An Open Letter to People Per Hour: Please Comment Below on Payments
Dear People Per Hour,
I wanted to let you know just how much havoc, chaos and panic you have caused in my life since you announced your decision to subject us to the new payment clearance process and times. If you are a freelancer reading this, please comment below so we can try to support each other and so that we can let PPH know what damage this is causing us and that we, as freelancers, are not only the lifeblood of the platform but also real people with real lives and families to support.
I am a freelancer, but I am also a single parent to two young children. We have all lived through a year and a half of the most disruptive time in any of our lives due to the pandemic. I am sure it hasn’t escaped PPH’s attention that freelancers have had a rough ride during this time. I am mainly referring to the UK here as that is where I am from, but I am sure these problems are global for freelancers. As freelancers, we did not enjoy the benefits of furlough, of the Job Retention Scheme and many of us were not eligible for government grants or benefits. As we start to move out of the pandemic, many of us are reeling from the effects and have now been served a huge blow by PPH-a platform that is supposed to support us as freelancers and make our lives easier-by making us wait up to 18 days to receive money we have earned and worked hard for.
I don’t know about other freelancers, but my family relies solely on the money I earn from PPH and we live from invoice payment to invoice payment. We don’t live beyond our means, there is only me earning money and I work very hard.
On Friday, I came to the realisation that due to the new payment clearing processes, we did not have enough food to last us the weekend, let alone 18 more days. My rent was due on Friday, and I have not been able to pay that. So, we are hungry and on top of that I am now really anxious about not paying my rent. I earnt enough money this month to pay my rent and buy us food and everything on top, but it is sitting in my PPH account, and I cannot access it. This morning, my son’s school had to arrange a delivery from our local food bank. I have never, ever had to ask for anything like this before, but we had no choice.
I have not heard anything from PPH that makes me understand why they are doing what they are doing. I simply do not believe that in the world of instant payments, high tech and on-demand services why they need to hang on to our money for 18 days. It just won’t work for me in the long term, but at the moment, I am wondering what we will do in four days’ time when the food runs out, when I can’t pay my internet bill leading me not being able to work at all and when the stress of this will just be too much to bear.
I hope people don’t think I am being overdramatic, for some freelancers this will just be a frustrating experience, but for some of us, this is having real life, damaging effects on our lives and the lives of the people we love- and I am sure I am not alone.
Please comment below and tell PPH how this is affecting your life if you can.
Yours Sincerely,
Meri Williams
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@Meri, I'm sure PPH knew exactly what they were doing. In the sweepstake of reasons for why they are doing it I would still go for my first choice that it is to target inactive accounts. They probably thought they could avoid a backlash by letting some of the high earners have a faster processing time.
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At risk of crowding an already, erm, busy thread, my tuppence:
@meri - you're certainly not alone. I'm fortunate enough to have a full-time job and a few regular freelance clients that I use to prop things up since we're a single income household. Even then I'm regularly teetering on the edge of being skint. I can only imagine how much more stressful and damaging to mental health it would be to have to rely solely on uncertain and sporadic freelance income. If we had UBI or something like it, then doing gig work like this would probably be a very tolerable and flexible way to subsist. In the current economic circumstances, in which even the desperately in need have to fight for peanuts from the "benefits" system, I can only assume that it's an often hellish existence when mouths need fed and bills need paid. It's just one that we've been conditioned to accept as normal.
I'm lucky enough to have some clients (not on here) who are more than happy to respond to invoices within days, often even hours. Those who have a habit of disappearing for a week when asked for payment just get put down the priority list.
My point is that one of the biggest stresses in gig work is getting clients to pay up in good time. It's great when you find someone reasonable and respectful of your time, but so often there is no urgency whatsoever about compensating you for your time and labour which you have given up and can never get back. So now with PPH that two weeks is on top of whatever delay a client has in paying you. When a job on here starts, the client pays a deposit - if these unspecified checks really are necessary, then why on Earth not just do it on that so at the very least the "clearing period" can run in parallel to your work?
The only reason any of us are doing any work on here (or really anywhere else for that matter) is to get paid because we need money to survive. Therefore, delays in paying someone what they are due for work done should be the exception, not an accepted norm.
