Vocal Media is Refusing To Pay its Writers: Update
Vocal Media still need to fix their payment system
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I wrote an article in January 2022 about Vocal Media, they owed me more than $400 and they were refusing to payout.
If you are new to online writing, Vocal Media is an online writing platform, you publish articles and get paid according to the number of views your articles receive.
Vocal pays writers using Stripe, when you reach your payment threshold, you request payment, they review your payment request and approve or deny it.
I had a couple of viral articles and my earnings skyrocketed to more than $400 which is quite rare on Vocal. Getting 1000 views is extremely difficult, therefore, I was chuffed to see my earnings climb from $5 a month to $400.
When I made my payment request, they refused to payout. Their excuse was that they couldn’t verify my traffic sources. Really?
Anyway, after weeks of back and forth, my legal rep contacted them several times. They eventually replied again, refusing to payout.
My legal rep sent one more very stern email, they agreed to pay me however, Stripe closed my account after the funds were sent to my bank account.
Stripe eventually agreed to reinstate my account after sending photo identification and proof of my UK business location.
What a joke! Stripe informed me that Vocal had contacted them to report my account as fraudulent.
Vocal also said that Stripe said they were closing my account for the same reason. It turns out, Vocal reported my account to Stripe, not the other way around.
The verdict:
The big dogs behind Vocal are a sly old bunch. They are happy to pay out a few pennies here and there but they don’t like to see creators rake in massive traffic because they have to pay out more than they want to pay.
They push the cash prize contests because the cash prizes are sponsored by brands and organizations therefore, they have no problem paying these prizes. When it comes to large payments from hardworking writers, they seem to have a problem with it.
In the end, Vocal offered me a one-year free Vocal plus membership but to be honest, it’s not enough.
I’m not impressed and I still don’t recommend this shady platform to anyone. You can earn money there with lots of effort but you might have to fight for your money.
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