Thanks for stopping by to check out my Rev.com review.
It's tough… worrying about money. Not able to work or just trying to escape the job you have. I know exactly how it feels. Freelancing is one option, but is it realistic? If you're skeptical about making money online, you're not alone. So was I.
It’s difficult to know who you can trust… especially online. So you might be wondering then, is Rev.com a scam. I can tell you they’re not, but instead of taking my word for it, I’ll share with you what I discovered because I had the same question.
Disclaimer:
Please note, I am not a member or an affiliate for Rev.com. This review has been researched with information and/or testimonials that are available online in the public domain. Any recommendations and/or conclusions are strictly opinions and may not to apply to, or agree with, all persons or situations. See full disclaimer for more info
What is Rev.com?
Founded in 2009, Rev is a company that provides transcription, translation, and captioning services to companies such as PBS and Comcast.
They do this with both in-house staff, and work-at-home freelancers.
Rev has been the recipient of PC Mag’s Editor’s Choice Award for transcribing audio and video files, and has been featured on sites such as Tech Crunch and The Wall Street Journal.
Audio and video transcription is a popular work-at-home side hustle. The problem is that it rarely pays well and you're still trading hours for dollars.
It's better than a job you hate, but still doesn't give you the freedom you're after.
Whether it's health, young ones at home, or even economic hardship, you're probably looking for peace of mind.
A steady income and no more worry is what you want and even though Rev.com may be one option… it doesn't provide passive income which may be what you need to get the peace of mind you want.
To learn how I did it, I'm going to give you a free step by step beginner's guide to making money online and you can get it by clicking HERE.
And, if you're looking for some immediate money, you can do things like online surveys with market research companies like Survey Junkie, or earn cash simply by searching the web using Inbox Dollars‘ search engine, and get paid for things like watching videos and surfing the web.
To be clear, sites like these are not a way to make ton of money, but they're a simple way to get started if you've never made money online before and if you're not yet ready to commit to something more serious.
Is Rev.com a Scam?
Considering Rev's associations with major brands along with their high-profile mentions, it would seem obvious they're not a scam.
But, you wouldn’t be the first person to ask that question. In fact… it’s a hard question to avoid when you read reviews like this…
Many would see that, take it at face-value and dismiss them as a scam before doing any further research. After all… it’s an online work-at-home gig.
They're all scams, right?
In the Glassdoor review (shown above) I highlighted something else… the reviewer says they worked at Rev for more than a year.
Usually when you’ve been scammed, it hits you like food poisoning. You realize you’ve been had, and the regret sets in.
What you don’t do when you’ve been scammed, is continue working with the scammers for a full year (and then some).
So… what the reviewer is really saying, is that they have a bone to pick with Rev.
Fair enough… but that does NOT make them a scam.
In fact, the review saying they worked at Rev for more than a year kind of confirms they’re not a scam. At some point the relationship must have been good.
And, there are some other indicators we can examine to confirm Rev is legit.
Two common things you rarely see with scams (real scams… the kind who take your money and run) are social media profiles (because people would pile on the negative comments) and published contact names and addresses (because people involved in illegal activities don't publish who they are and where they can be found).
Rev doesn't hide. They have a Facebook page with 11,000 followers as well as staff pictures and posts.
And, Rev is not afraid of sharing their exact address (in case anyone feels compelled to visit them personally).
While many freelancer reviews don’t exactly paint a good picture of Rev, you can be confident you’re dealing with a legit company.
Rev is not a scam.
Rev Work from Home Jobs
Rev has 4 available positions for freelancers, which are…
- Transcriptionist: Converting spoken English audio into a written document.
- Captioner: Transcribe spoken English and add captions to video.
- Subtitler: Translate spoken words on screen and add subtitles to video.
- Translator: Translation for purposes other than video subtitles.
If you’re not familiar with online transcription and translation services, it’s a simple process.
Clients upload audio and video files to Rev, and then those files are sent to you for transcribing or translating.
Basically, you’re sitting at your computer (in a distraction free environment) listening, and typing out conversations about things you probably have no interest in.
It seems simple enough, but quite often you’re dealing with poor audio quality, hard to understand accents and multiple voices talking over one another.
If that's not exactly your skill-level or you have difficulty getting hired, there are other opportunities to make money online.
Rev.com Pay
Your pay rate at Rev depends on the job you do.
If you’re a transcriptionist the rates range from $.24 to $.90 per audio or video minute and captioners can expect to be paid between $.45 to $.75 per audio or video minute.
On average, people are able to transcribe or caption about 20 minutes of audio or video per hour, which works out to $8.00 – $15.00 per hour.
Not great money, but you’re also not doing manual labor and you can stay at home. Don’t expect a steady stream of assignments though.
Rev reports average earnings of about $240 per month with top earners making about $1500 (per month).
Rev is not a “fire-your-boss” type of gig. It’s for extra money when you can make it, or an additional income source to add to your freelance portfolio.
The best way to earn an income online though is to never depend on one source. Most freelancers have other ways of making money, from doing simple surveys with companies likeSurvey Junkie to having a part-time online business. You can even earn some extra cash by watching videos, visiting websites and searching the web with Inbox Dollars.
