James M.

I signed up with SquadHelp as a Creative. I knew right away that things wouldn't go well, because the button for submission in my screening contests wasn't working properly. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was the approach and attitude of the helpdesk person from whom I requested assistance. SquadHelp likes to communicate and answer your questions by two means - first, with little articles (which are always so general that they're rarely of help for a specific need) and second, with a chat feature on the website. So I asked my question using the chat function, and was responded to with an amazing combination of error and disdain. I was told that I hadn't seen something, and here's an article that will explain it - you know, because I didn't understand. The problem was me, not them. I responded by telling her that I had already perused the article, and the problem of not seeing the button was simple: it wasn't there. She went away and "checked" on the issue and came back with a message expressing that indeed there WAS a problem, but I should read such and such for further information on the subject. But I didn't need another article - THEY needed to put the button where it was supposed to be. Once they finally did, I quickly got approved and began participating in live contests, and I got a couple of good comments from contest holders, and things seemed to be going well enough, until... A very promising contest started up in the morning (this morning) but there was another issue with the page layout and a missing button (a different button this time). Again, I read the relevant articles, which were too general to be of any use, so I sent a request for help to the chat function, and was greeted by a different staffer whose supercilious attitude dwarfed that of the previous service sentinel. I told her about this missing button, and she said she checked on my account and the reason for the missing button was that I hadn't been approved to participate in contests yet. How silly of me! I politely, and patiently, responded by telling her I had been participating in contests for several days, and had in fact gotten some good feedback from contest holders. She went away for a bit, came back, and said that I was correct (I knew that, obviously) and she told me the button was missing because the contest must have just been launched. She proceeded to "explain" to me how the timing of the contests works, because after all, I am dumb and therefore never bothered to learn about any of that. She then said "I strongly encourage you to read the article I attached." The contest had been up for 5 hours. Plus, I had already read that article, which I had already told her. She didn't ask which contest it was, so she could investigate. Why? Because she didn't have to. You see, I'm dumb, and if only I had known the contest was just launched, or if only I had read the article she recommended, then I would have understood. But I didn't, so I didn't understand. Poor, dumb me. Any business, no matter what kind, will always come down to the people with whom you are to deal. And I don't deal with people whose starting assumptions are that (a): I am dumb, and (b): the problem is me, because it couldn't possibly be them. I deactivated my account and had a wonderful rinse immediately following.