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Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Denton Shepherd and I am a resident of Guyana, South America. I signed a contract to provide legal transcription services to Transcription For Everyone of American offices – Migdero USA, 6 Weston Place, Suite 18, Lawrence, NY 11559; 520 D Street, Unit 12, San Rafael, CA 9490; Canadian office 12 Saddlebrook Street, Ottawa, ON K2G 5N6; and Israel office 11 Tet b’lyar TD 1678, Ofra 9062700 – in July 2014. Since I have commenced work for this company I have not been paid for my services. Whenever I attempt to get payment from them for the work, they always make the excuse that all is not ready as yet – I will be paid for some and then the rest for the next month or whenever due. They also deduct fees for late returning of files or whatever excuse suits their particular needs or deeds, as an excuse not to pay. So as of this date, I have not been paid for the work I did for this company. I have E-mail correspondence between myself and the owner of the company Avi Noam Taub. Will you be able to assist me in retrieving monies owed and due to me?
Thank you for your assistance.
Mr. Taub is an arrogant person. After many emails back and forth, he refused to give me a chance to work for his company as an editor and put way too much emphasis on his format, even after I explained to him that I was just submitting the test so he could check the content of my work. He could not find any errors and then attempted to "humble" me by telling me I used the tab wrong, skipped spaces, and spelled an attorney's name wrong that was never given to me and could not be found by me online. He totally missed the point of my submitting the test work, which was to show him that I could transcribe all of the text correctly. The rates the company pays are a joke, too. Thieves.
I'm sorry to hear that you were unable to make it to editor here.
I will say that a large portion of editing is making sure the text is correct, but the other portion of it is making sure that the transcript adheres to client guidelines, which means making sure that all the formatting is correct.
We do not have an editor's "test" so I'm not sure where that comes from? TFE also does not hire editors straight from the outside. They promote from within, from typists who have consistently gotten good scores by following formatting properly and who have high accuracy ratings. It's not just about getting the text right.
I can totally understand your frustration, however, editing does not solely depend on being able to transcribe accurately. But I am definitely interested to know where this test work for editing came from.
I have been working with TFE since May. I can understand the frustration with the delay in payments when you work with clients that pay on a 60 day cycle, or for that matter, the fact that TFE pays monthly, as opposed to a bi-weekly or weekly pay as most in the USA are accustomed to.
That being said, I have never NOT been paid for work. I may not love TFE's policies, and to be fair -- I was a bit trepidatious coming into TFE, as the policies were a little scary to me. However, I have not had a problem with receiving pay.
The pay is not fantastic. There are definitely higher paying transcription jobs out there, however... not until you're experienced. It can be difficult to make a solid paycheck, between the payment cycles, and the pay rates, but it does even out over time and if you prove yourself a decent typist and able to follow guidelines, you do move up to editor and editors are able to make better money.
Now, Avi Naom Taub and Devorah Reiss have never once been non-responsive. Avi does sometimes send short answers, but he's always willing to answer questions and spend time doing so for the people that work for him. Devorah is also always willing. Sometimes you do have to wait until they're online. I mean, people do need to sleep. That doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get an answer within 20 minutes, if it's 3 a.m. for them.
However, there are plenty of people around to answer questions. We have a Slack channel, which people are usually around online. This is a more recent development, but nonetheless, it is available.
The audio from the clients might not be what everyone wants -- which is absolutely crystal clear perfect audio that was done in a studio with no background noise and audio editing equipment, BUT in comparison to OTHER places that I've worked at, while you do get an occasional crap audio, it's the exception, not the rule. The audio does occasionally turn out awful. That's just the nature of transcription.
As a new transcriber, dealing with bad audio is something you have to learn to do. If you're an experienced typist, then you know that the audio here is not the worst out there. Either way, you're going to come across it, and TFE is no where not even close to having unreasonable expectations about what you're going to get out of a bad audio as other places I've worked.
