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Transcribe Recruitment (UK)
This page relates solely to correspondence regarding the
activities of Transcribe Recruitment (UK) or transcribejobs.co.uk and no other companies with a similar name. For details of a selection of scams and how to avoid them, visit our scams page.
In view of the huge number of people who appear to have been conned
into buying software for use with an offer of employment, here you'll find
a selection of the victims' stories together with the responses of the
companies involved. Transcribe are adamant they have been acting legally so
read the following and make up your own mind. I shall update this page with any developments.
NOTE - VSystemgroup, mentioned below, are not connected in any way with VSYSTEMS Ltd of www.vsystems.co.uk who are a totally legitimate company.
VICTIMS' STORIES
All started at the beginning of april, when this
company contacted me on the phone claiming that I
applied for one of their vacancies on the internet (I
do not remember doing that).
They sent me an information package with a
demonstration CD. The job offered was data entry for a
medical company, paid £12/13 per hour. It all seemed
very serious and realistic.
All I had to do was pay £99 to another company,
VSysTek UK Software Distribution Studios
(1 Providence Street, King's Lynn, Norfolk PE30 5ET
UK), for the use of the software called VSystem
VoiceData Plus, Which I did, I sent a cheque.
Now, the software is not working, they sent me another
CD but the installation is to take place online but
there are continuous faults or technical problems.
Now Transcribe say that they are not working with that
software any longer, so if you want another job you
have to pay for the licence for another program to
some other company.
So I ended up paying £99 and wasting time for nothing.
I found your excellent web site just a bit too late to stop me from being ripped off by Transcribe. I have been unemployed for more than 6 months and am desperate to find work. The case history on your web site is almost identical to mine. I was approached by Transcribe's Lynn Cartride asking me if I was interested in working from home earning £12.60 an hour for typing in messages. I agreed, I paid the £99.00 for the software, now Transcribe's rep John Marshall (telephone 07092 024 544) is highly offhandish and aggressive and threatens to reduce the allocated hours when their make believe, fabricated, compatibility problems occur with the software. I lost £99. Avoid them at all cost.
.....Transcribe cannot guarantee contractual hours, thus even if VSystek resolve their problems, I won't have a job to use their software.
I was contacted by a woman from Transcribe (possibly Lynn), offering me the job, typing the voice messages on my computer, being paid for this £12.00 per hour or so (more after the first month). I paid (naive me!) £99.00 for the software, which has arrived, but it was faulty, I spent 2 whole mornings communicating with the V Systems support team, all in vain. Apparently it was my computer's fault(not true), then they asked me to try every day to use it, but there were many messages and adverts, which were of no interest to me. When we came back after easter from our holiday (3 days) our computer crashed, I believ it was because of the virus they sent me via their intranet .
We had to reboot the whole system, we've lost some important files. again, I blame mainly myself for being so stupid and naive. John Marshall does not reply to the calls, it is impossible to contact them via email (same for the VSys Group). I keep recieving emails from the VSys Tek now (once a week) 5 of them each time, but it is impossible to send them my reply (the email address is very long and it seems to be one way only)
I hope I can get my money back, as I do not believ that the job offer was serious at all.
I have just seen your site and have to say am still quite shellshocked. You see, I am currently in the throes of 'training' or rather waiting for the installation of the software (used by Transcribe) for which I have paid, you guessed it,#99. There is problem after problem in getting the software in place and up and running. I simply went on-line and decided to read up on a few things when I came across your site. Obviously after having read the comments and opinions on Transcribe I feel that my hopes have been dashed and, like I said, feel somewhat shocked.
we were involved in negotiations with Vsystek over a refund for the software.
We have now received a cheque from them however in the accompanying letter we received a message stating that if we cash the cheque (our refund of £99) we accept that this is a total settlement (true) but that in addition we may not discuss the situation with press or any other bodies who may publicise the company.
Interestingly we have never heard from Transcribe who were the people who contacted me regarding this opportunity in the first place, however after some digging my husband thinks that the two companies are closely linked.
