Customer changes mind...removes request?

[Lor]

Here's the scenario. The customer puts in a request for "ongoing" articles. 3-4 days later a writer has three approved for the customer's perusal having sent a note to the customer via Q/A. No response. A week or so later, the request disappears. We can only assume the customer changed his or her mind. Obviously it's "allowed," or he/she wouldn't have been able to delete, but is this on? I don't mind if the articles I spent a few hours on didn't suit his/her needs. They can sit. What I do object to is his/her splitting without so much as a "thanks anyway." It's rude not to acknowledge writers who have put in time at the buyer's request ... to just change one's mind, knowing people have made the effort. It's not so much the lack of response, but the lack of response with the deletion. Gawd!

BTW
There was only one other article written for this request. None sold.

Yes, I know we have no control over people's behaviour. I'm just venting.
Also, I'm Canadian. We're big on "I'm sorry's".

[CRDonovan]

I understand your frustration. But I don't think the customer has any obligation to communicate with authors. When you respond to a request, you are writing on speculation, maybe you'll make a sale, maybe not. We do have the advantage of being able to look at a potential buyer's purchase rating. If it is zero, perhaps they are new to CC, or perhaps they are tire kickers. People with high purchase ratings tend to ...purchase. Another consideration when answering a request is to consider possible sale potential if it does not sell to the original requester. Some topics have sale potential, others not. I think it's all part of a learning curve, on our end of things. So, on to the next article!

[Celeste Stewart]

Also, many customers, especially new ones, place requests at multiple locations so it's possible their immediate needs have been met in which case it was quite courteous of them to pull the request here (many don't). Another possibility is that they have enough articles that they are currently considering and have temporarily pulled the request so writers don't needlessly continue submitting articles.

[Lor]

Perhaps it's my cold and bronchitis, but yes, yes, I know all this. I know they're not obligated to respond or buy. I thought that was pretty clear in my post. I know it's normal. Fine. It is what it is. As I said, "It's not so much the lack of response, but the lack of response with the deletion." This to me is just rude. As for it being a learning curve, well, I've learned 4 out 4 buyers don't respond. I'm cool with that, but I just can't get past this deletion.

Celeste, you're playing the Devil's Advocate and you make good points, but my time has already been wasted. I could have worked on something more saleable in that space. Nothing courteous about it when the request has been sitting there over a week. And if customers are putting in requests all over the internet, that is not very motivating.

I don't mind working on something that has a chance of selling. I don't mind competing with others to get there. I do mind when it's moot. In this case, two writers responded that I could see. How long can it take to apologize for wasting our time? Just because it's done, doesn't make it ok.

I've been very sick this week and it's possible I'm not making myself understood. It's just venting.
Tomorrow's another day.

[DSWaltenburg]

Hope you get to feeling better, Lor :( (Here's a tissue).

As for the deletion without notification, when you've submitted articles via the Q&A for their consideration, you're right....it's just plain rude for them not to acknowledge your time and efforts. Alas, this is the I'm-only-in-this-for-myself world that we're sinking in :( And of course, with the anonymity of the internet, some people feel absolutely no compunction whatsoever to follow norms of decent and courteous business ettiquette.

What helps me get through any given day (and I live with one very overlyself-saturated 16 yr old who does this on an hourly basis sometimes) is just to remember that we can't control how others behave, but we can control how we respond/react to it. I know it's a pisser. I've asked clarification questions of customers almost immediately after they've published a request, and can't get answers, so ya know....what are you gonna do? Don't let someone (customer) else's rudeness or oversight get you down!

So, just send of warm fuzzy thoughts to that erroneous being, and wish them all the best as they buy their content from Craigs List and get exactly what their 1/16th of a cent per word paid for :)

Now, go take a bath in some chicken noodle soup, crawl into bed, and get well!

Deborah

[Celeste Stewart]

If you don't mind, then why are you so irritated about it? This happens all the time and it's really not that big of a deal. Customers come and go. Some find what they want; others move on. A small few have posted a little general note before removing their request (maybe one or two in all the time I've been here) thanking the writers for their submissions. While it would be nice to get a "thanks for your response but we've filled our needs elsewhere," it's not practical nor is it expected. -- Oh wait, traditional publishers sometimes send form letters saying something of that nature -- oh about six months after the submission -- if you're lucky. Give it a try if you haven't already. Plus, you have to provide them with the self-addressed, stamped envelope for the privilege of this form letter courtesy, all the while holding your submission for their exclusive review. But I digress. . .

