Fixya's 6ya - I get the money, but my conscience needs the beer.
I'm a relatively new 6ya Expert. I didn't see a whole lot on Reddit about this service, so I figured I'd leave some feedback for anyone considering if this is the right fit. I have mostly good things to say about the way the service works, in theory. I signed up to be an Expert in some computing categories, upload my photo, they contact me, do some quick vetting to see why I think I'm an expert, and I'm in. People call with questions, 6ya connects them to an expert in their category, and the support begins. It's free for them if it's under a minute, and I get paid for longer calls. The app is decent, allowing you to turn on and off your availability. It could stand a few extra features, such as more granular scheduling of availability, but that's on me if I forget to turn it off. No big deal so far. The call-to-connect system isn't perfect, and I've lost some call acceptance ratings partially due to spotty cell phone reception, but it's not so bad that I can't deal with it. Every two weeks, I get paid for my total earnings minus a dollar fee.
My first call went great. I was able to help someone regain access to an old Google account, and they left a rave review. I feel a sense of value that I was missing from my day job at that time. Life was good, and I was someone's hero. A few more calls roll in, and I start getting a feel for the service. Most of the calls are to resolve some sort of account issue with third party sites. I suppose I was expecting more "How do I get my WiFi to connect" type of questions, but I can deal with that.
Here's the rub. I start getting more calls, and it's people calling 6ya to find out how to resolve problems with third-party companies who already have their own support departments - account resets are one thing, but when they start asking how to have charges reversed, I'm not in a position to do so. I can't even refund the 6ya call, much less your Hulu/app store/whatever fees. My regular job is IT, so I'm used to learning on the fly. One minute isn't very much time for the customer and I to determine if I'm going to be able to help them, so unless they're very succinct or hang up on me, they're going to get billed. So I usually try my best, do some Google Fu and see if I can determine the process for such things, although most of the time I don't have an account with whichever company they're having trouble with... and midway through the call, the caller gets a notification that 6ya has already withdrawn money from their account. The callers tend to be surprised by this. Sometimes they ask to speak with another Expert who can help them, but as an independent contractor, I have no support system to transfer the calls to. They can spin the wheel and try their luck with the next one that answers.
So it seems that the meat of 6ya's business is search engine optimization to funnel in people who were trying to contact the actual company that they're having issue with. I'm ordinarily a guy who likes to give good customer support, so it's frustrating when I keep getting calls for people trying to cancel one service, only to be subscribed to a new one. Then I start wondering about how many others don't realize they just subscribed to the service. I expect that it was all discussed in some fine print or link that they didn't click, but it seems like several of the pages are misleading. I checked the agreement, and it appears that most of their business is geared toward the monthly subscription model rather than pay-per-use.
So, if you're the type who doesn't mind not being able to solve every problem, and have a thick skin, this might be the side gig for you. As for me, I feel like I'm now part of the problem. Even for the customers I do help, I'm glad I was able to help your granddad sort things out with his email account, but hope he's aware of the bill he's going to get. Perhaps other support categories have a different culture, but this has been my experience so far.
If you're reading this as a potential 6ya customer, just be aware that this service is good for some general direction, but not as much for specific problem resolution. 6ya encourages Experts to give general outlines for resolving a problem rather than specific step-by-step instructions. Treat this more as a way to get in touch with someone in the field, rather than a perfect fit.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/comments/iag1jc/fixyas_6ya_i_get_the_money_but_my_conscience/
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