Avi and Devorah are VERY reasonable. I cannot imagine that anyone was having an issue with them being unreasonable, unless that person had exceeded the limits of their vast patience and understanding, because honestly, TFE, while you don't make a million dollars, the sense of community and the overall care for the typists shown by Avi and Devorah is what most of us love about the company.
A typist will run into issues with grading, if they can't be bothered to go back over the transcript and double check their work. There are numerous and different guidelines to follow, from client to client, and that's not an easy task to adjust to but.. the largest number of time-consuming errors from typists are the mishears, or when one thinks it's okay to use a speech-to-text software to transcribe a document because they think it's a get rich quick scheme. Fixing misheard words -- and I'm not talking about bad audio here, I'm talking about excellent audio where there should have been no problem, but people didn't go back over it and proof their work -- is the largest time eater for an editor. And typists who think that it's okay to submit their work in poor quality and eat up the editor's time to fix it, honestly, are not going to be happy with their scores.
There are NO guidelines that are a 100+ pages. That's a blatant exaggeration. I would be surprised if all the guidelines together equal 100+ pages, but you never have to look at all of them at once.
TFE does offer fairly good training. You will get a nicely rounded education in different types of files and different accents. There are people available to help you, including Avi and Devorah. You will likely develop a good ear for US accents here, and possibly for some European. There is a lot to learn here, and it's a pretty well rounded transcription education.
But people who expect to use speech to text software, or figure they're going to not put the work in and still get paid, need to expect to get bad scores. Everything is completely and fully outlined in the beginning.
Please don't apply if you feel self-entitled and think you should get paid for not doing the best that you're able. That takes time away from the people who are doing their best and need the editors' help.
What is the estimated pay per hour for a beginning transcriber? I am very interested in this job but reluctant to apply because I continue to hear about the very low pay. I'm not expecting a get rich quick job but I do want my time to be worthwhile because I don't have a lot of time to spare. Is it true the audio is difficult to understand? I'm reading so many conflicting reports about this company so it's difficult to know what to believe. Thank you for any information you can give.
Hi Rhonda,
I'm sorry, I did not see the notification come into my email for this. I apologize for the delayed response.
Honestly, it's slow going -- just like it is with any company when you first start -- at the beginning. I can tell you that it is not "easy" work, and anyone who says that transcription is easy to do, is not telling you the truth. It is definitely a skill to a) type fast, b) type what is said and not what your brain says you heard and c) follow the format.
That being said, your hourly rate is going to be lower at the beginning than it is after you get used to formats, etc. It will also depend on how much effort you put into it, and how much you utilize what's provided for you, and really, how fast you type. This would be true of any job in the transcription industry. I have yet to see any transcription job where you don't have to follow some sort of format/guidelines, and I've worked and applied to quite a few companies over the years.
Now, I do think TFE's rates are slightly lower than most "starter" transcription companies, but just a bit, but they are the only one that I know of that will promote you to editor quickly if you perform well consistently on your transcripts and get plus scores. Also, if you perform well consistently you will get higher rates, and again, that is one of the only companies I know of who do that. Honestly, I can't give a direct answer on that, because there's just too much going on. It's probably the most common question, and the one I really can't give you an answer to, because a lot of it depends on you.
That being said, TFE has trainers, and editors who will answer your questions. I can tell you that I know of at least three editors who spend quite a bit of their day answering questions and helping people. One editor does Zoom meetings with people to assist them frequently, and on top of that we've got classes, and a slack channel and Devorah and Avi will answer questions as often and quickly as they can. We spend a lot of time helping new people. And that is not something that I've been able to find when working with other companies, even if they pay slightly better.
It can definitely be frustrating starting out, but I don't think that's unique to TFE. I think TFE is a good place to start. I think it does take some time to build your notes, etc, and learn guidelines. And at first a lot of your time is not going to be spent typing. A lot of it will be spent trying to adhere to guidelines.