Doing surveys and small tasks online will NOT make you rich of course, but they're an easy way to earn a few extra bucks in your downtime when other freelance jobs are not available.
If you're fluent in multiple languages you might qualify to be a translator or captioner. The rate for a captioner is $5.00 to $8.00 per video minute, so your earning potential is much greater.
Translators are paid $.05 to $.07 per word.
Rev doesn’t specify average (or top earner) salaries… but interpreters for companies like Lionbridge Smart Crowd for example, report earnings as high as $36/hr.
It’s possible to see similar hourly earnings with Rev.
Reviews and Complaints
It’s unfortunate, but the more you read what people are saying, it feels lopsided towards the negative.
We already discussed what Rev pays, which is not out of line with other transcription companies. But you’ll find a lot of complaints about it.
Transcribing is a speed job. You can make decent money, but you must be fast and accurate, which requires experience that you can’t get overnight. Some people never find their rhythm and therefore you end up with a many complaints about low pay.
Some examples of the “not-so-good” reviews…
And… to be fair, there are some positive reviews.
Again… whether you have a positive or negative experience with Rev will depend on your ability to work efficiently… as well as your expectation of what the job really is.
It's important to remember that the benefits of this type of work are doing it where you want, and when you want.
When people go in with expectations that this is comparable to a traditional job, they usually end up disappointed. .
What I Like
- Flexible schedule and the ability to pursue other freelance opportunities alongside Rev.
- Good pay if you’re fluent in multiple languages.
- Rather than being assigned specific jobs, Rev lets you pick and choose projects among those that are available.
What I Don’t Like
- There are a significant number of complaints about poor support and unfair (or unrealistic) graders checking your work.
- Rev is not strict on qualifications, but the truth is… even if you perform well and get hired after doing a grammar and transcription test, your pay is determined by your speed and accuracy. In other words… you need to perform at “test speed level” consistently to make decent money.
- The work is not consistent, and you can’t depend on Rev as your only income.
Next Steps…
Rev is a legit way for you to make money online, and a good place to start if you’re serious about a work-at-home lifestyle.
But you will need other sources of income. The problem with online jobs is not necessarily the pay/per task (or hour). It's the inconsistency of work and the downtime.
They won't make you rich, but you can fill your downtime with surveys on sites like surveyjunkie.com or make money using the web for things you already do… Inbox Dollars pays members for things like visiting websites, watching videos and searching the web.
Of course, you can't make a full-time doing online surveys, but if you've never made money online before, they can be a simple way to start.
If you're looking for something more substantial, you can read about my top recommended strategy for making money online here.
You can fit transcription and captioning work into your current schedule, or you can “stack” freelance jobs to come up with an overall strategy that combines Rev.com gigs with other work-at-home opportunities.
For long-term stability though, and no more worry… what you're really after is passive income from multiple sources.
Depending on your reasons for needing extra money… your health, kids at home, or nobody hiring… you may not have the security you need.
I've been there… health problems, kids to look after… and no job (I've even had them all at once) 😀
Peace of mind and no worry is what you want and learning how to find it online with passive income is what you need in order to get what you want.
I'm going to give you a free step by step beginner's guide to making money online and you can get it by Clicking Here
If you're a gifted typist… Rev is a good hustle to open the online money-making door.
I hope this review was helpful and to get started you can apply for work at Rev here.
Now it’s your turn. Do you have previous experience translating or transcribing? Have you worked for Rev before?
Please share in the comments section below.
I haven’t had I don’t have translating and transcribing experience I’m interested. Can you help?
Yes
This app is good work
I’m still fairly new to my position on Rev, but I really cannot imagine anyone consistently getting a good quality captioning done at 20 minutes of video per hour. Personally, I watch through the video once transcribing everything, (which is the way the editor is set up to transcribe and then align in a separate page, though you can edit in the alignment stage). A second watch through aligning things, and a third watch through to double-check all of my work. I could remove that last step, but that would require me to be perfect the first time through every single time, and like, sure you need to be skilled, but I don’t think perfect is a reasonable expectation.
I’d have to work at the same speed as the video to get that 1:3 ratio. That’s no research, no pausing, and no repeating parts that are hard to hear. 1:6 is probably a much more fair ratio for an average skilled person, and 1:10 for a beginner, or when captioning something very difficult or that requires a lot of research.
I don’t think it’s bad necessarily, I’m not planning to leave any time soon. But it feels a bit disingenuous to see people claim low pay isn’t an issue when they’re claiming ratios that are highly unlikely to be achievable.
The reality is, you probably will earn significantly less than minimum wage.
I would get more political about it but this probably isn’t the place, just, keep in mind that they’re not paying /minimum/ wage for anyone but perhaps the most skilled, at least in the freelance captioning. I think that’s at the very least unethical, on the company’s end.
P.S. I have a BA and wrote my thesis in English without an external editor, and I have done live transcription for meetings. Although I am new to captioning specifically, I am not new to typing quickly or to English grammar and spelling. I’m also a CODA so I’m used to common closed captioning conventions.
