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It's definitely a work quality issue.

Posted By: I can relate! on 2007-11-06
In Reply to: UGH! I have got to vent!! - All Nighter

I'm having a tough time myself. I had the ultimate in great MT jobs up until just recently. Seriously, my Expander stats were running about 70% per day. Now I'm doing maybe 20% on my expander stats because I have a new job where the dictators just ramble on endlessly and backtrack often. It's about $11 an hour and the schedule doesn't work for me either. After I pay taxes and equipment costs, I might as well be working at Burger King or Walmart. I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't make it on this low income. Maybe those sweet accounts only happen once in a lifetime, and my sweet account is gone to VR.


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Starting this day and age, I'd not make it..quality is a side issue..speed is what they want..14
nm
no work late...she raved about the quality of my work.....sm

I have emails raving about how good my work was.  The trouble came when I started asking questions about pay and complaining that she was sending me work when was convenient for her and not when I needed it.  She would stay up all night and then sleep a good part of the day.  I told her before I started that I wanted to work early mornings.  She said that was no problem whatsoever, BUT then I would see no work until 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  She would promise me work and send it to me and it would be the wrong voice files, so I had to delete and start over.  She was SO disorganized.  She said that she has 50 happy transcriptionists and complained that I wanted some samples.  I did not know how she wanted things formatted.  It was just a mess.  The day she "fired" me (I have never been fired before in my life), I had basically told her that morning if things didn't change I wasn't typing another character. 


Of course she had 50 happy transcriptionists.  Her work was being subcontracted by a lady in Atlanta.  She didn't have contact with these transcriptionists.  There was a middle man.  I told her I could guarantee the lady in Atlanta provided her transcriptionists with some sort of guidance or samples.  The hospital system had some sort of weird thing in place where some places needed soft returns and some hard returns and she told me you couldn't mess with that but I was unclear on exactly what went where. 


I don't think I will ever work for a small company again. 


Anyway, I have drafted a demand letter which I intend to send Monday.  Someone below asked for the name of the company, and I would rather not say until this all pans out.  I will definitely post the name of the company eventually.  I just don't want her to know what my plans are at the present time.  I don't know if taking her to court will do any good, but it is worth it to make her miserable.  It is a 2 hour drive for me, but I called and I can file via the U.S. mail.  So it is only one trip.


That is our issue here; I work in the MBR - sm
and he cannot sleep at night due to my typing. So he sleeps in my 1 daughter's room now and she sleeps in the MBR with me. I am in the process of setting up a second computer in our dining room, just need to get off my butt and load a few programs, load Expander dictionary, etc. Then will finally get everyone sleeping where they are supposed to. What is so funny about it is that he cannot sleep with my typing but has to sleep with a radio on or the TV on....makes absolutely no sense. So once I get this situated I will start working out in the dining room at night when everyone goes to bed, or at least until they (he) falls asleep, once he is asleep a bomb could go off and he won't wake up, just takes him a while to fall asleep though. But I will do what I gotta do to get things back to normal around here.
Are you a bad MT with lousy quality work?
My calls are answered immediately, i've been on the same account for years, i'm praised for my work, receive emails thanking me.  Maybe its YOU and not THEM?
Well, yes, but then the quality of the offshore work (sm)
would be worse than it is now, with not enough people to edit it, it would get way behind TAT, and eventually it will come back to us. 
I was better on hourly. Quality of work was better

There may be plenty of work, but that's not the issue. -sm
The issue is having to compete with low foreign wages & standards of living. In order to continue to afford to live in this country, especially some of the more expensive states. Granted, I have no problem with seeing people in other countries get ahead, but not at the expense of those of us in THIS country.
Poor quality is just that. It has nothing to do with work ethic.
Goodness.
I would think that our QA scores honestly reflect the quality of our work
and are not infuenced in any way by how we interpret the status you may or may not hold. Hopefully, you are not basing QA statistics on whether or not you like a certain MT's attitude about you.
Excellent sound quality and just leave me alone to work! nm
s
i would not babysit them. if their quality is that bad on resume, it would be on work ethics too.
;
Try to work w/o distractions, if the cost of day-care is an issue -sm
then you will have to learn to work when your kids are sleeping basically. That is what I did. It is hard and you do not sleep much...I generally worked at night until 2am and got up at 8am before they were old enough for preschool, and squeezed in work here and there during the day. The younger they are though the easier it is to work I think. But you can do it, but you better be determined if you want to do it that way. I still work at night but not that late anymore since I have 7 hours during the day to myself now. It's still very hard to work when they are home (5&7) but my DH watches them a lot and takes care of them when I do have to work and they are home, so good home support helps too. I have 2 jobs so must still work crazy hours but I do what needs to be done.
Ask the techs where you work. Probably software issue with their program. nm
s
It is a Transnet issue. The hospital I work for has the same problem. nm
nm
Now MT companies in India have control over the work produced. Quality is much
zz
Hahah!a! Funny typo: not quality 'scAre', quality 'scOre'. LMAO!...nm
nm
Winscribe is fine where I work. But if a mic is malfunctioning, sound quality is suboptimal.
cc
Work in a hospital and no one cares about quality, unless there is a malpractice law suit involved.