As far as the audio clarity goes -- we do get some crap audio. I won't even blow smoke there. However, we do not get it all the time. Keep in mind, you are welcome to listen to the audio if you are assigned to it, and decline the job if you can't understand it. We do get some focus groups. We do get some crap audio with lots of interference and tons of speakers which is difficult. We also get blissfully clear audio, or definitely good audio, and I'd say easy to understand audio is more frequent than bad audio. You can always decline it, however. Just make sure that you listen to the audio prior to accepting it.
We have a lot of accents from the US. They vary. We don't usually have a lot of accents from other countries. It's far more rare for that, except in the case of one client we have, and you can always choose to not work on that client if you can't understand the audio. Or, again you can decline.
I definitely won't say our audio is always perfect, but having come from a company where in order to make more, you have to take the really bad audio, I can tell you that the audio at TFE comes no where close to that audio I worked on at the other company on a regular basis in awfulness. It's also probably a case of what your used to. I don't think that any company has crystal clear audio all the time, but TFE has had some of the best I've ever heard, and I've done a few police cam videos/audios where it was pretty bad, but I would not say the worst I've ever heard either.
Again, though, you have the option to decline. So it's not like you're stuck taking audio you don't want/can't understand. All I can say is try it out if you want to.
Hello everyone,
I've been working at TFE for several months now, first as a typist and now as an editor. I'm really appreciative of their approach and the friendly, family-like atmosphere they've created. TFE has been a great place to work and I would honestly recommend it to anyone interested in working in this field.
TFE is up-front about the time it can take to get paid for work you complete. This is true of any company using independent contractors (that's what we are!), it's not unique to just transcription. They cannot pay contracted workers until they get paid from the client, so it can take some time, but that's the nature of this type of work. And TFE urges each contractor to keep close track of the work they do and to let them know any time something doesn't look right. They've addressed any concerns I've had quickly, thoroughly and fairly.
I've never had to read 100+ pages in order to complete any assignment, or anything close to it. Any time I have a typing or editing question, I can ask my fellow editors or the owner, Avi. Honestly, everyone is so helpful. That's true of the scheduling manager, the payroll department, everyone. Any questions or concerns, they gladly help.
At TFE, you choose the days and the number of audio minutes you want to work each week. They only ask for a basic minimum commitment of audio minutes per week. When you sign up for minutes and you are assigned work, you are expected to do the work you've asked for and not decline it unless it's truly necessary, so they can keep their deadlines to their clients. I think it's a fair and realistic expectation, and I think it's fair for TFE to be able to count on you if you've signed up for work.
As with all transcription work, regardless of which company, there is a base pay for each project. Your actual pay is based on that rate, but it's affected by the quality of the work you submit. If you follow the client guidelines, use accurate grammar and spelling, etc., you will earn that base pay and more. If your work is of less quality, someone else has to correct your work before it can be sent to the client, so you would naturally get paid less than the standard rate for less than standard work. Transcribing is actually hard work and it requires effort. When the effort is made, it's rewarded. TFE promotes typists who do quality work, too.
I would like to encourage anyone who's interested in partnering with a helpful, friendly company and to become a part of that environment to apply with TFE. Transcription work, on the whole, isn't the best pay in the world, but I get to stay home, I don't pay for gas to commute, I don't have to leave the house in bad weather to get to work, I get to set my own schedule, and I get to do work that I love. It's a great secondary income for our household. I really love and appreciate TFE and their team atmosphere. They truly are a great company to work with!
I have worked for TFE for about 2 1/2 years now. Fortunately I do not need to support myself from this job, as the pay is not stellar. However, at this point, I am working nearly as many hours as I can handle, and more or less at my own schedule. I tell them how much work I can take on any particular day, and usually receive assignments for the full amount. I enjoy the work and the people. The online discussions both support us in our work, with people giving each other tips or answers to immediate questions, but also as the office water cooler where odd comments liven up the day.