Hi Victoria, thank you for sharing your insights and providing helpful feedback. I appreciate it. Low pay is certainly common for online jobs because there is such a large pool of employees and freelancers for companies to choose from. Depending on your situation, there can be benefits to working from home though that help to compensate for lower pay. It may also require multiple at-home jobs to fill the gaps during slow times and upgrading your skills over time as well, but sticking with it can open new doors and opportunities.
Thanks again for sharing your experience.
Thanks for the tips..its a great help!
Hello! Very happy I came across your site.
I worked with rev for a couple months and can confirm it is legit! To keep it short I’ll list some pros and cons which may be helpful:
Pros:
-I’m from Canada, and they pay in American so what I see in the earnings is always a bit higher when converted to Canadian dollars
– they pay via PayPal. Super convenient and I leave that as my savings. You are paid weekly
– there is no requirement for how many hours or projects you work, but if you want the more higher paying jobs there is the revver+, which takes time to get to
– your grade comes back very quickly after completing a project, and you are able to see your metrics right away. I found that motivated me to do more projects
Cons:
-pay is super low. I don’t even want to know what my hourly rate is but it isn’t much. This is more what I do in my free time say instead of watching tv
– grading is inconsistent. I had one project where almost every line was nitpicked, and other projects where I just got a “good job”
– sometimes there are no jobs available or very hard to understand. I’d check in here and there and there would be nothing that I believe I could complete with accuracy
– once you fall below you are given a warning and to not fall below again. Just this night I fell victim to it for a project I didn’t do so well on, and my account was deactivated. Very upset about that.
The pay isn’t much but if you swap your tv time for completing projects you can use this for coffee money or some extra savings!
Hope this helps
Thanks for you detailed insight Danielle, it’s appreciated.
U r helpfull..but what abt payment and payment moods… withdrawal etc.
Please add ur review.
Rev is legit. I worked for them for a while and enjoyed the extra money. I had great metrics, but I attempted to log in one day and my account had been deactivated without explanation. They really need to improve upon their communication with workers – especially when they are new to the process.
Sir I’m a student and get some free time rarely so can you tell me that if I can work whenever I want or have to work according to them.
Very unfair in terms of grading and closure of accounts. My account was deactivated even though my Metrix were still goo! For any freelancer please consider other digital platforms
Is Rev a good place to start? I've never transcribed in my life. My typing skills are probably very poor.
Is there a better place to start?
I'm a Rev reject. I was working on it for about 2 weeks, and I did get paid. I would be presented with a list of videos to look at and claim. I did my best, got a lot of 5.5.5 ratings and about 3 below that, and… boom. Didn't want me. I was still learning!
I would recommend reporters try out Rev.com to see what they can actually earn per hour. I never earned more than about $2.50 per hour. I was a technical writer in a previous life and type 75 WPM.
The ratio of recording time to time to transcribe is about 1:6. Ask Rev what the median income is, not the average, and see if the amount changes. Also, ask how long it takes to meet the Revver+ requirements. Also ask how many minutes the person who earns $1500 per month is spending on transcribing.
hi Jay, I read the article, but for sure, can I assume Rev.com is true and not scam?
Hi Kiriha, Rev.com is real. What you do have to watch out for though are scammers who are pretending to be from legit companies like Rev. They will post ads on job boards using a legitimate company name and then word to build your trust through email correspondence. For any online job you’re applying to make sure the email address they are using is official (it will usually end with their actual website domain… for example, support@rev.com). You can take it step further and contact the company directly and just ask them if the email you are corresponding with is legit.
Thank you
Hi Jay, thanks for your review. I must say that some countries, for example Nigeria, are not supported on wealthy affiliate. I am really interested in your trainings.
Hi Mary, I have run into that before, yes. I’m not sure why those countries are not supported. Thanks for sharing and glad you’re finding some insight here 🙂
I love Rev. I’ve worked for them for 18 months, and managed to get out of debt with the extra income. But it’s not for the stupid, or those unable or unwilling to spend time researching.
This is right on the money !!! I am a employee of rev not to long started and other than the harsh grading I kinda like it so far !
I was accepted by Rev but never bothered to start transcribing due to… their phenomenally low pay rates.
I was looking for extra work to increase my part-time income to full time and thought I’d give Rev a go. I’ve been completing transcription projects for years so I know what I’m doing and what I’m capable of.
I’m only 70wpm so effectively a very good quality recording will take me x3.5 minimum to transcribe, At Rev’s rate that works out at approximately $6.50 per hour. I’ve since found a more local company to transcribe for where, working on that same basis of crystal clear audio, I can earn $28.80 per hour. Of course it generally takes me longer but even when it’s not the best audio and I have to work longer on a file I still make above minimum wage of $17.70 per hour and the company I work for is obviously still make something off my work.
I recently attended a course where the presenters waxed lyrical about the benefits of Rev and I had to grind my teeth to stop myself from slamming them BECAUSE to the consumer paying $1 per audio minute is a great deal. But it’s typical big business isn’t it. The people who do the work are at the bottom of the ladder while those that know how to manipulate rise to the top.
