Just Answer LLC This site charges an advance fee to answer questions. I paid $18 and waited 15 days but had no response. At my insistence the fee was refunded, but my question was never answered. San Francisco, California

I listen to Car Talk.  On their web site a sponsor - Just Answer - offers to quickly answer automotive service questions by using their network of experts.  I had a problem and contacted the Just Answer site.  I was surprised they charged $18 in advance (not mentioned on the Car Talk site) but paid the fee because, after numerous unsuccessful trips to the dealer, I really needed a solution.

The request was submitted on 5 August.  By 20 August I had not received any "expert" response despite my follow-up contacts on 10 August and 15 August.  I requested and received a refund on 20 August.

Based on my experience, this site provides no value and does not even maintain a record of open and past due requests.  When asked, their response was: "I'm sorry you haven't received an answer yet. Although we can't guarantee or predict response time, I've asked one of our category moderators to see if they could find an Expert that they feel can assist you.  (Italics mine)  We'll be sure to send you an email as soon as an Expert responds. "  An expert NEVER responded.

How can you sell a service when you can't predict response time and have to ask someone to try to find an expert??  A rip-off.