The matter of different time zones is a bit challenging at first, but in time you adapt. There are many knowledgeable people in the main time zones where TFE people work, so most of the time you can get a timely answer to a question.
I think that what you get out of this depends on your attitude and what you are willing and able to put into it. As I went through my early months at TFE, it quickly became clear that I was not very good at certain types of files, but did well on others. So I have mostly been assigned those clients for whom I can do excellent work. I do not mind occasionally testing myself on the others, just to see if I can finally do those well, but I am kept quite busy with the clients whose work I do well.
There was one large client who began paying slowly and then not at all. As that situation emerged, Avi Noam eventually decided not to accept any work from them until they began paying in a timely fashion. When they had made substantial progress in paying down what they owed, I believe he did resume accepting some work from them. However, for the many typists and editors who had been doing a lot of the work for that client, it did mean very long delays in getting paid. The few files I had done right when this was unfolding have now been paid for, but it did take a long time.
In terms of the invoicing for people working outside of Israel, when we receive the payroll summary, it is our responsibility to review it. If we see any discrepancies, we notify the payroll person, who attempts to resolve it or explain it. This needs to be done on a short timeline, but you learn to be prepared to review it on the day received. When I have found errors and notified them, the errors have been resolved quickly.
I maintain thorough records of my work, which anyone who is self-employed should be doing. I am not sure how much more work I can take on right now, but know that if I am willing and able to take on more work, particularly if I can also take on those clients I currently do not work on, TFE can easily keep me busy.
For those who are dissatisfied, this is a small company with a large number of far-flung part-time workers. The work is interesting. I have learned incredible amounts of stuff while dealing with clients from all over the world. If you need to work at home and are limited in how much you can take on, this can be a good option.
I have worked for TFE for six months and have very positive experiences. I have found the owners/managers and other co-workers friendly and extremely helpful.
I love the freedom from working from my home. I agree that transcription isn't a high paying job, however, I have not had issues with payment for my assignments. Yes, sometimes the client pays late, but I have always gotten my pay without having to ask for it. Everything is spelled out in the information and policies that you receive; from how payment works, expectations from both parties and how assignments are assigned and confirmed. I have found TFE has followed those policies to a 'T.'
This is not the first company that has a virtual office site and from some of the others I've used, I feel that TFE uses them the best and with clear communication and Q & As. As with any other company, there are guidelines from TFE and each specific client has their additional guidelines. I've not had a client with over 100 pages to prepare for my work.
I've been working for TFE for a year, and these complaints couldn't be further from the truth. True, if you're looking for some get-rich-quick job, then this is definitely not for you. People need to understand how the process works. Sometimes, when a typist submits their portion of an audio file, it is a part of days worth of transcripts that other typists are also working on. Just because you have submitted your part doesn't mean the final transcript is completed and ready to send to the client. We get paid when the client pays us. That is the truth, and it in no way is a scam. Yes, you should keep track of your work. That is just good practice for anyone in this type of consultant role. As far as not being given any guidance or being able to ask questions, that is also false. We have a message board where you can post your questions, and they will be answered. People forget that Israel, where Mr. Taub resides, is many hours ahead of those of us living in the US so yes, your assignments can be posted while you are sleeping. That means nothing except that it is waiting for you when you start your workday. The complaint about being docked for your work is true, but again, it is about understanding the process. Once a typist submits their transcript, it must be edited. The pay is based upon how much work an editor has to do in order to make that transcript ready for the client. The guidelines are based upon what the client wants. They're not arbitrary. If an editor has to spend an hour fixing an audio file that was only 5-10 minutes in length, then the typist didn't do a very good job. You get paid accordingly. If you think that this is just some easy job where you can half-[censored] it and become a millionaire, then this is definitely not for you. TFE is a legit job that does work for legit clients. Plain and simple.