All anyone worries about is quantity.  The work is terrible and the only time anyone even acknowledges it is when a doctor is being sued.   When my son was operated on I had to marked his leg in permanent marker before surgery because left/right get mixed up so much.  You can tell reports that comes from India and my supervisor sits there and laughs with us.  Due to the "freeze" we haven't had raises in over 5 years.  


 


I think that depends on the quality. Do you honestly think there is good quality just throwing every
MT on any account like they are. I also think QA has been told to not waste a lot of time on blanks so I think the hospitals are getting a lot more blanks. I certainly have more when I get in a hospital I dont know and they talk 100 miles an hour.
I thought quality was a given. Speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. sm

I maintain 99% accuracy above on my reports.  However, the original question was regarding personal preference, and I have stated mine, and I respect your opinion as well.  :-)    I do think if I was working in an office or hospital setting, the setup you mentioned might be more profitable in the long run.  There are too many interruptions and such when you have other people running in and out, phones ringing, etc. 


I doubt that anyone but me really cares about the lines per hour it takes for me to do a report.  They just want an accurate report in a timely manner.  I take pride in my work, and would never just slop something out for the sake of the almighty buck.   And, as an added incentive, I work for 2 companies, and one of them has my name on each report.  I don't have a problem with it, but I did think it was a bit unusual at first.


Oh well ... I must confess that what I'd TRULY like is to be paid lots of money to just sit and play Battle Phlinx on Pogo all day long, but as of yet, no such luck.  


Is this a semantics issue or is it a you versus frustrated issue?
Which ever it is, if your feeling superior on a board makes your day go on ahead. I am sure frustrated knows what she is doing and now so does her boss. I am also sure that in the future frustrated with think twice about how she words every sentence perfectly so that you can perceive it correctly. After all, that is what she would rather be doing than kissing her little daughter. NOT.
Good for you frustrated, for handling it in a professional manner. For the other MTs on here who need to get a life, well, maybe they shouldn't bother since feeling superior here seems to suit well. JMHO.
It isn't a Smartype issue it is a Word issue
On the Word toolbar at the top, click on Tools, then Autocorrect, then check the box that says "capitalize first letter of sentence."  That will do it for you.
k, that is your opinion, i stated mine. poor quality in my opinion shows bad work ethics if they do
;
Quality is quality whether you are an MT or CEO.

How good is the quality of the performance of your managers or the guys at the top?   Anybody want to evaluate that?   Can they get their raises based on our evaluation of their quality?  


Let's see now.  Which CEOs were named in lawsuit?  F for quality.  How many managers do we need to give us stupid pep talks?   F for managers.  QA this post MQ and all other nationals who decide they reward us on "quality"   Look in the mirror and fix yourself.


what is your quality like?
.
Oh, the quality! Well now we know.
x
quality
I totally agree with you. There should be some kind of feedback on how you are doing. Not only for mistakes, but also if you are doing a really fine job. I know when am not real sure of something, or if I did do something wrong, I really do want to know. How else do you learn? I know too, that when someone notices a job well done and lets me know, it makes me want to strive for that "perfection", and it just plain feels good. I think the circumstance has become if nobody says anything, then it's ok, kind of leaves you in the dark. Just always remember, everything you type becomes a legal document. I'm sure you do a good job.
I can't believe the quality.
This year I had to subcontract out because I have too much work to handle, and frankly, I can't believe the appalling quality I am getting from transcriptionists with 10+ years of experience. To put it bluntly, it's shameful. I pay 11 cpl to my transcriptionists but after a year of searching, testing, and training, I have only found 2 that are actually worth it. My doctors are so easy. They are clear, they repeat everything, and there are no ESLs, but these people just don't read directions, don't proofread their work (when they clearly need to), and don't have even the basics of grammar down.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if doctors that have switched from an over-priced American company to an offshore firm didn't notice any difference in quality at all.