I have also had dealings with TRANSCRIBE JOBS when I received a phone call from a lady saying that I had applied to work from home, I had applied to a few different adverts but could not remember TRANSCRIBE. I was told the work was data entry and paid approx. £12 per hour on a self employed basis which sounded just what I was looking for, I was sent a demo cd from a company called VSystems and found it straightforward to use, so I sent my £99 off (MARCH 8th) and waited for the full working version to arrive, within a week it arrived and I was ready to go into action, all I had to do was insert the disk so that my computer could be scanned to see what operating system I was using and book a training day for the software to be fully installed by one of the training affiliates, which would take place online. NOW THE FUN BEGINS after many attempts to install the programme there was constant problems with software conflicts (ok, maybe the software had a few problems but, WHY WAS MY COMPUTER WORKING IN SLOW MOTION ?) So I had my computer checked out by an engineer and found that a programme on the disk had been rewriting itself to my hard disk and that my 120GB hard disk was indeed full to the brim with a file called CMOS A .EXE WHICH COULD NOT BE DELETED so I had my hard disk reformatted costing £60 (that's ok, we all have plenty of money don't we?) I was told by VSystems that an updated disk would be sent, and fair play it arrived within a week. so a second attempt was made to install the software (trusting aren't I) but still many technical problems and I still hadn't earned a penny (THIS IS NOW MID MAY) After receiving many e-mail's from VSystems they inform me that they are not selling that software any longer and a refund is available, which I have now contacted them to obtain. I have also rang TRANSCRIBE JOBS IN LONDON as they are the agent who contacted me in the first place but as with all genuine companies 59 out of 60 phone calls (YES SIXTY) YOU GET A RECORDED MESSAGE on the one time out of sixty you get to speak to JOHN MARSHALL you are treated abruptly and as though YOU are seeking forgiveness. Has anyone ever genuinely worked through TRANSCRIBEJOBS.CO.UK ? PLEASE let me know what is your secret. I will let you know of any developments as and when.
I am another victim regarding Transcribe, I have been in contact with
them and they still in Business, I will give you there phone no 07092
043 113.Mr Marshall, This phone no is different to the one you have
on your site. He will not pick up the phone anymore you are given
options now. He stated to me that he has contacted yourself and he
reassures me this is not a scam. Also I have taken your advise and
have asked for a full refund from VSystem for £99.00. I could be
wrong but I think there all in it together three companies Transcribe,
Vsystem, Evmx training.
This is a similar case history I was also contact by Transcribe
by telephone. I did not remember contacting them but was out of work
and agreed to the offer. I am still in the process of getting their
Vsystek system to work which they are doing remotely as software
CD did not install correctly apparently. You can only contact them
through their own forms in technical support and get up to 10
messages back from them mostly advertisements. I have now got
a message from them stating that I owe them £207 for technical
support and I should pay the bill immediately within 14 days or
they will charge me interest on the outstanding amount.Their
system is still not up and running. Please advise me if this is
a definite SCAM, they seem to be genuine just having problems getting
it to run although I am concerned about the Tech support bills, I sent
them a form back stating I would not pay this but that cost me another
£23.00 to send.
(NOTE RE ABOVE EXPERIENCE - the company have confirmed the bills were "part of a Computer Generated Error" and don't have to be paid,
although I'd be interested to know how many cheques were returned to victims who paid up)
My partner also received a telephone call from 'Transcribe' and duly sent the £99 cheque to vsystems for the software required to do this job.
We also had problems with the installation of the software 'Voice Data Plus' which up to today still is not working. However I am a PC Technician and I decided to take a look at the software that was being installed and I would like to give your readers a **WARNING** the software installation and the CD contains SPYWARE and ADWARE that will watch what you do and record where you go on the internet. Those who have installed the software might wish to run either 'SPYBOT' or 'ADAWARE' to see what the installation has done, these two programs are free on the internet.
