue, or the forum terms of service. You should have sent Feedback. ChaCha is not for [censor]s. If you can't learn anything and don't have any skills what so ever. you probably won't earn crap. I make enough to pay $700.00 dollar rent bill every month with a few hours a day at ChaCha. I use Pay Me No and it is sent to my ChaCha debit card almost instantly when ever I'd like. I wrote about ChaCha in my blog also: http://syphonmedia.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-experience-working-as-guide-for.html

@JJ4545Jsdf - um, what? In the year and a half I've worked for ChaCha, I've never know anyone to not get paid if they properly set up their payment information. If you didn't get paid, you probably made an error in setting up direct deposit or didn't understand the procedure to go through to get a card with the First Internet Bank of Indiana. I have many thousands of dollars to prove it's 100% legitimate, and I am only one person. I know people who have cashed out tens of thousands. Do you get paid ENOUGH from ChaCha? Well, I won't lie - of course I'd love to make more. That's a far cry from it being a "scam, " though. Stop spreading lies.

I have been working for ChaCha for 5 months. I have averaged about $250 to $300 a month. Have gotten paid EVERY time I've requested a pay. When I had ONE problem with the bank, I contacted the bank and they fixed it.

Anyone who is disgruntled with ChaCha just wasn't smart enough to read everything they were given, or read it and understand it. Every time I've needed help with ANYTHING the employees have helped.

I'm not getting rich, but NOBODY is getting rich these days. Blame your government, not ChaCha!

This is not a job for someone with no patients, some days are slow and you end up waiting for questions. Some days there are technical problems that make the customers mad, so then you're dealing with swearing teenagers who didn't get the answer they wanted.

But, ChaCha is legit. They are a new company and changing all the time, and LOTS of the changes have been because of Guide feedback and suggestions.

When ChaCha takes over the world, your face is going to be red.

Anyone who says this is a legit business or job is an employee of that company and is being paid (maybe) to say that. IT IS 100% A SCAM AND YOU WILL NEVER BE PAID! Try it if you want to waste your time, but I am telling you this is unequivocally a scam.

I was a guide and do not waste your time. It only pays you enough money to go to the store and buy some cookies and soap. Every query is like a mini research paper. You can sit there and any questions upon end and won't get paid for your time. Is it a scam? No, but the pay isn't worth it. They are violating labor laws. You get paid about 1.50 an hour and that's if you're a robot who sits there and cranks out questions. I still haven't gotten paid. They moderators just try to shut you up in the forums. Find real at home work,

ChaCha does not pay much, but they are a honest company and it is fun work. I am a guide.

To "U R REALLY A CHA CHA EMPLOYEE" - that is a total crock. ChaCha guides are independent contractors, absolutely not employees. You have to pass a test to become a ChaCha guide, but other than that, you don't "take tests."

The company is not making a fortune. That is just ludicrous. They do NOT do anything shady with Social Security Numbers - where is the proof? In my nearly 1.5 years of working for ChaCha, I have never seen anything at all to indicate anything of the sort. If you're going to make those sort of ridiculous assertions, you should probably provide something to back them up with. You also might want to try looking up the difference between an IC and an employee.

Different guide roles are paid different amounts. Generalist/specialist guides make 10-20 cents per answer because theirs take much longer to answer, on average, than the queries handled by transcribers and expediters. How much you make depends on how fast you work. $2 an hour is on the low end. A lot of people make $4, $5, sometimes $6+ an hour, which is pretty decent when you consider that there are no costs associated with it (if you're already paying for internet service) and you can do it as much as you want, whenever you want, from wherever you want.

I am also only making 2 cents per answer which could only end up being about $2/hour even for the quickest typer. What's going on?

Okay I see all of you saying you are paid 10 and 20 cents a text, but I am only making 2 cents a call, when I joined I did so because I saw an ad that said I would make 10-20 cents, why am I only making 2?

CHA CHA HARVESTS THOUSANDS OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS FROM PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE PROVIDING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER FOR 1099 PURPOSES ONLY TO FIND OUT THEY CAN NOT EVEN WORK AS AN 'INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR' OF CHA CHA UNLESS THEY PASS TESTS.