I know this isn't going to be a popular view but it is the truth, and I can tell you I was just as shocked to learn this as anybody.
98% quality
Hi peers,

Can someone describe me how to calculate 98% accuracy. Any description or link would be appreciated. Thx!
quality, etc.
Case in Point ~
with a union, we could at last demand to stop being treated like cattle and/or factory piece workers. What in the heck has happened to hourly salary!!??? How about straight salary? These records are, after all, LEGAL DOCUMENTS. When we are forced to type at the speed of sound instead of making the production of the highest quality possible documents our top priority, this demeans our profession.
UNION...UNION...UNION...UNION
better pay is better quality/less pay=less quality
nm
I just took one and know I did not do well, quality is not
an issue with me, but knowing I am timed my fingers just don't work.
should be quality - should have had an ESL MT do this for me
so sorry!
That's not the issue..
The Canada-American thing's not the issue here, but believe you me, if all I could earn in this profession was $18.00 an hour plus bennies, I'd get out of it in a heart beat.  We are worth much, much more than that!
Same issue!!!
Funny I was just thinking of posting. My company just changed systems. To what I have no clue, but they seem to think it is great. This new system has a lot of static. It is thier end and they admit it, but why not fix it. I have about had it. There is static and if you go past the static and back up "5000 times" it will finally play but it is nerve racking. There will also be blank sections where the tape will run for about a minute. Like they paused it. Absolutely no sound but tape is running. I just ignore those because they always pick up right where they left off. I try to catch most of it but don't hesitate to leave them a blank and let them figure it out!
VPN issue
Do you have a static IP address? If you have DSL Extreme, it's free, otherwise I think it's about $15. I had to get one to keep from losing my connection every little while (not connected to getting phone calls, though.)
Best regards!
It isn't always a pay issue. Most of you just want to
There IS a need for offshore for what you won't do.

Same with other jobs. NO one here wants to pick crops so we have Mexicans come do it.

Stop complaining.

Thanks, but that isn't my issue. nm
 
I have this issue....sm
When you are an independant contractor you just get what they can give you and that's it. I hired on full time when I hired in almost 2 years ago. I have yet to work a full 40 hour week. I am lucky to get half that. I actually have just started venturing out into side jobs that aren't MT. I am gonna see how that goes.
Actually a cut-and-dry issue ... sm

IF YOU HAVE UE TAXES TAKEN OUT OF YOUR PAY BY YOUR STATE, YOU'RE COVERED if you meet all of their other requirements.


Look on your pay stubs or W2 for the last 6 months (although not that sure about SE status).  Look at the part of ductions that your STATE takes out - it may not specifically mention deductions for UE, but if your state deducts state disability taxes, you're certain to be covered for UE as well. (For some reason, my own  check only showed NY State disability insurance taken out, so I had to verify with my payroll dept. that I was actually covered for UE).


Why is it only for SEs? If its really quality they want it should apply to

Quality is quality whether an employee or not.


QA is Quality Assurance, QC is
Quality Control, for what that is worth
Bad quality dictation
What in heavens name do you do after starting work with a company and the dictation is so lousy qualitywise with static and the voice fading in and out.  Is this normal? Left lines in every report.  ??? Help?
Can you tell us who this is with the bad sound quality? nm
s
The other will be cheaper but no quality
x
The quality of the dictators is SM

pretty bad overall--even the Americans.  I would say with most national services, the accounts are about 75% ESL (30% terrible ESL), 20% fast Americans who don't care and 5% really good gravy dictators.


This is for acute care dictation--large hospitals.  Another problem is there are so many dictators in 1 facility that you hardly ever get the same ones day after day.


I think in QA you are seeing the low quality of MTs, not dictators sm
If I were you (and I admit I did QA for awhile and hated it, for so many more mistakes than the blanks they had sent to QA for) I would go back to MT. There is lots of money to be made, especially when you become familiar with dictators and accounts. I wouldn't do QA for anything. $15 an hour for QA versus $35 an our for MT. Go back to MT.
quality vs wages

While I do agree that there is a vast majority of MTs who are of extremely poor quality, there also are very high-quality, well-seasoned MTs like myself who are tired of making the same wages we made 10-15 years ago.  If there is such a discrepancy in our work quality and ethics, these corporations (who, by the way, are not slacking at all in their 6-figure income pockets!!!!) should pay MTs based on quality and experience, not just experience alone. 


IS ANYONE OUT THERE BESIDES ME INTERESTED IN FORMING A NATIONAL MT UNION SO WE CAN GET BACK THE DIGNITY WE HAVE LOST?


I remain,


tired


sound quality

I'm totally with you!  I used a Lanier station for the first 15 years of my career and the sound quality was superb compared to the internet dictation.  One thing you might try, if you have not already, is to make sure your speakers have a tone dial.  Lots of these companies provide speakers that only have a volume dial or they want you to plug right in to the PC but there is no tone setting on the voice program.  Turning the tone to high helps un-muffle the sound.  Good luck!


 


Quanity/Quality
Yeh tell me about it!!! Produce more reports if you want more$$$ but don't make any mistakes or you don't get incentive. This way they get out of having to give raises or pay more money, putting the responsibility back on the MT. Its all our fault right? Its BS!
quantity vs quality
Hey y'all, it's a buyers market out there. There a tremedous demand for transcriptionists. Just move on. Things are going to continue to change quickly in transcription over the next few years. Everybody hates change, but try to embrace it for a while, it'll put you in the catbird seat.