RESPONSE FROM TRANSCRIBE
To: info@homeworkinguk.com
Subject: transcribe information
From: customerservice@transcribejobs.co.uk
Reply-to: customerservice@transcribejobs.co.uk
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2003 12:55:18 +0100
For the attention of Ms O'Connor
It has been brought to our attention that you run a website called
http://www.homeworkinguk.com and have posted, under a section entitled
'scams', a lengthy article regarding our business which contains
inaccuracies and errors, and which casts a particularly negative light
upon our business-opportunity agency due to the association of the words
Transcribe and Scam and the consequential implications of illegality.
First, we would like to correct several straightforward errors:
* QUOTE "I understand Transcribe are now operating under a different
trading name, so be wary of any offers of work that require you to
purchase software."
--> Transcribe is not operating, and never has operated, under a
different trading name. Transcribe is, and always has been,
Transcribe.
* You have posted a submission stating that we have offered an outworker
a data-entry job for a medical company paid at a specific hourly rate in
UK sterling.
--> We were a business-opportunity agency and have not purported to
offer jobs, despite our URL containing the word 'JOBS'. All
opportunities were self-employed. All written literature and terms and
conditions stated this clearly.
We have not offered self-employed opportunities for medical data entry
at quoted rates per hour. We have in the past carried a medical
data-entry opportunity on our website for an american data-entry
affiliate scheme called www.btamedical.com . This opportunity was
withdrawn when it became apparent that the only route into this
opportunity was via the purchase of a piece of software called 'lytec
medical 2001' at a cost of over $1000.00 . Persons enquiring about this
opportunity have been directed to btamedical directly (ie we have waived
our affiliate commission for such persons).
The only hourly-rate opportunity we have marketed has been the Voicedata
Telaero affiliate scheme of which Transcribe is an affiliate.
This scheme involves affiliates paid commissions to recruit businesses
into the voicedata system. Business sign up to the opportunity and are
provided with marketing websites, software and marketing voicemail
numbers (voice-to-data). The entire affiliate marketing scheme is based
around the conversion of voicemail to database-able data as a
call-centre replacement system and the recruitment of affiliates using
this voicemail system. In addition to marketing this scheme to
affiliates, we also marketed the scheme to outworkers seeking data-entry
work, to carry out the voicemail-to-data conversion side of the
affiliate scheme. It is this data-entry aspect we believe you are
referring to.
This data-conversion outwork affiliate scheme was not paid in UK
sterling, but rather in Vcreds, a proprietory Vsystek trading unit
similar to evocash, e-gold or beenz. No promotional literature has
stated that this opportunity is paid sterling, and it is clearly stated
in the opportunity terms and conditions that payment currency shall be
Vcreds.
We believe that, in principle, this formed a very financially viable
opportunity, particularly as conventional callcentres are being
downsized and businesses seek flexible phonecall-to-database conversion
options without the staff overhead that call-centres require.
Furthermore, this combined internet-based outwork/affiliate-scheme model
is used by hundreds of other online UK business-opportunity schemes,
including Steve Gilruth's 'host4income' whom you acknowledge on your
site does not contravene UK legislation. Before participating in the
telaero/voicedata affiliate scheme we confirmed with the UK regulatory
authorities that this business model did not contravene UK pyramid
selling legislation, and we took legal advice which confirmed that this
affiliate scheme complied fully with UK law.
Nevertheless, since participating as an affiliate in this scheme, we
have subsequently learned of the problems users have encountered with
the software manufactured by Vsystek. We have no control over, and can
accept no liability for, these software problems. We are not able to
assist affiliates when, through no fault of our own, the software which
provides the backbone of the affiliate scheme fails to work. Recent
communications with the software manufacturer have revealed that these
problems do not even stem from their inability to create functioning
software, but from the inability of their hosting company to service and
maintain reliable web-servers. We connot be blamed for the inadequacies
of the "service-provider-of-a-service-provider".
