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Report: #906725

Complaint Review: justanswer.com - Internet

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: ecosense — Texas United States of America
  • Author Not Confirmed What's this?
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  • justanswer.com Internet United States of America

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I am stating that Justanswer.com is only 90% fraud in order to give them some small credit in that at some times the consumer might be happy with the web site, but generally I would classify them as fraudulent or a scam.

I don't usually write comments like this.  It isn't worth my time.  However, this is occurrence shows such  egregious fraud that I feel like I have to reply.

I have had trouble with this site before, but decided to try again because now I have the ability to monitor and regulate my credit card payments precisely by using a virtual credit card.

I am in the process of reserving justanswerscam.com to post the screen shots and scam alert message from my credit card company from my phone with the excessive charges.  Check there in the future. Here is what happened.

I posted a question on justanswer about a dishwasher. The site then states that the amount I will 'pay if satisfied' is $39.  I click OK. The site then asks for my credit card and states that I will be charged a $1 deposit.  Sounds OK.

So I set up a virtual credit card with a limit of $5 to make sure they don't charge me before I get an answer.  I can later increase the limit after I get the answer.

I get an immediate reply from an individual who seems to be well informed about the problem with my washer.  It will take some time to troubleshoot and he tells me how to start the troubleshoot process.

I reply to the first step and then receive a message from Justanswer.com that I 'do not have sufficient funds to view my answer'.  Hey, I have not received an answer, we are chatting re. the process of fixing this washer.

Next I receive a text fraud alert warning from my credit card company asking me "Did you make a charge of $79 at JUSTANSWER.COM on 7-4 . . ."

I call the credit card company just to make sure that the charge did not somehow go through.  Fortunately this is just a warning that they are trying to charge $79 and that indeed the charge did not go through.

Wow, double fraud here!!! I'm getting charged before I get an answer AND getting charged double as well!!!

I have nothing else to add.  We did not get to finish our transaction.  I did not get an answer and the unfortunate consultant did not get paid for his efforts.

Why not run a legitimate operation?  Just cut out the fraud.  Don't charge unless the user gets there answer.  And don't double charge.  Do what you advertise. 

Thank goodness for virtual credit cards on Citibank.  I'm not so hot on big bailout bank Citibank, but virtual credit cards are the way to go for any internet transaction.  You create a unique credit card number alias, then set the exp date and limit and use the card.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 07/04/2012 12:04 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/justanswercom/internet/justanswercom-90-scam-internet-906725. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
3Author
10Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#13 Consumer Comment

Similar Issue - Dodgy Billing

AUTHOR: Mazzitmo - (Australia)

POSTED: Monday, December 17, 2012

I have just had an issue resolved using Just Answer. I found the service useful because I could provide the "expert" the specifics of my computer and my problem and implement their tailored solutions. I spent much time trawling through various forums prior to going to Just Answer.

My issue with Just Answer only arose after I posted a satisfactory rating. I did not receive an book-keeping style bill. Instead I received a personally written email saying I had been charged twice because I submitted a second question (saying "I think I just paid you") and that this charge has been refunded and that the email will server as a receipt. I asked for a tax invoice and was told "sorry but you will not be able to use this on your tax" without explanation.

At this stage I have just submitted a request for a proper receipt.

The billing system makes Just Answer seem unreliable. If they themselves "asked an expert" about basic book-keeping, they could be more trustworthy.

Transparency is crucial in internet transactions. Reputation and repeat customers lead to profits. If people just spend less time in trying to make "easy money" eg: tricks and misleading statements and put that same effort into actually helping others, they would make the just as much if not more money.

I am bracing myself for over charging and no receipt. This is unfortunate and I actually came online tonight to ask them another question. 

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#12 UPDATE Employee

JA Rebuttal

AUTHOR: EthanA - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, July 30, 2012

Hi Ecosense,

Thank you for your reply and I apologize for any confusion.  As mentioned in my last post, "We do say that you don't pay unless you are satisfied as you don't pay your Expert until you indicate you are happy with their answer.  You do pay a refundable deposit up front so the Expert that answers you knows you intend to pay."

Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with.

Regards,

Ethan
Customer Service Supervisor, JA

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#11 Consumer Comment

Thank you so much

AUTHOR: BBSB - (USA)

POSTED: Friday, July 27, 2012

Thank you for saying so clearly what I have been saying for many years.I love Just answer.I use this since 2009. The doctors are great. but I don't like some answer I tell them that But I still pay them. A loyal Ja customer JA-Has heart.

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#10 Author of original report

rebuttal

AUTHOR: ecosense - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, July 27, 2012

 You state: "Nowhere do we claim that you won't be charged upfont."

And yet your web site says: "You will have the option to view and rate the expert's service before agreeing to pay them for helping you."

See the attached screen shot. I am still confused.

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#9 UPDATE Employee

JA Rebuttal

AUTHOR: EthanA - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, July 27, 2012

Hello,

My name is Ethan and I am the Customer Service Supervisor for JA.  I apologize for any confusion you experienced using our site.  Nowhere do we claim that you won't be charged upfont.  Please take a look at our "how it works" page:

http://ww2.justanswer.com/how-justanswer-works

We do say that you don't pay unless you are satisfied as you don't pay your Expert until you indicate you are happy with their answer.  You do pay a refundable deposit up front so the Expert that answers you knows you intend to pay.

