Just venting

bundie702 · ‎01-26-2020

Knowing that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it's rather complimentary when a client incorporates wording from my profile, specifically...:

"...typos, overused/misused/missing words, incorrect facts, inconsistencies, redundancies, contradictions, implausibilities, pacing, confusing narrative, pronoun misuse, adverb overuse, point-of-view (in fiction) errors, tense, transitions, clarity, syntax, and of course, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure..."

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...and incorporates it into their job description for an editor, changing the order of my words a little (and making errors in the re-typing process) and adding text from elsewhere on my profile, specifically:

"...grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, consistency, sentence structure, spoting issues with the plot, setting, overuse/misuse/missing words, overused phrases, incorrect facts, redundancies, contradictions, implausibilities, confusing narrative, pronoun misuse,adverb overuse, point of view errors, transitions, tenses, clarity, syntax, line editing and pacing..."

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It is, however, insulting when they offer shockingly low rates for all that intense work, i.e., $25 for 5k words. This breaks down to roughly $10 an hour for *specialized work,* or about the same as ringing up purchases at Walmart or flipping burgers at the Shake Shack.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest!

robin_hyman · ‎01-26-2020

The jobs paying $10/hour aren't for you. They are for the freelancers in countries where $10/hour is considered a lot of money.

Good thing there are jobs requesting experience and hourly rates that are much much higher. I command $90/hour and get it.

petra_r · ‎01-26-2020

I vaguely remember the very same thing happening to another editor a couple of years or longer ago....

Isabelle Anne A if I am not mistaken?

I wonder if it's the same client....

iaabraham · ‎01-26-2020

Petra R wrote:
I vaguely remember the very same thing happening to another editor a couple of years or longer ago....

Isabelle Anne A if I am not mistaken?

I wonder if it's the same client....

This happened to me TWICE (that I know of). Both times I asked the client about it, and if I recall correctly, neither one hired me (one of them had a terribly low budget).

Call them out on it. I think it's unacceptable. I remember one of the clients I confronted about it offered to remove it and said something about it being "exactly what he was looking for." (THEY SHOULD KNOW WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR ... without stealing it off a freelancer's profile!)

robin_hyman · ‎01-26-2020

Call them out on it. I think it's unacceptable. I remember one of the clients I confronted about it offered to remove it and said something about it being "exactly what he was looking for." (THEY SHOULD KNOW WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR ... without stealing it off a freelancer's profile!)

They SHOULD know what they are looking for but they don't know how to communicate it. When someone else does it better, they copy. How can you call them out on it without wasting connects? Flag it? Is it a violation?

iaabraham · ‎01-26-2020

Robin H wrote:

Call them out on it. I think it's unacceptable. I remember one of the clients I confronted about it offered to remove it and said something about it being "exactly what he was looking for." (THEY SHOULD KNOW WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR ... without stealing it off a freelancer's profile!)
They SHOULD know what they are looking for but they don't know how to communicate it. When someone else does it better, they copy. How can you call them out on it without wasting connects? Flag it? Is it a violation?

Flag it, but I was assuming she had been invited to apply for those jobs (which happened to me, and that's how I noticed the plagiarism and confronted them).

bundie702 · ‎01-26-2020

"Flag it, but I was assuming she had been invited to apply for those jobs (which happened to me, and that's how I noticed the plagiarism and confronted them)."

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No, I hadn't been invited to apply; I saw it while scanning the ads (the text, being so familiar, actually jumped out at me).

I'm not sure this client is actually breaking any rules, but what the heck. I'll flag it and see what happens.

petra_r · ‎01-26-2020

Bettye U wrote:

I'm not sure this client is actually breaking any rules, but what the heck. I'll flag it and see what happens.

The client is breaking rules.... it is called "plagiarism

bundie702 · ‎01-26-2020

Well, I reported it. They're investigating and will get back to me.

bundie702 · ‎01-26-2020

"The client is breaking rules.... it is called "plagiarism""

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Yes, it is, but what strikes your or I as shady behavior doesn't mean a proverbial hill of beans. I'm not always in agreement with what Upwork does, but it's their platform and they make the rules, not you and not me. As it is, they weren't able to tell me they'd make the client rephrase or remove the listing, just that they'd look into it.

iaabraham · ‎01-26-2020

Bettye U wrote:
"The client is breaking rules.... it is called "plagiarism""
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Yes, it is, but what strikes your or I as shady behavior doesn't mean a proverbial hill of beans. I'm not always in agreement with what Upwork does, but it's their platform and they make the rules, not you and not me. As it is, they weren't able to tell me they'd make the client rephrase or remove the listing, just that they'd look into it.

If you have the patience / care enough, I'd make sure it's taken down. I couldn't let it go after encountering those 2 clients who copied descriptions from my profile and then invited me to those very jobs. It bothered me a lot. Maybe it's not a big deal to others, but I've continually worked on my profile for years, so for someone to just copy from it and use it for their own purposes really irritates me.

bundie702 · ‎01-27-2020

"If you have the patience / care enough, I'd make sure it's taken down."

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Whether or not it comes down will be up to Upwork. As stated, I reported it to them and they are investigating.

bundie702 · ‎01-26-2020

you or I, not your or I.

bizwriterjohn · ‎01-31-2020

LOL. My favorite low-ballers (in my category of writing) are the folks who want a 1000-word blog custom-written for $50. A 1000-word thought capital-class piece: five to seven hours of time, at least. At least in the world of writing in which I exist.

LOL. It is probably not possible, but oh, how precious it would be. To see one's bio words re-constructed into a hiring listing -- and be able to apply --

"Your listing is exceptionally well written. I recommend you hire the person who wrote those words and pay them correctly for what is an obviously useful body of content."

That would be a lifetime memory.

- Boomer.