My suggestion is that if you can research and have the confidence to put yourself out there, find smaller locally based transcription services and offer your services – forget the mass providers off the net. My initial transcription gig was found after I wrote to every transcription service in the area. I netted one offer out of 15 applications, worked for them for five years casually and was “given” a client (whom they were too busy to deal with directly) that continues to provide me with transcription clients through word of mouth.
Do your homework. Rev is good for those that are happy with the rates and the conditions (of which I know nothing about).
Hi Jaycee thanks for your review! Please can you state the name of the local company where you earn up to $17-$28 per hour. Thanks
The disclaimer is a lie. This was quite obviously paid for by Rev.
Hi Doug, I appreciate your comment but I can assure you I receive absolutely zero compensation from Rev.com, nor do I have any affiliation with them.
Is there are downloading option in rev.com for subtitling job or any company you know with downloading options for subtitling jobs
This definitely does not look like a paid article and looks a 100% legit.
I’m curious to know how Rev evaluates their tests for potential hires. I’m an experienced transcriptionist. I submitted the test then received a letter of rejection.
So what it sounds like are all these negative reviews are probably from people who can’t type more than 30 wpm and weren’t getting paid what they believe they were worth. I have a friend who works for Rev and supports her kid and soon to be newborn on that check. They’re legit….otherwise I wouldn’t have signed up myself.
I get the bad reviews, I do. But, honestly, I just can’t say I’ve had the same experiences. I’ve been doing captions (mostly) for them for about two years. Right now, my commitment ratio is low (my own fault, mostly I’ll grab a file, get distracted, then forget about it), but they’ve given me plenty of time to bring that back up, plus I got invited to be a grader. So let me break down my experience, as well as some tips.
– Pay is one of the things I’ve seen the most complaint about, both how low Rev pays and about actually being paid. In the entire time I’ve done captions for them, I have ALWAYS been paid to my PayPal account every Monday. Sometimes it’s been as late as 2 PM EST, but it’s always there. My pay always matches what my invoice/earnings sheet says. As far as the pay goes, I honestly believe that is all on your own skills and making sure you pick files that you can work with. I recommend captions because it’s a lot easier to transcribe if you have a video. You need to have a good sense of style and grammar. I always pull up the style guide so I can reference it as needed. Get a foot pedal. This makes a TON of difference. Download a Chrome extension that helps with audio. (I use Ears.) Pick files that you are comfortable with. I favorite clients that provide videos I like so that I can easily access future videos, ones I know will give me the most bang for my buck. It’s also helpful if you already are familiar with the content. I probably average about $5 or $6 an hour, but I have some hearing problems that contribute to that, and it’s much better and more consistent than some other freelance gigs. (My personal favorite side hustle is DoorDash because it’s popular in my area.)
– Getting graded low. That’s pretty much telling you that you need to brush up on your skills. I consistently get 5/5/5 because I make sure to do all the things I’ve stated above. Make sure you have your style guide, make sure your English is perfect. Utilize the forums if you have a question. Use Google. If I’m having trouble understanding a word, I’ll use the speech option in Google. It’s super helpful.
– Running out of time. You have poor time management skills. Know your skill level and if you have any other obligations. If you keep your commitment ratio up, you’re not going to have a problem if once in a blue moon something comes up out of your control. Yes, it sucks that you lose that pay. But you also didn’t complete the project. Personally, I start the project over entirely 99% of the time because it’s not done properly in the first place. But all files have a deadline that’s completely manageable if you stick to your skill level. I’m usually finished in probably half the time.
– Other tips and tricks! Utilize the text shortcuts. If you typically type “brb” instead of “be right back”, add that to your shortcuts. I have a couple hundred, and I add more almost every project. This can help with common misspellings, capitalization, and even longer phrases. Claim a project first, then review it within the hour allotment, and toss it back if you don’t have the skill level for it. It doesn’t hurt your metrics, and that way someone else doesn’t snatch it up before you review it. Ignore customers or files you know you don’t want to do. (There’s a button for it.) Watch TV shows and movies with captions. I have to anyway, but it helps a lot with understanding format and syncing.
– They aren’t actually required to send you a 1099. You’re an independent contractor, and it’s up to you to treat it as self employment. Taxes are pretty easy once you know what you’re doing. Just make sure to file correctly. When in doubt, ask a tax professional near you.
Overall, I think this is just one company that really is what you make of it. It can be a good source of mostly side income, or it can be torture for pennies. It’s okay if you have a different experience. This has been mine, and I hope it helps anyone who is currently struggling with Rev or someone who is currently looking into it.
Wow… thanks Brandi for your review and insight. This will definitely be helpful for others 🙂
Jay
Your time and the original writer’s time is greatly appreciated!
I wasn’t chosen even though my test might have had a 99% accuracy.
There were some slurs and hard to understand phrases in the video but I managed to follow the guidelines.