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS DO NOT TAKE TESTS. EMPLOYEES TAKE TESTS.

CHA CHA IS JUST ANOTHER REPUBLICAN RUN OPERATION MAKING A FORTUNE ON THE BACKS OF POOR PEOPLE. THEY ARE REALLY AN EMPLOYER.

Here's an easy idea to follow, read ALL the terms and conditions before you actually sign up for things online. Chacha's policy is clearly stated in their terms of use, it's really not that hard to follow if you actually take the time to read it. As for those who quit before they make the $100, they had the option to receive a debit card from the bank ChaCha is affiliated with and they instead chose to link to their own account which requires a minimum $100 account balance. If they are too lazy to work to make that amount, and didn't clearly read that before signing up for the program, then that is the users fault and not the company. If they lay out the rules for you, and you choose to skip through them and click I agree without reading, then that is your fault. The company clearly states that it is not meant to be used for full time income, and states it several times, although users who have enough time can bring in a fairly good amount if they are consistant, work normal business hours and are accurate in their answers.

@new york city boy:
Where are you getting your information from? It sounds like you're making wild assumptions and accusations without any proof. I've never heard of a person not being paid unless they either entered the wrong information for direct deposit (which can, of course, be fixed easily) or they didn't understand how the payment options worked. They don't force you to open a "stupid online bank account" - they offer you a choice between being paid monthly via direct deposit (they only pay you once your account balance has reached $100, in this case, which is very easy to achieve) or being given a debit card and being able to cash out whenever you want. The First Internet Bank of Indiana (https://www.firstib.com/), through which their debit card works, is a reputable bank, and I've actually spoken to people who have switched over to using it entirely from their other banks because it's more convenient. I'm not sure on what grounds you're filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Also, if you quit and submit feedback to close your account, you'll automatically receive the balance from your account within several weeks, even if it's below $100.

One more thing, as an update - ChaCha now allows all of its users (even new hires) to choose between their "points" system and their "traditional" pay system. Their "points" system has been greatly improved, so you're no longer being paid out of a collective pot, which I agree was a lousy way to do things. They've recently been offering tons of contests, and I know of people who made over $1000 last month, which is nothing to scoff at.

It's sad to see all of these accusations that, like I said before, are either misleading or just untrue being thrown around about a company that ALWAYS pays its workers. Of course, it has drawbacks. You aren't going to make $10+ an hour. It's still possible if you work fast to make $5+, which isn't bad for a job where you can completely set your own schedule and work wherever, whenever, and as much or as little as you want.

seriously dubious company. I wonder how many THOUSANDS of people have never received their rightful earnings. They make you jump through hoops to get paid (forcing you to open some stupid online bank account if your earnings are less than $100)...and my guess is that THOUSANDS of people quit working for ChaCha long before they reach $100...and who is going to go through the hassle of opening a bank account for the sake of $40/50/60?

I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and I urge everyone else to do so if they're unhappy with this company's business practices.

There's so much info being stated here that's either misleading or patently false.

To start, ChaCha puts its terms and conditions right where practically every other website (including this one) puts them: at the bottom. Seriously, scroll down to the bottom of this page. ChaCha's terms are RIGHT where the terms for this site are.

RE: underage users asking questions - ChaCha puts out a user survey that you must answer in order to be able to continue using the service. If you're under 13, you can't continue to ask questions. Many people state in their questions that they're an age other than what they really are for pure shock value, like "I am 6 and Pamela Anderson is naked in my bed. What should I do?" It would be ridiculous to take these all at face value after the company has already complied with COPPA and required the users to furnish their age, and then denied service to those under 13. If users choose to falsify their age, that is NOT ChaCha's fault.

Also, if you were having your answers graded down, or if you were let go for not having 100% quality, you WERE making mistakes. ChaCha has always overturned the 0% grades I have gotten in error. It's likely if you were being graded down repeatedly that you were making a small, easy-to-make mistake consistently. It's a complicated system to learn and it can be difficult to master and stay on top of. ChaCha does NOT just terminate people for no reason.