I have been working for TFE since late 2016. My experience has been very positive. I have found the owners/managers very warm and friendly, and the editors that checked my work while I was a typist were always willing to help a rookie. I do have to state that I love transcription and editing. I may even be addicted to it. It's something different every day. :)
I am not the primary bread winner in my family. I agree that transcribing is not a highly-paid profession, unless you are very fast and can take on many minutes per day. I use my earnings to take care of my animals.
The complaint about not getting paid until the client pays is just the way this works. I knew that from the get-go. Sometimes clients also run into money problems and don't pay on time. But that is rare.
I have never had to read 100 pages to prepare for my work. Initially, I familiarized myself with the basic TFE guidelines, and then there are specific client guidelines. Questions not answered there are answered on the virtual office site. Normally, pretty quickly.
This has been my experience here at TFE. Looking forward to more years with TFE.
I did very few jobs for the company before I realized it was not going to be worth my time. When you are starting out there are very little resources available to you. Managers and owners are rude and unhelpful. They just say to read the manual instead of asking them questions. The manuals and guides are out of date and useless. They never paid me for the few jobs I was able to complete. They require you to create an invoice and send it to them with the information they are telling you to put in it, within the time frame they set. They then force you to invoice them for LESS than the posted pay rate. If you don't short yourself then they just reject your invoice and still don't pay you. Once your invoice is sent then they pay you IF they feel like it. I got SEVERAL messages saying they hadn't been paid for the final job and therefore wouldn't pay me. Months went by and I stopped taking assignments. I never got paid.
The pay rates are very low. The transcription part of the work is quick but you have to waste so much time figuring out who the speakers are and then format your work according to how that one client likes it. There is no uniformity in producing the work. It's way too much to worry about, and too much time wasted for the few cents they want to pay you months after you performed the work.
If you are in the Western Hemisphere, you also need to watch out for deadlines and take in to consideration they're on the the other side of the globe and assign you work while you're asleep. Also watch out for the exchange rate of the money. Sometimes the rate listed they pay is in foreign currency. It may say 50 cents; but its 50 cents Canadian per page.
Worst Human Resources ever throughout their “hiring” process. I would not have applied if I knew I was going to be subjected to verbal abuse and put downs. The hiring personnel actual tried to make me feel stupid, because I asked for further testing instructions and documentation! After seeing the above comments by others about pay issues thank you for posting those! I wish I would’ve seen them before believing Indeed about it being a good place to apply for p/t work. I’d rather do the books for our farm business(yawn) than subject myself to that sort of treatment. I really dodged bullet. Thanks complaintboard!
Update: As of Jan 22, 2018 I've been paid for all the work performed. TFE never paid for work done on behalf of one company but after some inquiries on my part, the original requester paid. I did my first work, through TFE on behalf of this other company at the end of July 2017. I've learned since that TFE had not been paid since at least May of 2017. So I was requested to do work, and spent many hours completing work, when TFE knew that payment was in question. Additionally, if you look at the famous TFE document that states expected pay cycle (i.e. 30-day, 60-day) per client, this particular client is the only one with no expected pay terms. To me this is nothing short of manipulative and dishonest. When asked for info TFE repeatedly responded with basically, "read your contract, not my problem". In strict terms the lack of info could be considered a breach of contract. (1) If you are a novice transcriber then TFE will provide training but consider it unpaid training and you'll be happier. (2) TFE will ask you to work for different clients, each with somewhat different requirements. In some cases you will need to read 100+ pages of requirements and search multiple docs to answer a question. TFE states in one of his videos they can't update them or do any better, that this is a good system. You'll need to spend a lot of time up-front developing your own docs (I have 10) or add an hour or so to each assignment. (3) Day-to-day they treat you like an employee, until it's time to get paid, then you are a sub-contractor, not their problem. (4) They state you can decline any assignment. After 3 months of doing nearly every assignment, following their rules and getting assignments in on-time, my circumstances changed. I notified them of that and updated availability per their requirements. Still, I needed to decline a few times and his answer was to reduce my per-page rate, per agreement. That was the end for me.