Honestly, Rev doesn’t have too harsh a spread of graders. They just grade by the same knowledge base most people who want to work in transcription need to follow, plus the Rev Style Guide that’s available on their site. If you don’t stay at the metrics they point out clearly to you, or your quality/grasp of English, punctuation, grammar, etc isn’t at the standard it should be for a professional occupation involving written text then you probably SHOULDN’T be maintained as an employee/freelance contractor for them. If you have an issue with something a grader flagged on a project or the grade you received, you can always launch a dispute and someone will take a look at it. I’ve done so twice and gotten my grade revised up .5 to a full point before, but what the graders said was never unfair.
I have been with Rev as a transcriptionist for two years, now, and honestly, a lot of the projects with bad pay quality seem to be on the beginning levels where they sort of test you out to see if you can follow the instructions and style guide properly. Once you get to higher levels, there are A LOT more projects put up throughout the week (although, on weekends it’s harder to find work, I agree with that) to choose from that have really good quality.
For me, base pay is 45 cents/minute non-verbatim and 55 for verbatim, and doing that, for a typical week I can earn $200. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but bear in mind, that’s me choosing when I want to work, what to work on, all while I also have to sleep ~6 to 8 hours of the later part of the day (when most projects are uploaded to choose from) in order to work three to four night shifts per week at a second job (which I use to cover insurance and taxes.) So, it’s not that bad.
The downside is, yes, it can feel grueling sometimes, and sometimes you might have to pick projects to work on that aren’t all that fun or interesting, but it’s not much different from having to go to 9 – 5 job and do things you don’t want to do and don’t enjoy, either. At least you’re in the comfort of your own home during this work and can take breaks during the longer projects. The work uploaded DOES seem to dry out during the weekends for the most part, but I just equate that to imaging what it would be like if I worked at a place where you work weekdays and get Saturday/Sundays off. *shrug*
If you don’t know the subject matter in the project you can Google it (they literally tell you to do so and use what you find where reasonable and logical) and not to share client information or information in the projects with others because of the privacy agreement you have to sign with them, and people from Rev’s team are available more often than not to contact for help via chat on their site if you have questions or need assistance with something while working on your projects. If a project has too much in it that you don’t understand or you don’t feel confident it’s accurate, unclaim it and look for another one to work on.
All in all, Rev is a really good company. Everyone I’ve contacted has been very helpful, and they always have the payments for my week’s work ready on the same day of the week without fail, whether it’s a holiday or not. That helps a lot with bills, knowing I don’t have to panic about finding the extra cash to last me while most establishments are closed. If you can follow directions and you aren’t afraid to invest time to research topics for accuracy or ask questions of the staff, and if you have a good grasp on the proper use of punctuation and the English language, it’s a VERY good job, even if you just want to put in a couple of hours every week to get some pocket money. Don’t let people who couldn’t meet the requirements and got salty about it fool you into passing up the opportunity.
I have worked for Rev for about 13 months now. I have seen many people come and go. I have NEVER known Rev to fire someone whose metrics were up to par. People are allowed 1 hour (50 minutes for a short file) to preview the file and decide if they want to do it. It can be returned to the general queue if a person doesn’t want to keep the job. However, if person takes a job and keeps it more than 1 hour and then puts it back in the queue enough times, they get a warning. The rule about this is absolute. One warning and the next time the Revver falls below the minimum, they are immediately fired. However, people don’t want to accept accountability. Most people who get fired after working at Rev for any length of time have gone below the minimum a 2nd time. A person can have perfect scores but be tossing those files back regularly and lose their job. It’s certainly not unreasonable on Rev’s part as they have to get the project back to the customer in a timely manner. As to unfair grading, one has to understand that Revvers are the ones who grade. One has to have been at Rev a decent amount of time and have pretty good scores. Rev has also recently reinstituted their grading test so a Revver is invited to test when they’ve otherwise demonstrated an excellent grasp of the Style Guide and abilities. Then after proving themselves on the test, they are promoted when the need exists. However, that means there are often new graders and they make mistakes. Rev keeps an eye on graders and “grades” them in many ways. Any time an unfair grade is given, it is disputable. It takes a while (2 weeks sometimes) to get a dispute resolved, but anything unfair gets taken are of. Usually this “unfair grading” is really simply that the Style Guide has not been followed. Because we’re doing actual projects that people need transcribed or captioned, Rev has no control over when projects are available. If nobody needs work done, there aren’t projects available. Yes, weekends are slow, as are holidays, but it’s because people aren’t submitting jobs. Rev can’t do much about that. For Rookies, if the queue is low, Rev does provide jobs to learn on. However, that’s only for Rookies. And as to low pay, it’s really logical when you look at it. Rev gets $1.00 per audio minute. Revvers in captioning get paid $0.54 per minute minimum (Rookies get paid slightly less, I believe it starts at $0.48 per minute and then goes up). All Rookie work is graded, though, so the grader is getting a minimum of $0.32 per clip graded. If a Rookie job isn’t perfect, it gets redone, at regular prices, and the Rookie is also paid. At that point, Rev has paid $0.48 per minute and now an additional $0.48 per minute minimum (totaling $0.96 simply for the project to be competed). Then there’s the grader’s pay on top of that. The absolute most that Rev can be making on Rookie work is $0.04 if it has to be redone, and that doesn’t account for the grader’s pay. Honestly, about 1/4 or more of all Rookie work has to be redone, from what I’ve seen on the forums. Rev doesn’t want to break even on someone and then fire them unnecessarily when they finally are making a profit from them. It’s simply not logical on the business platform. As to transcription, people are actually getting paid a little bit more, I believe. Add to that that every Revver is paid on Monday, no fail. It can be Christmas Day and pay still goes out. The only time a person doesn’t get paid for work they’ve done is if they get a score that deems the work totally unusable. Otherwise, it can be pretty bad and people still get paid. Rev has a metrics system from their grading to weed out people who are doing bad work consistently.