Hmmm, not sure what to make of all this yet. I've just signed up to be an Expeditor and just finished taking my "expeditor test". I'm sure they could easily be paying their "contractees" much more than they currently are with what they are making. But I'll keep you guys posted on my experience goes (if I passed). I hope for it to be a helpful secondary monthly income from easy, fun work.

@DaniVandal
Basic Math Lesson
.73 cents -> that is a fraction of a cent (note the decimal point)

To convert it to Dollars you would divide it by 100 (remember 100 cents in a dollar)
.73 cents / 100 cents/$1 = $.0073 -> Simplest way to divide by 100 is more the decimal two places to the left (if you need more of an explanation just ask)

To calculate an hourly rate based on 100 transcriptions multiple the rate per transcription by 100
100 * .73 cents = 73 cents/hr -> you move the decimal over to the right two positions

If you want it in terms of dollars
100* $.0073 = $0.73/hr -> once again move the decimal place over two positions

Aside from how they conduct their internal business, ChaCha's external interface also can bring many questions about how they conduct business. The following was submitted as a concern to the FTC (http://www.ftc.gov):

Questions sent to ChaCha, (below ###) and have not been answered to date. Aside from the search for "I am 12", other searches of "I am 11", "I am 10", "I am 9", "I am 8", "I am 7", "I am 6", and "I am 5" all produce results where the questioner states they are a particular age (under 13), the answering person acknowledges the number as an age, responds, and in many cases even encourages the questioner to continue to submit questions. This is a concern, as mentioned below, because, ads are received by the questioner, regardless of if they provide age or not or have time to consent to lengthy and complicated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which may not be available via cell phone. Given the nature of the medium, at least a phone number (via text message is relayed to ChaCha and is necessary to be used in response via answer and ad).
###########################
Why does ChaCha’s Terms of Use at
http://answers.chacha.com/footer/terms-of-use/ state that “The Site and the Services are not permitted to be used by anyone under thirteen years of age.”, yet a casual search of "I am 12" on http://www.chacha.com/answers returns more than 10, 000 answers, many of which are provided to questions that clearly state the questioner is 12 years of age?

In addition, why is it that a text response will be given to a
question, along with an advertisement, within a time frame that would not even be realistic for a lawyer to interpret and understand the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy at
http://answers.chacha.com/footer/privacy-policy/, let alone a 12 year old (or younger) lured into using the service.

In addition, why does ChaCha blatantly advertise their service at http://answers.chacha.com/about-chacha/, yet hide the “Terms of Use” and “Privacy” links at the bottom of the page in small print, mixed along with other links associated with the site?

Thank you in advance for your sincere response.

The key is that this is an INTERNET JOB. If you want to work online, from home or from wherever you are, you have to take what's out there. If there were awesome jobs online that paid $10 and hour, everyone in the world would work them. This is a job of convenience, and convenience doesn't always pay well. I love ChaCha. It's totally legit, and it's well published that this is not a job that would make you millions. Go through the proper paths of feedback if you have problems, and everything will work out!

I disagree I worked for ChaCha for a month and a half and checked my grading everyday and every day I scored 100% but yet I received an email that my grade was constantly low and they terminated me immediately without warning or explanation as to why when I checked my grade it always said 100% but they stated in the email I was graded 63% it didn't make sense to me and then on top of that I had over 16, 000 expeditor points and over 8, 000 queries and now they are saying I only made $154 for those queries wtf? They deleted my queries but kept my points now I have no proof that I actually did 8, 000 the company picks and chooses who they treat well and Expeditors are treated like slaves that clean up the questions to make the guides jobs easier but are paid 2 cents per queries that is hardly fair we work just as hard and sometimes answer the question for the customer without it having to go to a guide. ChaCha cares nothing for the Expeditors and doesn't have their well being in mind and how hard we work to clean up the question for the guides. I wrote to feedback and asked both for an explanation as to why I was let go but also about how they came up with the 63% grading when I clearly received 100% every week for a month and guess what with no reply I think the guides are treated better than the Expeditors they are treated like low class that mean nothing to the company.

