Ask Sunday Tasks? They just want to take my money and not work for me.

[dking]

I'm really starting to question the value and ethics of the AskSunday service; I did well with them for the first few (free due to a promotion) tasks, but then once I started paying a monthly fee it was suddenly all about the pimping of the $15/hour service they also offer. If I can get a task done, its only after I reply back with a stern "that's not what I wanted, here is where you f*ckedn up" type of reply.

I'm getting annoyed by there inability to do my tasks correctly, if they even offer to do so. Additionally,I'm noticing extra charges against my account that should not exist, anf the fact that I cant complain without using up a task and having to pay for it really gets on my nerves.

So I ask you: What do you use this service (Ask Sunday) for?
Do you use a template or anything when you communicate with them?
Have any tips for dealing with them?
Do you find AskSunday to be worth the expense?

[JFrenzel]

Dking,

I had the same bad luck like a week ago. I am calling VISA and doing a charge back for last month's charges. Plus, did you notice that they raised the prices? By like 25%, looks like they are riding the economic recession train. I think they are starting to get watered down. I noticed that they wanted to charge me extra and so now I am like no way!!!! I think its ok but not that great in the end. I would stick with Elance.


Best

Jose

[AntonTheKhan]

Well, did you think that you were the only one who read The Four Hour Work Week?
Obviously they read it too. They show less productivity when paid the lesser charge and will show more productivity when you pay them $15/hr. They are using Tim's advice and spinning it right out on you.


I'm really starting to question the value and ethics of the AskSunday service; I did well with them for the first few (free due to a promotion) tasks, but then once I started paying a monthly fee it was suddenly all about the pimping of the $15/hour service they also offer. If I can get a task done, its only after I reply back with a stern "that's not what I wanted, here is where you f*ckedn up" type of reply.

I'm getting annoyed by there inability to do my tasks correctly, if they even offer to do so. Additionally,I'm noticing extra charges against my account that should not exist, anf the fact that I cant complain without using up a task and having to pay for it really gets on my nerves.

So I ask you: What do you use this service (Ask Sunday) for?
Do you use a template or anything when you communicate with them?
Have any tips for dealing with them?
Do you find AskSunday to be worth the expense?

[dking]

The problem I have with that is that they sold me a service they are now refusing to give me, while they charge me more and deny my attempts to get things done. That's a false advertising, and its unethical to lie anyway; Even Tim's book says not to be unethical.

[dking]

Ok just got off the phone with a "Brian Paul" of AskSunday. He admitted at my prodding that the name was a fake alias "chosen for him by the company", and told me he was a manager, only to later tell me he would give my feedback to the managers.. lying multiple times. His accent however could not lie, and he admitted to being in India when I asked, and explained when I asked that everybody who does AskSunday tasks are really in a call center india, not New York as the site claims. When I pointed this out he got really silent and then tried to make excuses.

I have an issue with this. Not because they are in india - hey its how it is - but because the Ask Sunday service states on the website that they are in New York and markets themselves as American.. so basically they lie to everybody, and make people think tasks are being done by americans in new york when in reality its all done in india and the people have not a clue. I don't like companies that have so little respect for their customer base they are willing to lie to them; But then again I am a strange one.

It does explain my difficulties however; I was at fault for giving out tasks as if I was dealing with snobby but bright yet poor new york American undergrads. I should have treated them like ignorant children with a second hand concept of America and a secondary grasp of the English language from a mainly British context; once I started doing that on the phone with the "Brian Paul" he became much more useful. Sigh. So Remember this the next time you give AskSunday a task.

Just thought you would want to know..

[ChiTowner]

I was at fault for giving out tasks as if I was dealing with snobby but bright yet poor new york American undergrads. I should have treated them like ignorant children with a second hand concept of America and a secondary grasp of the English language from a mainly British context; once I started doing that on the phone with the "Brian Paul" he became much more useful. Sigh. So Remember this the next time you give AskSunday a task.

What about thinking of them and dealing with them as individuals? Don't assume that people from either continent will understand you if your instructions are not clear, specific and free of cultural terminology.

