Sunflower Powers Thru

An Unfortunate Learning Situation

Unfortunately, my latest attempt to tutor, ghost write, and make money, seems to have blow up in my face, and my student is no doubt furious with me. I could be furious too, but it's not my nature. I'm very disappointed, to say the least. I priced a job at $100, and I've received nothing. Nothing!!!

We evidently had a misunderstanding. I wasted my efforts for no pay. He ended up getting half of what he wanted. He didn't receive the paper he needed to take in as part of his final exam this evening. This didn't come about intentionally on my part. The paper was formatted, typed up, and ready to send. I thought I'd retrieve my first half payment before I sent it, and when nothing was there my generosity shrank to zero. In the future, I'll have a way to receive at least partial payment before I invest so many hours, days, weeks, on a project. Over the last three weeks, I've spent a lot of time working with him and his writing needs.

I'm not good at bringing up the fee for my services, but I did discuss price with my client in NYC before we were half finished, and he agreed to put a check in the mail. I don't know why I'm surprised that I didn't receive it ten days later, but I didn't. When I realized I put forth so much honest effort for someone who needed help, I can't feel too badly about his situation. He didn't get what he didn't pay for. In the end, karma does come around, and people get about what they deserve. I can't believe I'm so gullible.

I'd like to believe that my not getting payment was some kind of mistake. I haven't talked to Ravi yet about all this, but this was the evening he needed his paper, and I didn't send it to him.

The topic was about illegal downloading, and I'll probably end up posting the essay here under academic papers. I'm not going to post the entire essay for awhile, as I want to see what my client has to say.

If he went to take his final English class exam this evening, he's undoubtedly furious that I didn't provide him with the expository paper he needed to carry in him him to submit for a grade. However, if he stops to think about it, how many people does he give free cab rides to? Probably not many. I had to learn the hard way, my services are worth payment in advance, Give somebody a cut rate on a job, and I end up getting no money. At least doing ghost writing through DueNow.com, I was always assured of getting paid.

Until I get a shopping cart set up on one of my new web pages, I don't think I'm going to go looking for clients to tutor or ghost write for. I have a lot to learn before my web pages are in working order, so I guess I'll be spending time learning about that as well as finishing off the other jobs I've got working now. Thank goodness there are other jobs with a paycheck at the end of a tunnel. I got them through WriterLance.com, and if I don't get paid I have an avenue of recourse.

Like I said, I hope this is a misunderstanding, and if it is I still have the paper he needs. He said he was sending a $50 check last Sunday (as in a week ago), and it wasn't in my PO Box when I checked tonight. He's also agreed to send $50 for my time and effort in the mean time. $100 is a serious amount to be taken for--even if, or especially if it's MY hard work!

His attitude about illegal downloading should have given me a hint. That was the topic of the paper. I thought he just didn't understand the way things work, with copyrights and all. I certainly didn't agree with him that illegal downloading is the way to go for music. The first draft had to be totally redone because I didn't realize his instructor wanted both sides of the issue. Whatever the reason he never sent any money, he's undoubtedly worse off than I am if we went to his final exam unprepared.

Live and learn. I'll salvage his writing job and get paid if I can. If I can't, he doesn't get the paper he needed for his final, and he may end up failing his class. It's unfortunate for both of us, and I learned an important Internet business lesson: money/credentails first, work comes on receipt of payment. It's an expensive lesson, but I'm sure I'll never forget it.

If you'd like to read part of what he didn't receive go to this item:

Downloading Illegal Music Files  (13+) Expository essay; cause and effect , definition, classification, examples~ #1248986 by a Sunflower in Texas

Thanks sonnetwolf