Unfortunately, Transcribe is unable to continue in business as a result
of these software issues and has been forced to cease trading. We are
not able to continue our participation in an affiliate scheme in which
we are unable to obtain commission due to non-functioning software. Once
again we must state that we have ceased trading, and that we are NOT
trading under a different name, as you erroneously quote on your
website.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Transcribe
transcribejobs.co.uk
RESPONSE FROM VSYSTEMSGROUP
Dear Mrs O¹Connor
We have been notified that you have posted information concerning our
VoiceData software on your website in response to a complaint made by one or
more individuals.
VSystems / VSysTek Software are only too aware that there are problems with
the VSystems VoiceData business opportunity software system. These issues
have also impacted upon other businesses e.g. transcribejobs.co.uk as you
have detailed on your site.
These problems have been caused by two issues:
1. The company who we rent servers from in the UK has had quite major
technical problems over the last few months. They have repeatedly assured
businesses renting server capacity from them (us included) that these
problems will be resolved. However we are still experiencing server and mail
problems over which we have no control. For technical reasons we are unable
to simply move the entire VoiceData server system over to another set of
servers, therefore at present server access is patchy. This causes issues
with remote software installations, which depend on 24/7 server access for
authentication and file downloading.
2. The VoiceData software itself (version 8.1 only) has some install issues
on Windows NT/2000/XP due to a permissions related problem. The workarounds
for these problems are complex, but an updater (VoiceData 9) will sidestep
these issues by not requiring remote installation. It will be able to run
straight from a CD or a downloaded application file.
VSystems (VSysTek in the UK) have now ceased to retail any software to new
users (as of 15/05/2003). We are concentrating on supporting existing users
and are not selling any further copies of VoiceData (either VoiceData Plus
or VoiceData Server).
We've had one other issue with our software (between 01/03/2003 and
17/03/2003) which was resolved with an updater (R03E) - this bug manifested
itself by writing unnecessary DLL files to the users computer. This issue is
now resolved and all affected users have been issued with CD updaters.
However the above server issue remains a problem. We have already refunded
all current users who have purchased software directly from us. We are
currently in the process of tracking down users who have purchased software
through affiliates in order that they may be offered refunds, should they
wish.
If you have been contacted by individuals who have encountered problems with
our products, we would wish to offer an immediate refund to those users. You
may forward their details to us at:
uk.sales.93f4ad@vsystemsgroup.com
or forward our email address to them, if they would like to contact us.
Regards
pp J Benson
For and on behalf of
VSystems / VSysTek
Note that any e-mails sent to the above mentioned e-mail address for refunds will receive an automatic response claiming that
the e-mail address is closed. Clearly an autoresponder could not be used if an e-mail address no longer existed, so although you are not likely to
receive a refund, you should continue to contact the organisation by this method to register your claim,
prior to contacting Trading Standards.
NOTE - VSystemgroup are not connected in any way with www.vsystems.co.uk who are a totally legitimate company.
Genuine Transcription Work
If you are interested in genuine transcription work,
you might like to check out the following ads which appeared
in this week's TCA newsletter. These companies make no promises of regular work, require
you to have your own equipment (rather than buying it from them)and have a strict selection process,
all of which point to a highly professional set-up.
Expedict offers a real telework opportunity to experienced audio typists.
Our database-driven website makes it easy for our home typists to log in to
our site to view a list of their assignments, details for each one, pay to
date, etc. Delivering consistently high-quality documents to deadline leads
to steady work and higher pay rates. You can read more about it by following
this link: http://www.expedict.co.uk/front/work-faq.php
Freelance Legal and Business Transcribers
Freelance transcribers are required by http://www.ubiqus.co.uk/ to produce verbatim transcripts
of legal proceedings and corporate meetings. You need quick typing
speed (upward of 70wpm), a keen ear, and the ability to deal with
complex terminology.
You will have experience as an audio typist, preferably with a
background in legal, medical, or business content.
This position offers the opportunity to work from home with flexible
scheduling while you earn a competitive, freelance rate.
To apply, email your CV and cover letter to CVTranscription@ubiqus.com.
Please indicate your typing speed, whether you have broadband or dial-up internet access, what type of transcription
equipment you have access to, and what sectors you have experience transcribing.
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