Exchanging one erroneous stereotype for another won't necessarily increase you chances of success

Debbie

[dking]

I was being overly general and trying to make a joke to show the difference between the two groups; Perhaps that was ill advised but as you can see the fact is they promote the staff as being from one group and allow the people giving out tasks to make these assumptions, when in reality it just starts trouble.

[brettod]

Believe it or not, I really only use Ask Sunday to check me in "exactly 24 hours ahead of time" to my flights on Southwest. There were some online companies that do it, but they're not around anymore... and I've been recently taking a few flights a week so boarding 20th vs. 120th is definitely an issue for me. (keep in mind that when I'm available to do so, I usually sit on their site with my finger on the trigger looking at the clock to ensure I'm in within seconds)

Well, when I first started with the service they were pretty good... for this task they'd usually be within a few minutes, but lately they've been doing it 4 to 8 hours later! Besides that, they've repeatedly blamed different aspects of the system on me... sometimes understandably,(changed flight) sometimes amazingly unprofessionally. Examples: 1. We are based in New York so we didn't know what time zone Chicago was in. 2. Telling me that, for example, flight number 1143 left at 11:43 AM. 3. Multiple lies about how the Southwest.com website was down for 4-6 hours at a time supposedly at the same moment they were going to it. (you'd think that one of my fellow passengers or a crew member would be able to verify this wouldn't you? I'd think it'd be on freaking CNN!)

I've noticed that they've stopped printing the time/date stamp on the PDF's of the boarding information that they send me... probably because I've mentioned to them before that I doubted that they really checked me in, then left the window sitting open for 6 hours before printing it... much better chance that they just forgot to check me in. Especially because if I checked in my wife 6.5 hours later, (after I got their email confirming the checkin) she'd often be only 1 or 2 behind me in line!


Long story short, this is supposed to be the EXACT type of thing that their service was designed for... sub-20 minute tasks that need to be taken care of at a certain time that are easy to do over the internet with little to no English skills.

I think I'm still only being charged $30 for 30 tasks, but I better double check that to make sure that I didn't "misunderstand" their false advertising.

Believe it or not, I actually talked to some of the "big wigs" over there... a young American who I'd believe was actually sitting in New York. I was asking him about White Label opportunities (back when I was happy). He admitted at the time that their whole business model was built upon the idea that most people will only use 1 or 2 tasks a month of their plan, and those tasks are usually only a few minutes a piece... I wonder if they just started pressuring their agents to annoy the hell out of their customers to keep it at that level.

[dking]

I'm tempted to attempt to call up the owners; I just attempted to have a task done and am getting no response after several hours.

If any of you have any data on them, please PM it to me.

[KimSR]

I share the disappointment of many of the posters on this thread.

Only two days ago, I signed up for AskSunday. That was based primarily on two things: Tim Ferriss' endorsement; and the fact that they were supposedly set up to support Australians.

Wow, did it ever go pear-shaped fast!

I had a time-critical task that I sent through as soon as my account started. I was expecting to "immediately called by a manager who will welcome you to the service and work with you to select the right assistant to meet your project needs". (Straight from their site.)

That didn't happen. I got no call from a manager. I did get a call 24 hours later from "Wendy Davis" who informed me that she was my new assistant and would be working on my first project. I told her she wasn't my new assistant, as I had not been called by a manager to discuss my needs. In fact, I still haven't been.

Ticked off about the slack timeframe, no call from a manager, and the fact that I had been arbitrarily assigned to someone, I tried to get hold of a manager. Guess what? Their Sydney number has been disconnected, so I can't contact them by phone unless I call America. So I did, but I ended up with Michael's voicemail, that hangs up on people before they have a chance to leave a message.

I finally got through by pretending I was on their other service - the 24/7 one - and was informed that there were no managers on duty. The managers work US East Coast time only, so if I wanted to speak with one, I would have to do it in the middle of my night.

At that point, I decided to cut my losses. Two days after signing up, I am demanding my money back. Of course, I can't demand it until the middle of the night, because the people on duty during Australian business hours have no clout.