Regards,
Ethan
Customer Service Supervisor, JA

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#8 Author of original report

Follow up to comment from lawyer consultant

AUTHOR: ecosense - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, July 26, 2012

Perhaps your comment was mostly in response to someone else's comment.  If you read my original post, please recall that my concern was that 1) JA attempted to charge before we had had but one exchange of information and 2) JA doubled the charge.  Please see the attached documents, which were screen shots of the 'contract' plus the attempted charge alert on my iphone. 

I think that JA is a WONDERFUL idea and a great business model.  I would consider being a consultant myself.  I mentioned a possible solution to the problem of refusal to pay.  That would be a two way feedback system for both users and consultants or perhaps an initial partial payment system.

I had concern for the consultant.  It worked out badly for all of us.  I didn't get an answer, he did not get paid and I wasted a few hrs on the site plus filing this alert.  And that was only because JA has a rather shady way of billing - they charge you first but claim that they don't!  "You don't pay unless you get an answer".

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#7 Consumer Comment

Ripping Off JustAnswer

AUTHOR: Cheeziegal - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, July 18, 2012

My husband is a full time legal consultant on JA. Working from home allows us to avoid the expense of daycare, as well as avoid having to work for a law firm, because who wants to be around a bunch of lawyers all day? I don't know how you got charged more than you authorized but I am more concerned about the comment a few posts down about how you can reject the answer if you don't want to pay.
The consultants on JA don't split deposits, in fact they don't get paid at all unless the answer they give is accepted. If you ask a question and the answer you get isn't clear, you can ask for clarification. If the answer you get isn't the one that you want but it happens to be correct, please accept the answer so that the expert can get paid for their time and research.
He has gotten Bad Feedback because the client has said " I knew that, I looked it up online", well then your research was confirmed, pay him. Your 18 year old son slept with his 16 year old girlfriend and her parents are crying statutory rape? Yes, it's serious and he will become a registered sex offender. I'm sorry he gave you bad news but it happens to be the law so don't give Bad Feedback because the truth is upsetting you, accept the answer and pay him.
Experts have to monitor questions sometimes 10 or more hours a day to make up for the folks that take the answer and run. Bad feedback lowers their overall approval rating and makes the expert look like they don't know what they are talking about.
Please, give the expert the benefit of the doubt, ask for clarification if you need it and pay your expert if they answered your question even if you didn't like the answer.
Thanks!

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#6 UPDATE Employee

JA Rebuttal

AUTHOR: EthanA - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, July 09, 2012

Hi ecosense,

My name is Ethan and I am the Customer Service Supervisor for JA.  I'd like to look into what happened with your account and get this resolved for you.  Please email me directly at cs@justanswer.com with the email address that you used to post your question.  I look forward to the opportunity to assist you with this.

Regards,
Ethan
Customer Service Supervisor, JA

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#5 Consumer Comment

This is how Just Answer works

AUTHOR: Franky G - (United States of America)

POSTED: Saturday, July 07, 2012

I have used Just Answer many times.  This is my understanding.

You place a deposit on the site with your credit card.  It stays in your Just Answer account until you ask a question.  Normally, asking the question and placing the deposit are done at the same time.

The amount you 'put up' is going to have an effect on how quick you get an answer.  The experts on the site are all in it for a share of the deposit.  The more the deposit,  the more they get so larger deposits will get a quicker reply (in my experience having asked and paid for about 25 questions over the last year).

An expert in teh correct field will respond to your question and hopefully he will be able to provide an answer after some back and forth information exchange.

Only when the expert has answered the question to your satisfaction do you click ACCEPT.  That is when the money is transfered from your deposit to the expert.

So,  yes,  money is taken out of your credit card account but at any time you can initiate a refund yourself.  After an answer has been given you can STILL requests a refund if you don't like the answer.

It's a great system but can be confusing and appear at some times 'scammy'.

They also have a subscription plan which is not hard to avoid although I suspect some will click on it and get billed monthly.  Anyone with teh slightest internet savvy will not click on teh subscription link.

Good luck.

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#4 Consumer Comment

Thanks

AUTHOR: Ramjet - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, July 05, 2012

Thanks for the response ecosense.

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#3 Consumer Comment

Hope OP is not in trouble

AUTHOR: The Outlaw Josey Wales - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, July 04, 2012

 Ramjet did OP correct you????? How dare they to a member of the Team Rebutt, what is this world coming to????  Have a nice day

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#2 Author of original report

response to comment

AUTHOR: ecosense - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Yes, that could be a problem with people not wanting to pay.  However, the solution is not to violate the terms of the contract with the customer.  One solution I see would be to have feedback on the customer in addition to the consultant.  Customers with a high rating would receive better response and conversely, customers with poor rating would not receive responses.  I would have been happy to pay $39 for a response that could save me $200 or so.

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#1 Consumer Comment

A couple questions

AUTHOR: Ramjet - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Not having used the site before, is the procedure normally that you don't pay until you get an answer that you like?  That seems fair but I wonder how that works out for the site.  If you get an answer you like and it solves your problem but you tell them you don't like it and won't pay, how do they get paid for their service?

You may well not do that but plenty of people would. Just curious about how it's supposed to work for both parties.

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