If you want unpaid training, this may work for you but I would look elsewhere first. Keep them on a very short leash and and keep close track. Don't make my mistake and believe that they are an honest ethical organization.
The negative posts here seem very legit to me. Especially the last one from "no_tfe" which hit home the most knowing a scam employer would be smart to half pay because employees would likely hang around longer hoping the pay was still coming. Also they would highly suspect if they quit, they would likely never see it. Thanks for all the info, I know now not to bother applying.
I had been working for Transcription for Everyone between the middle of July and beginning of October. Each month they send a small payroll summary. The summary has always been for fewer transcriptions than expected but I figured that it was due to the payment cycle and would get caught up. They don't pay you until they get paid and I figured that after 60 days or so I would see a months worth of work pay at the end of each month. Not the case. Avi Noam Taub (TFE) sent me Oclober's list of only 2 transcriptions. I reviewed all the work done and found that he has only paid for about 50% of the work. To-date he has paid only about 20 of 45 or so jobs. I have not been paid for work performed in July. I documented that to him, he didn't disagree, just refuses to pay. Initially with no coherent reason, now he says he has not been paid. Simply put, when confronted, he refuses to pay. They seem like a legitimate company but be very careful. Keep him on a close leash. In the three months I've seen many people come and go and suspect that is part of the plan. Much of the audio quality is very poor. If you do work for them, keep good track, keep good records, keep them on a short leash. I would suggest that each month, give them an invoice for all work and demand to know what they expect to pay and when and why. Better yet, don't work for them.
I am going to give the company a try. Will update post after I receive first payment. I tried searching online for complaints and this is the only one I've found so far. My only concern is it is only 45 cents per page, then plus/minus the ten cents for quality of work. I desperately need money so I'm willing to work all hours I can to come up with a decent sum.
What are your thoughts on your employment with Transcription for Everyone?
Have you begun working for the company, and what is your experience ? Thanks, hope all is going well.
I applied to work for Transcription for Everyone because I am disabled and pretty much spend my entire day flat on my back; but, I have a great desire to work and be productive. I wonder however, if everyone who applies to do this type of work is interested in working hard for their pay. Everyone has a responsibility to work hard and do their best when they are employed-even if it is from home. Transcription for Everyone is very forthright about using Paypal as the only means of payment outside of Israel, what the penalties are for submitting work late or responding slowly to assignments, and how long it takes to actually get paid. If you don't like the terms, one should not agree to work for them. It's that simple. I do not know, yet if they are an honorable company; but, I truly believe what Avi Noam Taub stated in his above letter is the truth.
Denton Shepherd was paid and in full. He could not accept PayPal payments (which is outlined clearly as our method of payment for those living out of Israel). We broke our protocols to pay him with a Western Union money transfer. He submitted work late regularly and was penalized for it once (after repeated warnings) as per our late submission policy. He also did not confirm his assignments in a timely manner (within 12 hours, as per our policy) and so his work had to be reassigned to other people on numerous occasions.
Our terms are clear that we pay when we get paid and a listing is made to all our subcontractors of how long it takes for specific clients to pay us (some within two weeks, some within 30 days, some within 60 days -- as is standard) and they can choose not to accept specific clients' jobs if they don't like the terms of the payment time.
So the complaint is entirely invalid, and indeed he was indeed paid -- and we took additional service fee hits to pay him the roughly $50 that was owed to him. I attach below the Western Union confirmation.
Thank you kindly,
Avi Noam Taub
Founder & CEO - Transcription for Everyone
info@transcriptionforeveryone.com
www.transcriptionforeveryone.com
transcriptionforeveryone.blogspot.com
Mobile: [protected]
Fax: [protected]
Toll Free (US/Canada): 877-TFE-1473
Local Canada: [protected]
Local US: [protected]