Client keeps needing me to "train" -- scam or legit?

[nelmaff]

Hello!

I have a contract for training AI in biology. It is complicated, and I need a lot of training in order to do the job - most anyone would. However, my training is going on and on with no indication of how much I will be paid, when, or even how my work will be logged. I know it is a legitimate company, but I am completely in the dark about payment. Am I being scammed?

I can't find the Chatbot to ask a question, and the Contact Support button doesn't work. I would really appreciate some help with this before I spend any more time "training" with questionable payment.

Thank you!

Nancy

[celgins · Accepted solution]

Since this appears to be an Enterprise client, it's difficult to say it's a scam. However, it's not difficult to see the client is ineffective at communication. They never should have started the contract without specifying the payment details (i.e., amount, pay date, etc.) and they should be providing updates during the project.

I would send a message to the client and ask for a status update. I'm sure other biology experts participating in the same training have done so.

[nelmaff]

Thank you, Clark. Yes, they are not very forthcoming with payment information. 

[rekasesh]

Nancy,

If the client is Sc**e AI or Rem***t***ks, then they don't pay for AI training. The last they paid was in September 23. They haven't paid most experts after that.

If it's another Enterprise Client, they may have cyclical payment systems in place. 

[nelmaff]

Thank you, Rekha. Yes, it's who you said it is, and I'm in the process of asking them about payment. I hope I get some clarification.

[rekasesh]

I hope you get paid. 

I was one of the many experts who are still waiting for payments that were supposed to be made in December. 

They keep stalling the auto release of milestone every single time. 

[matusjenis]

They owe me $1340 and absolutely not answering my messages, I worked for the company ages ago and had really good experience! I'm sure someone hijacked their account on UPwork and funneling "free work " on 3rd party platform now . They offering payments outside Upwork etc which I'm not willing to take as I was recruited on Upwork.

[nelmaff]

Yes, they don't answer messages at all. I've left multiple messages over a period of weeks, but they either don't check their messages, it's all done by AI, or they don't care.