Contact the Better Business Burea and the IC3 if you think ChaCha defrauded you out of HARD earned money, the IC3 will investigate them also contact the Federal Trade Commission they will investigate them and possibly sue them for the money they defrauded you if they find you have a legit claim on ChaCha I have contacted all of them because I have yet to be paid for the month and a half I did work for those slave drivers don't believe the employees that work for them of course they are going to say you are wrong and just disgruntaled employees when we are just common people just like them that want the money we are owed by them and they are incorrect I wrote feedback maybe 5 times in the past three weeks as the BBB told me to do and still heard nothing so I tried to resolve the problem with them through feedback but feedback never responded so after the third time writing them with no response was when I decided to go ahead and file complaints fair is fair and we should be paid just like the rest of you are getting paid. ChaCha needs to have more compassion for their employees before they are out of business or lose employees.

ChaCha is confusing at first because it's a very unique company and there's a lot of stuff to learn and they don't really do the best job of explaining how everything works. That's why some people might have their facts wrong.
But it's an internet job. You can't expect there to be no glitches, especially at first. What I would do is just stay calm, go to "feedback" and contact them that way. The forums are meant for interaction between guides, not interaction between you and your boss. They don't see that as you trying to get paid, they see that as you trashing the company in front of all their employees (whether you're trying to or not).
All I'm saying is you don't need to shy away from ChaCha altogether, but go into it knowing that there may be problems but there are steps you can take to fix them.

One thing they NEED to change is the $100 payout rule. That makes absolutely no sense to me.

http://www.formspring.me/ChaChaH8

Lol I think it's funny that my truthful comment about ChaCha was downranked. It is not a "scam." It pays very, very little. That's completely different. It's pretty much not worth signing up for it now because you have to work for points that aren't worth as much as the "cash" guides get, but those who got in before December 1st can still make a pretty decent amount. I can make $500+ a month, which is nothing to scoff at. ChaCha has never not paid me. The people getting "fired" are ones who game the system or don't do their job adequately, and the people not getting paid are the ones who didn't set up their payment system right or misunderstood how it worked.

Again, however, let me reiterate. ChaCha is by no means a SCAM or a FRAUD. It is a legitimate work from home opportunity. The pay rate is just low.

Please, take your wonderful independent contractor services somewhere else and stop complaining if you don't like the terms, but don't act like ChaCha scammed you out of your money if you signed up expecting to make a lot and didn't read what you were agreeing to.

DO NOT WASTE YOU TIME WITH CHACHA! Although ChaCha is a legit company, that's not to say that they don't RIP-OFF their employees! CHACHA does not count as a supplemental income. You can work hours upon hours and by the end of the month you will have enough to buy ONE cup of coffee from Starbucks. ChaCha is a complete joke and if you are contemplating working for them, I beg you to RUN! After working for them I refuse to ever text them again for information.

@ScamStayAway

I've seen you on quite a few sites, each time writing the same thing. But there's a BIG flaw in your statement. You did the math wrong. you said it takes an hour to do about 100 transations. And that's at .73 cents per transaction. Yeah, that adds up to $73, yet you say it only adds up to .73 cents. It sounds to me like you just like going around busting companies' balls when haven't got a leg to stand on. I've done quite a bit of research for ChaCha before decided to go with it, and to be honest, ALL of the problems I've seen were user errors. Occasional there'd be a complaint about the system, but um... even systems for the biggest Fortune500 companies have glitches and problems, so don't go there.

From the reserach I've done (and it's been extensive), ChaCha is a sound, legit company. Are you going to get rich working for them? Of course not, but you won't get rich doing ANYTHING from home. But it certainly is a nice supplemental income.

This may have been a good way of making money but they have pretty much become a con company. Their pay structure for transcribers, the lowest level, is such that they don't tell you how much you get paid per transcription beforehand. A certain amount of money is set aside to pay all "guides" and the transcriber gets a portion of that based upon how many they transcribe compared and how many points they earn as compared to the total. Right now it works out to around .73 cents a transcription. Yes that is cents. Then they make you "earn" $100 before paying you. So in order to get paid you have to transcribe around 13500 messages. it also takes almost an hour to transcribe 100 messages, so you make 73 cents (once again cents) per hour. They are severely taking advantage of those needing money.