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Folks, this is simply a miserable excuse to hold our earned money as much as possible and get as much as possible more interests fees from the bank. It's a lie. Banks and all the financial institutions have a lot of ways to control eventual frauds, all the money flow has a lot of checks etc and tis is a matter which is working 24/7. The previous 48 hours was enough time to check any suspicious issue and I still doubt about because in my +10 years here I never heard about such fraud incidents. Yes, sometimes there are disputes but generally linked with the work flow. It's a great scoundrel and disrespect to all of us. I will not give them a single penny anymore, I will not bid here till they make excuses and return to the previous payment policies.
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An analysis of the post:
Meri started it in a professional and courteous manner, her concern being the sudden rough sea and the sharks. But that of course changed abruptly when Mohamed the activist jumped in. One wished to destroy the boat and punish the boat owner while one wished to change the boat's course. Some wished to dive into the waves and swim for the shore. In the last 24 hours there have been an increasing number of projects posted, and I hope that signals a new light after a period of darkness. I know I'm seeing more writing projects emerging. We'll see.
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@Vicky, Nancy, Joseph, ALL.
You can have all your hopes on PPH. It's absolutely your right. But do not complain every time things turn sour. PPH is just a platform anyways, not God, not anyone's partner, just one "plate," as someone here put it. Where were you before PPH and where will you all be when PPH goes down or is longer in business?
It's amusing, though, to see so high hopes on PPH after you've seen with your own eyes PHH believes freelancers do not make a difference.
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@Joseph
I'm really confused with your comment... "In the last 24 hours there have been an increasing number of projects posted, and I hope that signals a new light after a period of darkness". So, if there will be a satisfactory new projects amount should we be happy? And the 14 - 18 days delay? Forget and accept it, this is what you mean? Did they return to the 48 hours payment and made you happy or what? Maybe could wait even 30 days as I understand that in UK many employers are hammering you this way?
I guess that I'll be out of this chat, I see no hope for a "new light after a period of darkness" with such mentality.
Have a great day all of you.
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@ALL
After all, no one can tell any one else to leave or stay. Those who want - and know - they want to leave, they'll just do it. Those who do not will hang on to any misleading hope. I said it's amusing (not that I'm amused to see anyone suffering) that with all this disregard to freelancers, many still believe in PPH. This adds another reason for why I might want to write a book about this experience.
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@ALL.
This hanging on to a misleading hope in any freelance platform is, like in social media platforms, addictive. At first, people join these platforms thinking they are too good to be true or they might make some bucks sine there's any other options. So, as few work comes in at first, this comes in line with earlier expectations about why using freelance platforms (and social media) is just a trivia. BUT - and here's the rub - when money starts to pour in, things start to change and what has been just a trivia a short while ago is now a Holy Grail and, for many, a life break. Then again, humans are weak and forget that what goes up will certainly go down. At this moment of truth, many do not want to believe it was "real" enough. So, those who, although of all evidence showing those who manage freelance platforms (including PPH) do not give a dam, are still in a state of denial, something you can see already in social media. You see why I'm becoming really more interested in writing a book about this experience? PPH is rubbish, nothing and I'm insulting them on their own platform. They know it and they accept it and can block or kick anyone out any time they want. But the lesson here is about using "addictive apps" such as freelancing platforms. Don't you agree with me this conversation is a treasure for thoughts about not just one book but many?
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@ALL.
I'm sharing my planned book on Creative Commons:
https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/
I'll get back to you, for those of you interested, with more updated content of PeoplePerHour: The 14-Day Clearance Policy in a Nutshell
[Possible Alternative Name: PeoplePerHour: The 14-Day Clearance Policy Saga]
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@Joseph
"An analysis of the post:
Meri started it in a professional and courteous manner, her concern being the sudden rough sea and the sharks. But that of course changed abruptly when Mohamed the activist jumped in. One wished to destroy the boat and punish the boat owner while one wished to change the boat's course. Some wished to dive into the waves and swim for the shore. In the last 24 hours there have been an increasing number of projects posted, and I hope that signals a new light after a period of darkness. I know I'm seeing more writing projects emerging. We'll see."
Thank you Joseph for your "analysis." So, what do you have to offer then? More analysis?
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@ALL
Well, that's the end of the "Vanity Fair".
Everyone spoke up and got their own experience.
The scammers started the war and they will get it. I am on the side of @Mohamed and his supporters.
