I first hired this company to edit a book I had written. I found her on Fiverr.com. But then moved to her website where I signed up for her service and paid $139 I believe.
When she sent me the first draft, the files were corrupted. I could not view them. Then once I got a file I could view, it had too many unnecessary markings that I could not find the real edits.
I had her go over one more time and she agreed. I sent the book to a marketing company and they rejected the book because it had too many typos and errors. When I brought this to her attention, she denied the errors and claimed I was using a separate version, other than the final one. She was wrong. Yet, even if that were true, the version she pointed as the final one, STILL HAD TOO MANY ERRORS TO COUNT; starting with the very first sentence of the book!
I asked for a refund. She refused. I put in dispute with lovely Papal, which denied the claim as they don't give refunds on products that are "virtual." So basically, Papal screws you if you buy anything online.
I had to hire another editor who did a fantastic job. Currently disputing charges with my credit card company.
Stay away from this editor as she does not have the skills to edit and will not stand by her product; refusing refunds for unsatisfied customers. She must have so many unsatisfied customers that if she gave all the refunds that were requested, wouldn't make any money.
#2Author of original report
Mon, July 06, 2015
I did not threaten to get authorites involved. That is an outright falsefacation. I did in fact, say I would post on writer forums so that others would know of my experience. I have done that. The posts do not trash the business, just say I was unsatisfied with the service.
Most writers are strugging financially. So spending hundreds on editing is a big deal to us. We need to get what we paid for.
There are a lot of people calling themselves editors without the necessary skills. This service has the basics down, but misses the full range of editing skills to find and correct grammatical errors. This service would be good for people who need a resume to be proofed, but not a novel. Knowing the difference between "a" and "an" useage is important. I found a mistake on my back cover with that mistake, where she had proofed. Readers see this mistakes and label you as unprofessional. That is why I expected a higher level of proofing/copy editing from this company.
As far as Paypal, yes I lost the case. Why? Because they refuse refunds for anything "virtual." This did not qualify for a refund. So I have placed a dispute with my credit card companies.
The editor I hired after this service found so many mistakes it made my head spin. He also made some changes that were not requested. When I mentioned it, he immediatedly offered a refund. I said no, that I actually like the changes he made. But that is what you call customer service.
I received corrupted files that I couldn't read and poor proofing. Period. When this company refused my refund request, I posted here.
AKCE
Georgia,#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, July 06, 2015
I had no intention of responding further to this client, who already threatened to spread the message of my so-called ‘deceit’ across the internet and involve authorities over a sum of $140, but as this website shows up within the first few pages of results, I thought it my duty to my clients to respond.
1) Client received editing on time, complete, and as promised in Microsoft Word. Client attempted to import this document into Open Office, which understandably renders track changes in a different manner, though still readable.
2) "Too many unnecessary markings" were a result of the sheer number of changes needed to edit the book, and not excessive. Client may have found them difficult to read due to conversion to Open Office.
3) Client then 'gave up' on going over the errors in program, and decided to import and manually correct changes made within yet another program (not compatible with Word/Open Office). It came to my attention later that she had not in fact imported the corrected document, but rather the unedited one, and thus many changes were left out/ignored altogether.
4) Client sent me a new file (the one with reduced changes from the incorrect import) and I did a brief correction of general spelling/grammar issues, as promised. However, as she was using the wrong document, many of the more substantial changes made previously were still left out.
5) Client sent unedited file (as proven to her by comparison screenshots, which were then ignored) to marketing website, who understandably found issues, as what they received was in fact the unedited document.
6) I refused to issue a refund to client because all editing was delivered to her as promised and on time. What she did with these edits after delivery, and the fact that she imported them incorrectly and used the wrong file, is not covered under the services I promised to provide. I offered to do more work for her to correct the issues, and she did not respond.
7) Client filed a dispute with Paypal, the immediately escalated it to a 'Claim'. General protocol with Paypal disputes is to allow time (up to 2 weeks) for seller and buyer to discuss and come to an agreement. Client instead refused further communication and lost Paypal claim.
To date, with a history of over 400 unique clients, I have had no other complaints about my services. Most of my customers return to me for additional projects and all leave good reviews (http://www.akclarkediting.com/testimonials.html) (https://www.fiverr.com/ashleykc9). I sincerely regret a solution could not be reached with this client, but she proved unwilling to listen to suggestions to rectify issues out of the realm of my control.