I'd seen an ad on the job board several months ago for a company called Sierra....

not sure of the full name, but something like Sierra Legal Transcription, perhaps. Maybe you could still locate it on the archives on the job board. 

• Does anyone know of any legal transcription forums - Thanks in advance!
  • I'd seen an ad on the job board several months ago for a company called Sierra.... - see message

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in 2007.  Shouldn't I be receiving a 1099 form from them for tax purposes?  I haven't yet and am wondering if I should contact them.  I paid my quarterlies.  I thought the law was they had until 1/31 to send it.

website at the link below to be added to the do not call list. 

It is our understanding that many MTs are being solicited at all hours of the day and night by this company.

Heads up warning! A company called DictaCall posted a classified ad
here yesterday claiming great cost savings. After researching the company, I have found that the company is overseas in India and is offering the identical rate structure as another US voice service.  There is absolutely no cost savings whatsoever and anyone using their voice system would be calling into a toll free number where the voice file would end up on a server in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. 

What does this mean to you, the transcription service?
1. HIPAA compliance is compromised.
2. Your client information is at risk. Offshore entities can come in try to undercut you and take your business.
3. In case of outage, you're stuck if you can't get in touch with technical support.

I could go on, but I think you can probably see the same big problems that I see.

I tried selling on ebay for years.  It was kind of a hassle.  Once I cleared the clutter out of my house, I had to find merchandise to sell.  There are a LOT of people out there claiming to be wholesalers, drop shippers or resellers who are nothing more than con artists.  I tried selling craft kits and books purchased direct from the manufacturers/publishers, but you just can't get a decent wholesale discount unless you buy in huge volume.  Plus, the prices on ebay were often cheaper than the wholesale price.  I used to go to yard sales late in the day and offer to buy their remaining stuff at a cheap rate.  I made OK money at that part of it with the collectibles and used books, but my house got cluttered up with other people's junk.  I also signed up for Avon and scented candles with the intent of selling online, but later I found out they had stinky rules about online selling.  Other people do it, but you can lose your account if they catch you.  And you have to sell a lot to make any decent money.  You're also competing with ex-reps who went out of business and are trying to liquidate their inventory.  Plus, I had nowhere to store everything.  It's a hassle finding shipping supplies, although you can order boxes and labels for free through USPS.gov and charge everyone for priority shipping.  Plan on driving to the post office nearly every day.  And keep good records on what you purchase and sell to figure your cost of goods sold for the IRS.

You might enjoy it.  Give it a try, but start out slowly.  Use as many templates as you can and prefigure shipping or you'll get a bunch of emails from people.

See all the answers under your question on the Company Board -- again, do not feel it is necessary and I am not along in this thinking.  The doctor is liable not us, we only transcribe what he says and he signs off on it.  Talk to someone else who works for Accuscribe and see that they say.  To me it is foolish.

You will have to do some research yourself and see what would be a good fit for you.  Try reading on the company board, do a search on whatever you want to know about.  There are way too many variables for simple answers to your questions.  (Besides, you are preaching to the choir, we all want the best)  Good luck.

Do you always answer a question with a question? 

I would like to respond to a post about new job listings on the company board.  Yes, it seems the same companies continually post want ads for MTs and yes it seems like these companies in question do indeed have revolving doors, but please do not blame the MTs or complain about them speaking their minds on the board. 

I left a very good MT job because of a paycheck that was returned for insufficient funds.  I say "good" because I loved the accounts and for the most part I was content until the pay incident.  It took me nearly a year to find what I had given up.  I applied for and accepted many jobs advertised here only to be very disappointed.  I asked questions up front before accepting and for the most part the companies lie to get you in the door. 

First company gave promises of working whenever I wanted.  Said there was always work.  That turned out to be nothing but "BS."  There was never any work unless I wanted to work overnight. 

I had two job offers at the same time soon after that and I accepted the one that promised 8 cents a line.  Well I never saw 8 cents a line.  Once again it was a sham.  First off they only allowed you to type a total of 9 reports a day until off hold.  You never get off hold (months) because no two QA people QA by the same standards.  They claimed to follow the Book of Style, yet faulted you for typing things as demonstrated in the Book of Style.  Once my paycheck was over a week late and I had contacted payroll 3 times and received no response.  Another time I was cheated out of pay (60+ lines) I informed payroll and they never responded nor did they ever pay me for it.  The final straws – one day I had called for work – by the way most times there wasn't any because the pool was dry, once again you gave a schedule as to when you wanted to work – yet work was rarely there – anyway there was a smart remark about still being on hold.  I have never been on hold more than 2 weeks with any other job in the past so it wasn't me.  I followed the Book of Style – seems like some QA people have never opened the book!  They only ever checked the ESL reports – horrible dictators by the way – what about all the other perfect ones?  I'm sorry but you can only do so much with bad dictators.  And when the company fails to pay on time I don't feel obligated to go that extra mile to leave zero blanks with and ESL doctor who makes my ears bleed!  Last but not least I received a paycheck without a signature.  Yep!  I reported it ASAP.  Big surprise no one in payroll that day.  They didn't overnight me a new signed check either.  I had to mail the check back and wait another week for it to be returned with a signature on it.  I left.  There was no advancing in h e double hockey sticks. 

There was another job that I tried while this mess was evolving.  I asked up front what type of platform they used because I dislike Emdat and Inscribe.  The person who hired me wouldn't say what it was but that I would love it.  Well, it was indeed Inscribe.  Also the contract stated I would be paid for spaces – I used my own counting software and discovered I was not being paid for spaces.  There was also a charge for typos in the demographics and according to my line counter the company didn't seem to be paying for the demographics as it was.  How can you fine someone for typing something incorrectly that she is not being paid for in the first place?  With this particular job I also asked up front "Would I have my own accounts?"  I was told yes.  Nope it was a typing pool. 

Moral of the story . . . if you don’t want MTs to complain about these jobs then please do not lie to them!  Pay them on time and treat them right.  I have found I cannot make money on a majority of the platforms out there.  MS Word is the only way to go for me.  I also thrive on my own accounts so please . . . when we ask if we will be assigned our own group of doctors again do not lie to us.  A typing pool is not what I consider to be my own account!

Thank you and good night.