Babbletype Reviews

Cons

None. The pay is low when you begin, but gradually advances as you get better and have more access to work.

Cons

Pay is very low unless you are extremely fast and make no errors. I couldn’t see to get past a certain speed so I was earning only a few dollars per hour.

Cons

Very, very, very low pay. This is not a job that will pay your bills. The rate of pay is the same for easy and very difficult audio, even for large focus groups. Sometimes it takes 12 hours to capture a 60-min interview where you end up making $2.00/hr.

Cons

Must be able to handle constructive criticism and genuinely enjoy learning.

Cons

Need to improve how transcribers receive work because their spreadsheet form of allocating work is a bit complicated for an entry-level transcriber. Their application test has a poor audio quality making it hard to get hired. Each applicant is only allowed to apply once, and if they fail the test they can't apply again.

Cons

Pay rate low, very low for difficult to understand audio which takes longer. Not enough to live on, certainly. It’s a second job or pin money. Have to train yourself. Switching between styles can be hard. Workload varies, some days there is no work at all.

Cons

Low pay and inconsistent availability of work.

Cons

-The pay is very bad. Compared to other companies, the rate they offer ($0.45 per audio minute transcribed) is incredibly low. They may explain this by saying that they take new people who may not have transcription experience, but that really doesn’t cut it. It’s the same work, so they should pay a rate that is closer to other transcription services, like $0.75 per audio minute transcribed. -They do not differentiate pay based on poor audio quality or accents that are very difficult to understand. It’s the same rate, no matter what, which is taking advantage of the transcriber. Poor audio and hard to understand accents make the file take much longer to transcribe, so the pay should reflect that. Also, most of the transcriptions for them do not include crutch words, or active listening, so when you are randomly assigned a file that does include those, it will take much longer. Again, the pay should reflect that. -I was told in the beginning that if there was an accent that I just couldn’t understand, that it would be okay to decline the file, because not everyone can deal with every accent. Then, the one and only time I clearly and politely declined, the proofreader on duty tried to push me to do it anyway. That I could deal with, but after I again declined, I saw passive aggressive comments in Slack about “people who put in the work,” implying I wasn’t one of those people. That’s just rude. I had dealt with a lot of other accents, no trouble, and was only declining because I had been told it would be fine. -Some of their proofreaders don’t seem to understand proper grammar and punctuation. I have been told numerous times to change things that were actually correct. I have been told that I was using English spelling, when I was using the American spelling, silly stuff like that. Usually not worth fighting about, so I generally let it go. Also, it seemed like in every other assignment, I would be told that I had misheard something, only to go back and find that the audio was exactly what I had typed. I would always gently point this out, and ask them to tell me what they heard. Only one proofreader actually responded and admitted to making a mistake. It seems like many of the proofreaders are trying to reach a quota of mistakes found, or something like that. Oh, and also, if you are commenting that something is incorrect, you should probably proofread your own comment for spelling errors. -When I was hired, I was told over and over “you only work when you want to.” This was said many, many times. To support this assertion, I was told about an employee who was just coming back after being off for six weeks. I was assured that this sort of thing was no problem. Then I was offered a temporary job, to last eight weeks. I communicated to their scheduling person that if I took this job, I wouldn’t be available for that period of time, and gave them the exact date when I would be available once again. I was then told that since I would be gone during their busiest time, they would have to terminate the contract if I took this job. This is fine, in that it’s their choice to work with, or not work with whomever they want. However, it’s not very smart or reasonable, given what I was told. Why tell me this sort of thing was doable if it really wasn’t? Was that just to get me to accept the job? If they had told me that they couldn’t be sure how much work I would get when I came back, and that they would prioritize the people who had been there the last eight weeks, that would have been fine. Even in regular situations, they don’t guarantee work, so it’s not like they would have been obligated to assign me work over someone else. Also, since they don’t offer benefits (which they are very clear and upfront about) it wouldn’t be a burden, financially or otherwise, to keep me on. They could have said, “Hey we can’t guarantee that you’ll get any work for a while after you come back, but we can keep you on the list, just in case,” and I would have agreed to that. Instead, they decided it made more sense to permanently terminate the contract of a transcriber who had already been trained, and has a good track record of working the desired amount per week, and turning in assignments on time. Seems a bit silly, if you ask me, and it could have been solved with some simple, clear communication. I chose the other job, because in two months, I will make more than I would make in about 7 months at Babbletype.

Cons

The bottom line is, most people don't stick with transcribing long enough to get good at it. The first couple weeks I wasn't crazy about it, and it was taking me forever to finish jobs. I've been there 6 weeks now, and I feel like I have a good handle on things. The pay should be higher for more challenging jobs. It is sort of a sink or swim atmosphere. The instructions are very good and detailed, and I have also gotten a quick response to questions, but there is no hand-holding.

Cons

The pay is very low and the work is not always there. I noticed recently that they over-hire. This causes there to be a lot less work available. It feels unfair, especially if you are willing to dedicate yourself to this company. Also, they should hire a more full-time night person who is available for help. Their current night person is only available for a few short hours per night for questions (when I am already asleep). It would be great if they had a night staff that is just as good as their day staff.