Anyway, TL:DR everything Rev does is logical from a business standpoint. The complainers usually have their own agenda or are not looking at it logically. Rev isn’t a means to get rich quick and the work is mentally taxing and stimulating. But one can sit in bed and caption in the jammies if they want to without having to commute or participate in any sort of office politics. $150 a week isn’t too difficult to make after the first couple of months unless one can’t control their own time management.
Wow, thank you Cheryl for reading and for your experience and insight. There’s a tremendous amount of valuable info here that’ll be helpful for anyone looking into Rev. Thanks again,
Jay
*be
I couldn’t have said it better than Denise! I spent about a month with Rev and was making right below $5 an hour and with extremely unfair “grading”. I had hoped that the low pay would be temporary and I could move up, but because this company is so unethical, I stopped working with them (of my own free will… I haven’t been fired yet). I’m glad I didn’t waste anymore of my time with them, and I hope people considering using Rev to transcribe for them will check into the ethics of this company before contributing to the horrible treatment they give to their highly skilled freelancers. It’s a shame they’re even still in business.
In all honesty, someone who is still learning Rev rules will probably make less than $5 an hour. A person just learning the system and making $5 and hour is probably not doing well on their grades. It’s not unfair grading, it’s lack of knowledge and ability on the part of the Revver. There are forums to go to where people will help you understand your grades and will help you if you ask questions BEFORE you submit your work. After a couple months with Rev, you can count on about $8 an hour pretty regularly. The ethics of Rev are exemplary. I’ve been working there for more than a year and most people with stories like yours haven’t found the forums. There’s a great support system and we help each other learn and improve. I’d suggest you go back to Rev and straight to the forums to let us help you bring your scores up. If you enjoy captioning or transcribing, it’s worth another shot because Rev is the real thing and the people there are willing to help.
You are so right. People who are considering using Rev really need to consider the company’s (lack of) ethics. Rev is a really low-class operation, and I don’t doubt that their treatment of contract workers will come back to haunt them.
My experiences with the support team were uniformly bad. They would not even respond to my inquiries in a polite tone.
Easily *the worst* company I’ve ever worked for. It’s definitely a scam for transcriptionists.
Can anyone explain the legality and legitimacy of this company?
It pays their employees via PayPal. Yet, no taxes are removed. Additionally, they do not provide any T4’s (CAD) or any other tax receipts (US)
Is this not illegal? How does a company of this magnitude seem to go unnoticed by government officials?
If you get accepted by them, you don’t become an employee. You’re treated as an independent contractor and thus you’re required to set aside and pay the taxes yourself. For tax purposes, it counts as self-employment income.
“You’re treated as an independent contractor and thus you’re required to set aside and pay the taxes yourself.”
That ignores the point that Rev UNLIKE EVERY OTHER COMPANY IN THE UNITED STATES does not provide you with a 1099-MISC form required by law if you make $600 or more. I once worked there when the pay and policies were better and made far more than $600 a year, but never once received that 1099 from them. I agree with the other poster. How is that legal?
As far as a scam in the traditional sense, no not a scam in that they scam you out of money directly, BUT for certain the pay is unethically low. The author claims a 3:1 turnaround makes it worthwhile ignoring the fact that 3:1 is only under ideal circumstances: good audio, 1 to 2 speakers without a lot of crosstalk, no research required for terms or names, etc. MOST of Rev’s jobs are abysmal audio that falls far short of the ideal. 3:1 becomes more like 6:1 on average for most of the work there. Do THAT math and see if 45 cents per audio minute is worth it. That’s $27 per audio hour, six hours of YOUR time translating to $4.50 per hour wages. NOT WORTH IT.
The other problem besides the pathetical, sub-market pay is the policies. They will fire you in the middle of a job if any of your metrics slip below an arbitrary threshold. They simply lock you out of the site–even if you’re in the middle or near the end of a job.
If you happen to miss few lines of text due to a technical glitch and that is discovered, you get 1/1’s for an incomplete job, Not only does that tank your metrics (putting you at risk of the aforementioned scenario) but your pay is REVOKED. Let’s say you do a 90 minute audio. You miss the last few sentences as people are walking out the door. You get a 1/1 for an incomplete project.and your pay is taken away. It’s not prorated for the 89 1/2 minutes you *did* transcribe. At any other company, the worst that would happen is they’d return it to you and ask you to finish the last few sentences–assuming it was relevant.