If you feel that a request is too narrow and that your article won't be saleable if the requester doesn't buy it, then either don't write for the request or go in to it knowing what you're getting into. Every request represents a risk. But then again, so does writing any article and submitting it here or elsewhere. Sure, you could have spent your time working on something more saleable but you chose to work on this particular request. It was your choice - a risk you chose to take. Who knows why the requester pulled the request but seriously, I've seen ruder things happen in this world and I just don't see this as being one of them. Just my opinion - and I have a nasty cold too :) I mean :(

[Lor]

Thank you for the "There, there," Deborah. I know it seems I'm overdramatizing, but I was pi$$ed.

Celeste, sorry you have a cold too. Awfully energy-zapping, but you are in full form. :) Having worked in publishing, I do know how it works.

"If you don't mind, then why are you so irritated about it?" A lot out of context, Celeste. There were three "mind" statements in a row. I'm pretty sure I answered this.

And since when were good manners impractical? As for it being my risk? Please.

I can't make my point any clearer than I have. And it's just my opinion. :) I don't expect everyone to agree with me or pat me on the shoulder. And thank you Celeste. Even with a cold, I enjoy a good argument. LOL. You came out swinging.

Anyway, kinda over it. I know how the game works, now. Just haven't decided if it's tiddly-winks or snakes and ladders.

Lor

[Ed]

A typical CC customer simply doesn't have the time. The soon-to-be-updated message system is unwieldy. Customers can get dozens of responses to their requests. It doesn't make sense for them to respond to every writer, and most don't even have the time to remove their request. They see Constant Content as an entity first, a group of individual writers second or third.

Thanks,
Ed

[Lor]

I may never get used to the inhumanity of the internet, Ed, but I'll try. :)

Lor

[melissan]

What helps me is that I write with a public request in mind, but I don't necessarily contact the requester with my article. (I might have a few times). I submit the article and move on to the next. I've used this analogy before, but it is like content buyers are fishing for content. The first good bite and they reel it in...the rest of the fish keep swimming for another day.

[DSWaltenburg]

:) Like literary salmon struggling to get upstream in the river of content.


:D

[cgardener]

Lor,

I understand completely. I had written a number of articles for a request that was supposed to be ongoing, and found the request removed before I could even get them approved. Ran into the customer on another site, contacted him to ask why he had removed his request, and found out that someone here had offered to do all the articles cheaper than what he had offered, so he took down the request. This is the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes that I was talking about in an earlier post. I know this guy from another forum, so he was up front with me, and said he didn't really feel comfortable about it, but when the articles were offered to him for 1/3 off, he jumped on it. Can't blame him, but that sort of thing shouldn't be allowed. I can see negotiating a price on private requests, but public requests should stay public, and this sort of thing should not be allowed. Period.

I was jumped on as "not being myself" because I brought it up, but I still feel the same, and always will. If someone is offering, say, $15 an article for an ongoing public request, and someone goes and offers to do them all for $10 each, that's bidding, and I thought that wasn't the way things went here.

But I'm so honest that when he offered to buy my articles from me outside of CC, for the price he had offered minus the 35%, I said no. I never even submitted them here, I was so ticked off about the whole thing, and how I was treated for bringing it up. I was made to look like because my mother had recently died, I was delusional, and that really hurt.

[Celeste Stewart]

The scenario you are describing is not allowed though I'm sure it must be pretty hard for CC to police. Apparently you know what's going on with a specific customer and his or her request based on conversations on a completely different forum. You may want to discuss your concerns directly with support so that they can do something about it.

[Lor]

Sorry you felt that way. From my perspective, it wasn't my intention. The thing is, I don't think it was as clear in that post as it is here. Hardly delusional, but missing some facts. I don't recall any of that in your post. You were talking about wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, but this info in new to me. Maybe I missed it in the thread.

Hope you are over it? :)

Lor

[melissan]

You contacted a buyer on another site to ask why he removed his request from this site? That is like owning a store and chasing people who have bags in their hand down the street, asking why they didn't shop in your store instead. I try not to be rude, but that is completely unprofessional, immature and I am sure that this is not the image that CC wants to present. If you are not happy with submitting articles and offering them up for sale at a price you set, try another site. Don't expect a site to change because you are not getting the sales you want or people are "wheeling and dealing" behind your back. The point of CC is to offer original content to buyers, either through request, search or browsing. CC's expectations could not be any clearer and I'd suggest focusing on writing, not hunting down potential buyers and harrassing them.