As I got more cheesed off through this process, I did some web searching and found an awful lot of people have gone through similar experiences. I wish I had done that beforehand, and usually would have, but I did trust the Tim Ferriss seal of approval.

I note that the complaints have been very consistent for over two years. Don't be fooled into thinking they must have got their act together by now, because I can assure you, they haven't.

AskSunday are unprofessional and they totally misrepresent themselves. Their whole spiel is just a flat out lie. It was an awful experience and I suggest anyone considering AskSunday run a mile in the opposite direction.

[rocket4556]

god. Listen to you all. Especially you dking..

"nf the fact that I cant complain without using up a task and having to pay for it really gets on my nerves"

Maybe look at what youre asking at this point eh?

next one from you:

"I have an issue with this. Not because they are in india - hey its how it is"

- what on earth is that meant to mean? 'it is how it is'???? maybe you'd better explain yourself. If you bother to read the smallprint it clearly explains that the head office is in NYC and the tasks are outsourced to an office in Hyderabad, India.

next one:

"I should have treated them like ignorant children with a second hand concept of America and a secondary grasp of the English language from a mainly British context; once I started doing that on the phone with the "Brian Paul" he became much more useful. Sigh. So Remember this the next time you give AskSunday a task"

-god, just plainly rude and massively disrespectful and you are obviously very very narrowminded...

Listen up everybody. The 24/7 service gives you 45 tasks in 90 days for $90. I cannot believe all the whingeing and moaning.. Do the maths. That's cents per task. You ain't gonna get this sort of value for money anywhere. I'm english and live in London and have found the service fantastic. So far they've
-booked me meet and greet car parking on the same day
-cancelled my tollfree account, patching me into the call when needed
-successfully performed indepth web based research on a varitey of subjects and delivered them promptly

and lots more tasks. They speak perfect english. In this case you get much more that what you pay for. You all are moaning about the nitty gritty..fussing over cents and bad mouthing what is essentially a great service.

If you want an american PA, on your timezone, who can order your dunkin donuts then go and get one. You'll have to pay for it.

[dking]

While I admit to being angry and saying a bit much in anger, "great service" is relative. Clearly, many people are unhappy with it and the increased cost.

I said "hey that is how it is" because from my perspective - the perspective of an upper/middle class software engineer - the topic of ANYTHING India related is a hot-button issue and the natural - and wrong - assumption is that I would be against them due to them being Indian, and that is just not the case. I was merely expressing the fact that I did not care it was India, it would mean the same to me is if was AU, EU, or even USA based. A company should take care of its customers, because its good for business.

When any company makes a claim of ability and intent to provide a stated service, that bounds them into doing that service, especially if the customer has already paid for it. No pissing, moaning, changing the topic, trying to get offended so the topic can be changed, having their employees look for bad feedback on them to disputes them, etc, will change that. When that company fails to provide the service the customer is paying for, that is both bad for business can get the company in legal trouble.

As useful as it may be for some, the fact is once my experience has been that as soon as you start paying for service they treat you differently and push back on tasks, if they even respond to requests at all. In my experience they pushed back on tasks - trying to get me to hire entire teams to do a simple 30 hard task - all the time. Others, they simply did not do what I asked them to do.

I admit however that I just restarted my account with their service today; But I'm not doing it to use the service as much as test it and this time start collecting all the proof I need to to be able to publicly show that they do not do the tasks assigned to them and are thus not worth the money. A sort of secret shopper arrangement.

Already I have one documented support phone call (its all on my cell so records are easy for me to get), and I have documented the fact that they have not had a "manager" contact me as they stated they would, effectively starting the paper trail that proves that they do not do what you pay them for.

I think if more people went this route, less VA companies would act unethically. I should have done this before, since the worse thing that can happen to me is that they treat me really well because one of their people reads this. If they cancel my account, oh well, I have been making friends who know people in India and will be comparing this service to that connection anyway.

If it turns out that they now do their job and they have cleaned up their act, I have no problem singing their praises, actively telling people to sign up, etc. But based on my experience in the last few hours, I'm not exactly happy.

[dking]

Just an update.. I sent asksunday 2 simple tasks to do yesterday and they still do not show up on their portal, and the work still has not been done.

