Is Arise a Legitimate Virtual Call Center or a Work at Home Scam?
Referring to this list of companies offering legitimate work at home jobs, reader "Arise Fan" asks:
The list is very detailed, however, I wonder why the pioneer in the virtual contact center industry, Arise Virtual Solutions, was omitted? As an Arise Certified Professional, I have contracted with some of the world's BIGGEST businesses to provide customer service and sales support. I have applied with and worked for some of the others listed, however, when it comes to pay, hour selection and client diversity, Arise is the standout. Thank you.
The omission was not accidental. I purposely left Arise off that list as well as this list of virtual call center jobs. I would not go as far to call Arise an out-and-out work at home scam because its sole purpose is not to defraud people like these typical scams. However, Arise pushes business costs that are usually absorbed by the company on to its workers, making it a riskier business proposition for agents than most virtual call center jobs.
The way Arise works is quite different from the way most virtual call centers work. Arise call center agents must pay initial start up fees and then for training for each client. These client training costs can range from $50-$225 and lasts from two days to several weeks. Call center agents must also incorporate themselves as a business, which means set up costs and ongoing taxes and fees that vary from state to state.
Arise has it backwards: Most companies pay their workers during training; workers don't pay the company. Yes, people do pay for their own educations, but an education will serve you your whole life. This training is for a specific client of Arise, so if you don't work for Arise, the training is useless. This outlay of time and money (at minimum $200 to get started), is a risk for the call center agent, who will have to recoup the cost before realizing any profit.
Arise positions its policy as creating small business owners. And, of course, there is risk in owning a business. But there is simply no reason to take on this risk when there are plenty of other virtual call center companies (and other work at home jobs) that do not put such a burden on their agents.
Not sure it’s fair to say Arise has it “backwards” or it pushes the burden.
Arise has thousand upon thousand of agents, many who are my friends. We are all independent contractors that service many of the Fortune 500. We are providing food for our families, while enjoying the ability to schedule our own hours and work out of our homes. We selected Arise because many of the other “at home” companies do not provide these benefits.
While I agree that Arise is not a scam, my experience included a few negatives that led to my decision to NOT continue working with them.
One of the most significant flaws was the downtime that occurred when the telephone software/system controlled by Arise was down. Agents who were obligated to show ‘available’ were not compensated for our time although it was through no fault on our end that the lines were not working. If we chose to go off line and not show that we were available, we were penalized on our KPI; if we stayed though our shift, we were NOT compensated despite fulfilling our obligation. I lost a lot of income due to this. Arise would NOT pay unless it was considered a global incident (which only happened one time in the 5 months I was with them).
The item that put me off permanantly was when I became ill with severe brochitis that had me out of commission for 2 weeks. I was taken to the ER on one of my scheduled days and had no way to contact Arise. Upon my return the next day after being kept overnight, I e-mailed Arise.
They do not accept absence for any reason and said it would count against my performance KPI. They also counted the scheduled shifts that I could not honor (due to illness (coughing, no voice, unable to sit up for longer than 15 at a time!)
I loved the airline I was working for through Arise, but would have to pay another $225.00 and take the course and qualify all over again to get back on with them because of my down time.
Enough said…I ‘met’ some great people and enjoyed the other agents who worked the clients with me, but would not do that again.
Laureen, good job explaining your reason for omitting Arise. You really did your research well and you really know your stuff.
Cindy Burns: That was such an inconsiderate thing, I think. I really don’t find companies who don’t give allowances or leeway for workers’ sickness worth respecting. It’s just me.
I was offered a job at Arise and ALMOST clicked that submit button to pay $99.00 for the ACP101 1st step. Glad I didnt I decided to click on “Refund policy” instead…oh yes there it was, you have to be incorporated ($125.00) for my state and I had already dished out $10.95 for background check. Now it would be 10.95 plus $99. plus $125.00 plus what the class to train for would be..$100? Hey I am not rich. I have to support myself and cant afford that. I have been working for over 40 years and Never had to pay for classes/training/etc. I dont know many women who can afford this. Then just read about the folks that have paid all that and there are no jobs offered with Arise. I am so glad I didnt pay that $99.00 I am so glad I found this website. Thank you