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Report: #457997

Complaint Review: Helium.com - Internet

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Hyderabad Other
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
  • Why?
  • Helium.com helium.com Internet U.S.A.

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In about January, 2009 I started writing for Helium.com. I was elated when my very first submission through their market place was purchased for $24.0 . Encouraged by this I submitted about half a dozen more articles. However, they were not purchased and eventually 'transitioned' into Helium. The transitioned articles earned a pittance but the last time I was able to access my account, the balance showed $24.9 against the minimum requirement of $25.0 for disbursal.

This is when a lot of hue and cry was being raised about thier rating system. I had pointed out a specific instance where substandard articles written by the same individual from the same location was rated on top when much better material was lying at the bottom. I got a terse mail saying that individual cases cannot be publicly referred.

The next day, when I tried to log in I received a obit looking message proclaiming that Helium is no more in a position to provide the same experience to all its users worldwide and would concentrate presently in servicing only its US audience.

Peeved at the developments, I sent in several complaints including a long series to their steward Barbara Whiltcock. This individual sounded very helpful and sympathetic all through and finally stated that she had escalated the complaint to Helium's vice president. According to Barbara, Helium was too busy handling an avalanche of complaints like mine. This happened about 45 days back and since then there has not been a whisper even from any source.

I know the money is too small, but from what I gather from the web, this is indeed a cheat company and needs to be brought to book. While every penny is important, fortunately, I am at a stage in life, where I would happily gift that money to anyone who can join forces for a collective action against such fraudsters positioning themselves as market leaders.

Markcon
Hyderabad
India

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/03/2009 02:04 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/heliumcom/internet/heliumcom-payment-of-accrued-balance-denied-andover-massachusetts-internet-457997. 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:
0Author
2Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#2 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Booted members receive nothing.

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

POSTED: Sunday, July 12, 2009

What about the members who have been booted with no recourse to justice, Mark? It matters not how many articles a member has written for Helium, they are not paid when you guys decide to kick them off of the site. By the way, how many members have been booted? How many articles are you guys making money on with no compensation to the writers?

Oh yeah, your ever changing TOS allows you to do this legally, but morally and ethically you do not care as long as you can keep the money. If you did, you would give members a recourse for the banning. Why don't you just go ahead and add in the TOS that you are the supreme master. It would be as true as anything else in there.

I strongly advise anyone not to believe anything Mark or the other Helium staff says. This is a Massachusetts based company like the other states use for credit card and banking institutions, companies which like to avoid ethical business practices. You CAN be booted from this site at any time for no reason, do not risk trusting these hucksters. They will take your work and give you nothing.

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#1 UPDATE Employee

Helium has paid over $1 million to its members

AUTHOR: Mark Ranalli - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Markcon:

Helium is a writing site for citizens in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and a few other countries, providing a publishing platform for our members and access to writing assignments for thousands of publishers. As a citizen of India, it appears that you inadvertantly were provided access to our site. I am sorry for this confusion.

Helium is very happy to pay you for your earnings on our site. Please contact the help desk at Helium to get compensated for your accrued earnings.

Regards,

Mark Ranalli
CEO, Helium Inc.

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