Virtual Vocations

I signed up for Virtual Vocations and paid the monthly fee. I did receive numerous weekly updates for the first year, then cancelled my subscriptions. The emails did stop, but suddenly reappeared for only two times. I had been charged for one year without any updates. When I called to confirm my cancellation, they refuse to refund or admit that they had not been sending updates.

Do your own due diligence. Avoid them at all costs. Dishonest thieves.

In the old days - the 1990s - a common scam that was always one of the most complained and prosecuted businesses was the newspaper advertised Rental &/or Job referral service. After a while virtually all states made laws requiring the ads to say "advance fee" or some type of notice that an upfront payment - before additional specific info - about the rental or job was provided. Before (and after that) you would call and get a well trained salesman getting you to purchase a membership/subscription to obtain this "compilation of info that their research team gathered everyday, much from sources the normal person wouldn't have". Of course, generally the places and jobs actually did exist in someway - but the ads glorified them - being frank == misrepresented them. You would come down pay your fee ("cash please., no checks - we're selling information and can't get it back..."), and made a friend, and given a map to your new 3bdroom, 2 car gar, home with fireplace and a view, kids/pets ok - utils included, for $250). This is the reboot of that scam. You aren't dealing with an employer or and employment company or anything like it - but rather someone that wants to sell you a subscription to their info/spam. A place that has a program go through and find job postings - and without any further anything - reprints them and revises, glamorizes and enhances the position to be attractive - but not what it is, wants or needs...and if anything may out you on a worse footing by approaching the employer thinking you are referred and know things (that are inevitably NOT right), than doing it yourself. Their system, like the ones decades ago really doesn't find anything you can't on a few short searches of your own. As you can see here...they come from Craigs List and such are available to all.

Some common sense: Look at the ads...jobs better than you've ever seen before, more of them, exactly where your are, etc. Look at them closer and you'll frequently find how they become a mish-mash of attractive positions which if you were qualified for - have many, many aspects mentioned that could not possibly be done by the position headlined...but the writers of these ads don't know that. They (or the computer compiling it) really have no idea of anything or desire to advance anything but your subscription to their service. AVOID. AVOID. AVOID.

I signed up for membership to apply for a position and get a free resume overview but once I paid the membership, I could not get logged in again. When I email in for help, I don't get any. They don't reset my password. They don't resend my password. They don't provide help to get back online. I feel it's a scam just to get the membership money.

For the last few months I have been a member of Virtual Vocations. I paid 49.95, without any results for the numerous job I applied to. Without any notice to me, Virtual Vocations withdrew another $49.95 from my checking on June 7th. When I noticed the withdrawal, I notified Virtual Vocations that I did not appreciate the withdrawal without any prior notification, and by them doing so caused a check to bounce. I added that after this paid subcription expired, I wanted them to deactivate my account because I was not realizing any benefits from my membership. I then tried to log on to their website and explore more jobs. I received a message stating that I had no account, and asked that I pay the membership fee of $49.95. They deactivated my account after collecting the membership fee. I sent them an email through their website demanding my money back or the reactivation of my account. The $49.95 entitles me to several months membership. They did not respond to my email. I placed 3 calls today, 6/15/10, only to reach a recording stating that someone would call me back, no one has responded to my calls. I have since filed a complaint through the Better Business Bureau. It is under investigation. I don't expect to get my money back, however I did want to warn others about their unethical pratices.

When I signed up for this "service" using my PayPal account ($45 for 6 months - boy, was I foolishly optiimistic), www.virtualvocations.com indicated that I could unsubscribe at any time. What they don't tell you is that you won't get your money back no matter what you do or how unsatisifed you are with virtualvocations.com.

I'm a writer, and the writing jobs on this site pay about $1 an hour. I don't see how anyone can work for these rates - unless they live in a Third World country or don't mind doing pro bono work. This is a sadly disappointing "work at home" online service with misleading statements regarding subscription payments and getting out of your subscription. I feel very ripped off.

Laura Spawn charges $49.99 for a 6-month subscription to virtualvocations.com, which lists work-at-home jobs that are listed for free on other Web sites. Then she automatically takes money out of your bank account for renewal without first notifying you about the bank transaction so that you can, first of all, make sure there are sufficient funds in your account, and, secondly, give you the opportunity to cancel your subscription before the renewal date. Her automatic-renewal-without-advance-notification policy caused a financial hardship for me and my family, and yet she refused to give me a refund for the subscription renewal that I do not want.