If you are as much as one hour past an already tight deadline (Rev gives you hours to transcribe audio whereas most companies gives you *days*) that job is taken from you forcibly. You are locked out of that particular project no matter how close you are to finishing. Again, transcribe 89 1/2 minutes of a 90-minute file and if you run over the deadline by an hour, your job is taken and you get paid NOTHING for those 89 1/2 minutes. If people are calling Rev a scam, perhaps that happened to them.
Bottom line: not a scam, but also not worth it. Not worth the pay. Not worth the B.S. policies you have to deal with. A true cyber sweatshop if I ever saw one.
So much bitterness.
If you want records for taxes, contact PayPal and you can get your records. You’re an independent contractor and need to act as one: be responsible with your own records.
As to unethically low pay, I make about $10-12 an hour regularly. That’s captioning. On the transcription side, it’s higher. I don’t have to commute, buy a work uniform, deal with unreasonable customers or coworkers, or anything like that. Also, due to circumstances, I couldn’t get a job outside my home. Rev provides me with some income that I otherwise would not have.
If you are not meeting Rev’s very generous requirements, why not fire you as soon as they become aware of it? Why in the world would they continue to pay you once your lack of ability is determined? So, you’re in the middle of a job? You should have known what your metrics are and if something was being graded and how you’d done on the work. It’s up to you to keep your scores up and do good work. It’s not Rev’s fault that you couldn’t do the job. And to allow you to continue doing a bad job is unresponsible to the customer.
In a file where you haven’t adequately put in all the words, who’s to know if it’s in one spot or done regularly throughout the project? Someone is going to have to go through the entire thing to make sure it was all adequately recorded. Why pay someone when their work is so bad that not everything was recorded and the entire file has to be redone by someone else? And why give a person a 2nd try when they obviously didn’t care enough to do the 1st time completely? Why continue to trust a person who clearly didn’t do the job carefully.
Time guidelines are generous, even to brand new Rookies. Poor time management on your part doesn’t mean Rev can simply say to the customer “Sorry, you’ve got to wait beyond your promised time. Just rearrange the nationally televised schedule or move the trial back or hold off on that surgery while our Revver takes a nap or goes to work at another job.” Rev promises people they’ll have their work at a certain time. Customers rely on that. If a Revver can’t do the job on time, then someone will need to do it.
I love working for Rev. Perhaps you just weren’t cut out for this work. It’s good that you are able to accept that and move on to something more copacetic to your strengths.
To be fair, with the amount of time they give you to do a project that’s an hour 90 minutes long in, if you go over the time allotted you probably shouldn’t be doing the work, anyway…I mean, last I checked it was 18 – 24 hours for a project that’s as long as an hour and change.
I looked into the taxes thing myself because I wasn’t sure how to do it as well, and if you make a certain amount during the year, you get the form from PayPal, not Rev. I just keep track of the transaction ID and amount I earn from PayPal and take it with me when I get my taxes done so that I have proof of it in a neat little spreadsheet. Failing that, just take pictures of them to show if you’re not comfortable with that method. H&R Block didn’t have a problem with the spreadsheet method since it had all the information down (including date of payment, amount earned that week, the amount of minutes transcribed as further proof, and transaction ID number from PayPal).
Rev gives you the chance to improve and show you can follow the guide and do what you’re told in the outline of the work instead of just automatically firing you when they see you’re not up to standard, because that’s how it’s fair to operate. If they just fire you on the first one or two offenses, then people would complain they’re too strict (and in that case they WOULD be.)
If you submit late your are late. Plain and simple. 5min or 2days late it is exactly the same.
If you did not finish the transcript until the end… It is not done.
Do your job then you won’t have troubles!!!
Because the transcriber is an independent contractor and responsible for their own taxes.
I worked for Rev for years. I did both transcriptioning and captioning. I had worked for a professional transcription service with high standards before working for Rev, and had done quite well. I type very fast and very accurately. I have good hearing. With my former employer, I transcribed documents from high-profile clients and never had a single complaint. As a matter of fact, one well-known entertainer paid me a bonus for my work. I left that position over a dispute regarding pay, not my quality.
From the start, I was appalled by the low pay that Rev asked, and the really terrible quality of most of their transcription files. I worked for a year transcribing but struggled to make anything close to $6.00 per hour, and became quite frustrated. I was also going through some health issues that year, but these issues did not affect my hearing at all – only my ability to sit at a desk for very long.
I was consistently given poor scores for work that was excellent – I’m a stickler for spelling and punctuation, and I graders would change words I had spelled correctly for incorrectly spelled words, then I would get dinged by the client for poor work! Quality control is simply “Revvers” who have been with Rev for a while and want to make a little more than they do just transcribing. There doesn’t seem to be a merit system for moving people up into these positions, just whomever can pass the test after they’ve been there for a while. I was even offered a QC position and refused it.