The freelance community at PPH voluntarily gave up their rights and deserves what they did to them. Earlier, I considered freelancers on PPH people more free, remember the original meaning of the word "freelancer", used in the novel "Ivanhoe" (1819).
Slaves will receive the next wave of new "PPH decency rules" that will wash them overboard.I had a better opinion of the PHP community.
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@Yuri, ALL.
All hacking, content marketing, slamming review writing, social media buzz, and much more is welcome. PPH is and will be an example of freelance industry. If PPH - and any platforms - count on the helpless ness of freelancers, then all I can tell them, "Go fuck yourselves. Not me." Let's see how you, PPH, will grow! Stupid!
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Its very simple , either you take it or leave it , Even i myself have been exploring my other options but to built a profile again is a tedious job and i will prefer to change the course of policies rather than destroying the platform i work on trust pilot , it will hurt me and myself only .
Yes diversification is the most reasonable answer in this scenario a freelancer can give in this scenario and as far as i know the management is wise enough they know they are losing their commission in the long run.
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@Muhammad, ALL.
It's not just about some commission here or there or some delay in payment. It's about being respected and keeping your contractual promises. If all freelancers do the same on all platforms, why would any platform change their policies or even give a damn about anything at all if, at the end of the day, freelancers, after so much talk, accept everything and all is back to "normal"?
Again, even if I'm going to do this alone, I'll just do it. Anyone who wants to join in, welcome. It's as simple as that. I know what to do and how to do it.
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@ALL.
As part of my ongoing efforts to bring PPH on its knees, while Meri and all of you who have been battered by this platform's policy extract some bucks from it until they make enough enough money and kick PPH into the trash can, here is a Wikipedia page I've created on PPH new payment clearance policy. It's still very "raw" but I'm working on it. Trust me, PPH will be the "talk of the [freelancing] town."
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Yury
"The freelance community at PPH voluntarily gave up their rights and deserves what they did to them."
You are so right man, I see the same grey future however dignity must be above any other circumstances. For me PPH will probably be just a memory of the old good times because I'll not keep working for them under these conditions. A great hug for all of you.
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@Yury, Florin, All.
This is more content of my planned book. Thank you Florin for your hug. Much needed, although I'm fine without hugs. Maybe it's time now for some ladies at least to invest in teddy bears to hug for many nights ahead with little gigs at hand. Teddy bears do make a difference, at least for ladies, I believe, in times like these. Please let me know if you need any support (emotional, intellectual, etc.) as I continue to do what I'm doing. (Better still: can we, freelancers at PPH, have actual hugs instead of your virtual hug, Florin?)
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@Meri, ALL.
I really hope Meri has gotten an exception to withdraw her money because if she's not gotten any exception yet, nothing really can be said about it. She has been decent, professional and patient enough. So, to be treated like that is a shame I, if I have to do this alone, will do all I can to make PPH really suffer. All respect to you Meri and to everyone who has experienced a similar situation.
@PPH. I'm not going to leave you alone. Go fuck yourselves.
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Hi Mohamed,
Unfortunately I didn't. I wasn't expecting them to though in all honesty, they do it for one person how many other 'exceptions' would they have to make? Why would me receiving my money early be any different from any of you guys getting yours? The ONLY good thing that happened yesterday was that they did get back to me within about two hours. I know Mohamed- I know what you are going to say, so you don't need to say it.
This is the reply I got:
Ioannis (PeoplePerHour Support)
Jul 9, 2021, 17:29 GMT+3
Hi again Meri.
I sincerely apologize for the situation you’re in and I cannot begin to understand the difficulties you are facing.
While I completely acknowledge that the implementation of the change was not optimal, and were we to redo everything from the start we would certainly make sure to improve the communication aspect, I’m afraid that the process cannot be bypassed as the funds are currently safe and stored in an external escrow account until the required checks are completed.
This is simply an issue of us not being able to go around this implemented process. It has been implemented for specific reasons, which we have talked about previously, so making or not making exceptions is not a matter of choice on our end at this stage.
From what I can see, the funds on your account will be cleared on the 17th of July, hence you will be able to request a withdrawal on that date, which will be processed within 48 hours as usual.
I wish I had better news for you, but unfortunately our hands are tied.
Once again, my most sincere apologies for this unfortunate situation.
Ioannis
PPH Customer Support
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