They dont seem to do any work at all, although the gleefully charged my credit card for what they tell my bank is "services rendered". Dispute. Does anybody know of a service that is reliable? I gave them their chance and the service is even worse than it was before.

[charliedavis]

A few months back I posted a mention about my VA Karen http://firstclassofficeassistance.com (http://www.firstclassofficeassistance.com) she did absolute loads of work for me at £10 / hour (if you bulk buy) including handling inbound phone calls, managing emails, writing emails back to clients, scheduling appointments, basic SEO tasks and all sorts really.

I now have a permanent admin based in my office or else would still be using Karen.

[infospray]

I haven't been using AskSunday so I cannot comment on their service, but after reading the 4HWW back in the beginning of 2008 I set out to find a VA company I could use.

Most of the companies mentioned in the first edition had huge success (probably because Tim's book was such a huge success). So I set out to find another company that was cheap, smaller and where my money would mean more to them.

I have been using the company I found ever since (although I now have a couple of Philippines working for me full time), and have no problem endorsing them.

http://vmgbpo.com/

They cost 6$ per hour with no BS.

[KurtPenny]

Hey guys,

Thanks for sharing this. I too was a "victim" of Ask Sunday. I'm all for business and understand they have to pay their bills, but the service is inconsistent and I've been billed with several overages time and time again.

I tried iHabilis as well but again, I face issues with people like "Brian Paul" who is probably a 15 year old behind a computer somewhere in Malaysia or India. God forbid I give them my private details.

A good friend of mine uses a service called Red Butler. They are American based and handle a bunch of my tasks. They are cheaper than Ask Sunday and have a VIP membership card that gets me and my wife discounts at hotels and restaurants. Only disadvantage is they don't do heavy excel, powerpoint or any major document editing. On a day to day basis though for making calls and managing my calendar, they are amazing and I've been a member since 2009. No problems with Red Butler so far!

Good luck!

[KurtPenny]

Here's their link: http://www.RedButler.com

[DaveCraige.com]

AskSunday gets a B- / C grade from me as well.

They only do $99 a month and up plans now.

[adam.sn]

Dking;

I feel for you. This is going to come off as very negative and rude... but I know exactly what you're talking about. Every worker I've hired from India has had attitude and "truth" issues to the point where I refuse to hire from there anymore.

That's just inexcusable that they lie on their website like that re: NY.

I'd recommend heading over to craigslist Philippines and posting a job app there.

I've always been very impressed with the work ethic of people from the Philippines! And their english is almost always excellent.

Cheers
- Adam



Ok just got off the phone with a "Brian Paul" of AskSunday. He admitted at my prodding that the name was a fake alias "chosen for him by the company", and told me he was a manager, only to later tell me he would give my feedback to the managers.. lying multiple times. His accent however could not lie, and he admitted to being in India when I asked, and explained when I asked that everybody who does AskSunday tasks are really in a call center india, not New York as the site claims. When I pointed this out he got really silent and then tried to make excuses.

I have an issue with this. Not because they are in india - hey its how it is - but because the Ask Sunday service states on the website that they are in New York and markets themselves as American.. so basically they lie to everybody, and make people think tasks are being done by americans in new york when in reality its all done in india and the people have not a clue. I don't like companies that have so little respect for their customer base they are willing to lie to them; But then again I am a strange one.

It does explain my difficulties however; I was at fault for giving out tasks as if I was dealing with snobby but bright yet poor new york American undergrads. I should have treated them like ignorant children with a second hand concept of America and a secondary grasp of the English language from a mainly British context; once I started doing that on the phone with the "Brian Paul" he became much more useful. Sigh. So Remember this the next time you give AskSunday a task.

Just thought you would want to know..

[Bishop81]

I have to second Adam's recommendation of hiring a Filipino!

[RossLeRenard]

Are there any Philpino agencies that you'd recommend?

I am seriously short on time at the moment and it's bogging down my muse development.

[Bishop81]

I used onlinejobs.ph, personally, but there's no reason you can't post a free Craigslist ad, as Adam recommends.