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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@Sam, Simon, Meri, ALL.
The kind of CS response that you get and show you that "customer support" is not about support really nor is it about customer. Often, bots, automated as are, provide "nicer" answers. So, I wonder if PPH (human) CS should really shut up and keep bots answering.
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@Meri, ALL.
PPH is taking notice of so much pressure. Here's an email I've got just today from PPH. As you can see, they are trying to fix the damage now being made to them. So laughable. Well, why would I give them a damn if they do not give a damn about freelancers here who really want help? I stand in all support for all freelancers struggling to make a living. Respect.
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It's a great mess. PPH took the worst decision which brings them now not more money but more problems. Anyone could do a mistake, this always happens, but the important point is to make an analysis and if necessary AMEND. This is why I do not understand the PPH position, why do they persist with this failed decision? If they are losing employers, freelancers etc who are moving to other platforms haw much time is necessary to react and step back? It's absurd.
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@Florin, ALL.
The lack of any real response from PPH is damning and even more suspicious. This is not what any business does, unless they are about to ditch this platform themselves and have already moved on to another line of business. They are just letting people talk. They are making fun of freelancers. That's what I'm sure of. If you have any other explanation, just share.
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@ALL.
I'm still waiting for anyone to challenge my assumption about PPH having already moved on and leaving freelancers to talk to themselves.
@Joseph.
You like analysis. Any analysis here?
@Paul.
You still see PPH as a friend. What do you think now about this friend?
Silence. I see just silence. Well, some silence is fine to prepare for what's ahead.
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@ALL
PPH does not answer our questions, can the Mi-6 answer us?
I filled out the form at the link
https://www.sis.gov.uk/index.html
https://www.sis.gov.uk/contact-us-form.html?lan=enmaybe some of you also want to get answers to the polls you are interested in?
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I wondered that as well, Marcus, after looking in the Companies House records and finding they had set up a holding company a year ago and it had a very healthy accounts balance but was shown as "inactive". I thought that could be a way of moving money from PPH to prevent creditors getting it if they fold.
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@Marcus, ALL
Sure. To bypass moderation, you can simply take a screenshot of your post and include a re-post. This fools the automated moderation here which only "reads" what's written on writing boards here and often blocks posts including embedded links.
That said, I'm so vigilant about any money that might be taken away from anyone illegally. They'll suffer even more than what they are having now.
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@Marcus, ALL
On Automated Moderation:
The moderation here is fairly simple and outdated: common "offensive" words are moderated, or filtered out, as you'd find in a publishing policy. That said, it's laughable, there is so many workarounds. (@Marcus, try using "Companies House," "dividend" for example in any post you might write and see if you're moderated or not.)
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@ALL
Tracking who is behind PPH seems to be prescient now. There was a Rachel who always mocked my efforts to get to know about PPH founder and his father. Now, in hindsight, I see Simon's findings about a Holding Company, confirming earlier suspicions of "foul play." I've even shared a story with you about Wirecard, a former Germany-based Payoneer partner. (Very interesting story to check.) There are so many similarities in how PPH and Wirecard are folding and money moving across "unfamiliar" channels.
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@Marcus, ALL.
Even the moderation algorithm seems bizarre. (It's like blocking "sex" and allowing a photo of a woman's private parts.) I have always wondered, since this thread has started, how could people who have been working for a platform for so long know so little about it and only to start to wonder about "basics" of how that platform works. Isn't my assumption that freelancing platforms, including PPH, are addictive in nature and, as such, blinds so many about the workings - and nuts and bolts - of a platform they spend many hours on for so many years?
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They are People Per Hour Holdings Ltd. I just did a search for People Per Hour and a few things came up, including that one and some subsidiaries. It could be to avoid tax but I did wonder if it was to avoid financial liability in an emergency. UK laws are fairly relaxed about this sort of thing. It isn't too difficult to stay legal.
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@Marcus, Simon, ALL.
Here is PPH records on Companies House:
PPH Limited:
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06369697
PPH Holdings:
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12570043
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@Marcus. I don't know much about these things. I do know that when a company goes bust the directors often walk away and the creditors don't get much, if anything. I think in extreme cases they can end up in prison or get banned from being directors of a company (for being unfit to run a company).
Money is trickling through. I have had two payments since this started and I can request another withdrawal in a day or two.
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