Vocal is Refusing to To Pay Its Writers

The non-stop problems with Vocal are just too much

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

I have quit Vocal and gone back to them many times however, this is the last straw that will break the camel's back! They owe more than $400, it’s been six weeks and they refuse to pay me. Every time I send them a message via the support system, they respond with a copy, paste message that solves nothing.

“We are working on it, we are just checking that your traffic is genuine.”

It makes no sense because these days, I don’t share my Vocal content. I write, publish and leave it. They seem to have a problem with people who receive high traffic, they suspect that everyone is using some kind of bot or fake traffic software to “game” their system. I am tired of messaging them non-stop it’s stressful, to say the least.

My business partner had her Stripe account closed last week, they said she is from a banned country, she lives and works in the UK. This situation is making me very skeptical about writing for all platforms, including Medium. Because Stripe can cancel your account at any given time. Your Medium income would get flushed down the drain. No more monthly checks from Medium!

A young man in the Vocal Facebook group is owed more than $900 and Stripe has banned his account, prior to that, Vocal refused to pay him because they said they are “verifying” his traffic. It’s been more than eight weeks for him, it’s disturbing.

I enjoy writing for Medium and I enjoy the process of creating written content generally but the truth is, we are at the mercy of these platforms, we have no control over anything. You could earn $10,000 in a month and they could refuse to pay you. What can you do? Nothing!

Years ago, there was a platform called Triond, you write content, you get paid according to how many reads your content received. They disappeared without warning, I had more than $700 sitting in my Triond account. They ran away with the money.

It’s interesting because people complain in Facebook groups but no one is taking any serious action, they just complain. My plan is to write a very detailed article and pitch it to top publications because they can’t keep getting away with this shady behavior!

I am going to say it out loud! Vocal is a scam site! They lure writers in with bonuses, cash prizes, and $20 affiliate commissions. They encourage us to write more and then withhold bonuses and earnings. What are they doing with all that money they make? $9.99 per month for Vocal plus membership and they can only afford to pay their paid members $6 per thousand views!

I am disgusted and disturbed and I hope more people come forward because I know it’s not just me.