The only reason I stayed was because at that time, Rev only hired workers from the US and Canada, and there was lots of work. Also, at that time, Rev would pay up to $1.00 a minute for poor quality files when they sat for more than a few hours, making it worth your while sometimes to struggle through them.
Then things changed. Rev opened up their work to overseas contractors from non-English-speaking countries. Pay dropped on files significantly. Quality control became much poorer, if that can be believed.
About this time, I moved from Transcription to Captioning, because the files were much easier to process. I enjoyed captioning a great deal and began making more money. My scores were consistently high. I received rave reviews from clients.
Then one day, I received a message that I had failed a quality check on one item, dropping my score below a perfect five. The next email, sent literally a minute later, said I was no longer a contractor with Rev.
I sent them an email back. I disputed the quality ding, using their own “bible” of rules for captioning. I received a form email stating that their policy was set in stone and my dismissal was final.
I called Rev. Could NOT get anyone on the phone at all. That’s when I started the research.
It seems you haven’t checked with the Better Business Bureau of their area. They are VERY poorly rated, by their clients. Then I checked Yelp. The CEO of the company had actually gone on Yelp and RATED HIS OWN COMPANY AS A CLIENT. Big No-No! I reported him to Yelp, and his review was removed. Check the rest of the reviews there.
Then I checked with other websites. I found website after website where workers like me, who had been with them for a long time, were being dropped for tiny minor infractions, or in some cases, no infraction at all! They provided screen shots and other evidence to support their claims. It became apparent that Rev was getting rid of their high-production, high-quality, and as a result high-paid workers in favor of lower quality workers from foreign countries who could be used for a short period of time then discarded.
I understand a business wanting to make a profit, but Rev’s ratings from clients show that they are doing it at the expense of their business reputation. I don’t know why anyone would use them. They’ve also had very substantial problems with sharing of client product and private information by their workers, who are NOT subject to any kind of security check. In one case, I remember working on a file where a client had recorded a meeting between themselves and their accountant. Very sensitive information was exchanged in this file, and not only did *I* have access to this information, anyone else who worked for Rev also had access to it before the file was claimed, and could have downloaded the recorded file and kept it without Rev being aware that they had done so. Luckily I”m a good person that would never take advantage of something like that, but not everyone is.
All in all, Rev may not be a “scam”, but they are not a reputable firm and I would highly recommend that anyone looking to work in transcription or captioning look elsewhere. There ARE reputable firms out there, who are looking for quality workers and willing to pay them real-world wages to do the work. Professional transcriptionists make far more than the pittance Rev is willing to pay their workers.
Just my two cents.
Hi Denise, wow… you have quite a bit of experience with Rev. Thank you for sharing. It’s helpful for other who are doing their research and trying to find a way to earn an income from home. I really appreciate taking the time to share your insight.
Kindest Regards,
Jay
Hi Denise,
It would fantastic to someone almost set to give Rev a try to get a list of some of these other companies that are better employers. I’m a proof-reader for people in Europe submitting English papers to UK universities, so I am hopeful that I can work for a company that will at least recognise the quality of my work when they see it.
“I was consistently given poor scores for work that was excellent – I’m a stickler for spelling and punctuation, and I graders would change words I had spelled correctly for incorrectly spelled words, then I would get dinged by the client for poor work!”
Graders do not have the ability to change ANYTHING in the transcription or the caption file. All they do is note the errors that were present in the file that the AGENT submitted. If you don’t make errors, there is nothing for them to note.
I also had consistently excellent scores, all 5/5, even as a rookie. I always received excellent feedback. Then one day I got a particularly tough file and received a 3/5 score due to some inaudibles that I nor other revvers could decipher. This lowered my metrics, of course, but I was still in good standing so I wasn’t worried too much.
I continued working as usual, got another tough file, received another 3/5. Again, my metrics dropped a bit, but I was still okay according to Rev standards. Received a warning email that I dropped below standards. I did not understand why so I emailed and included a screenshot which indicated my metrics were still above standard. The next day I received an email stating my account had been closed.
I never receive an answer to my question about my metrics, but instead just got dropped completely because I questioned things. I sent a total of three emails, none of which have ever been answered.
Yes, Rev is a total scam. Good chance they paid Gig Hustlers to write this review for them. I had perfect scores, 5/5. I only had one 3/5 in my very first day with Rev. They still failed me giving me a 4.45 out of a 4.50 target to “graduate” their training period… I did the math and I definitely should have been scored above target in every aspect. They simply delete your account with no prior warning and don’t pay you what you’ve earned that week. Their goal is to make us work on their hardest jobs for the least amount of pay possible and never really “upgrade” to a Revver because that means they lose money for paying us more. They just recycle us. After they fail everyone, they get new suckers in to do the dirty work all over again.
Hi Jenna, thank you for sharing your insight. I’m sorry to hear about your negative experience with Rev.com. I can assure you though… Gig Hustlers has no affiliation with Rev.com, nor do we get paid by them. Our goal is to provide a balanced review as well as a place for people to share their experiences and opinions.
Again, thank you for taking the time to share yours,
Jay
Which reputable firms would you recommend to work with, as a transcriber?