This is the second I've gotten. The first cited "spammy" but didn't tell me which article -- I didn't care. This one, though, this one pisses me off. It says I copied someone else's work, which I have never done. If this happens to be similar to another page then it's because they copied me or we just happened to write the same crap.
Hi NeilO,
As you may have noticed, we have been making great strides to clean up the eHow article library. This ongoing process is to improve the quality of the site and ensure that we are providing the best resource to our visitors looking to learn and accomplish a task. This email has been sent to you because one or more of your articles have been removed from your account for violating eHow submission guidelines. Please find a list of all affected titles below with reasons for removal next to each of them.
- Title: How to Prevent Job Burnout, Reason: Plagiarized
Note: If the reason provided says "Legacy Rejections," this means that the article was moderated and deemed unsuitable during a time when reasons for removal were not marked on articles. Furthermore, if you see the word "Other" as a reason, then the article had many violations and could not be listed.
eHow.com is known for its reliable online solutions and in order to protect the reputation of the site and our highly regarded community, we must ensure that everyone is adhering to the eHow submission guidelines.
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-The eHow Team
And then, dear brothers and sisters, they give me no recourse! No place for further explanation or debate. No email address to respond to, forum to rant in, or CAPTCHA to prove I'm not a bot or fucking plagiarist. They deleted stuff I wrote for their damn site and didn't even have the decency to provide me a copy of it.
Go to hell eHow, goodbye.
6 comments:
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Thanks Rich, I might do that. Being called a plagiarist makes my blood boil, so just thinking about this too much gets me worked up again -- so I might also avoid the discussion!
Hi Neil, IM me about this. Susan
Thanks Susan,
My main beef is not with losing the article or the pittance it earns me each month (if anything!), but rather that they purposefully called me out as a plagiarist. Regardless of how "polite" they bundled (bungled?) such an email, it's back-handed name-calling using a designation I despise. You and anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with me knows that I enjoy creating, from scratch.
In a perfect world they would have a multi-step process, first indicating and notifying me that an article has been flagged and then proceeding from their to accept feedback before making any kind of decision. In a less than perfect world, I would at the very least expect them to provide me a copy of my work instead of destroying it without my consent.
I'm terribly busy with my own business at the moment and this is not something worth pursuing. At best I would regain the content and possibly get an apology, but in any case I lose all that time and vent unnecessary anger! Ironically, I hate being angry, and as such it's a vicious circle.
Much better to go on with a wry smile at the world than let it get to me so deeply. I suppose this is nothing compared to a real smear campaign! :)
Yesterday I received a similar email but the reason given for the article's deletion was "clone". I don't know what that means and couldn't find it on the ehow.com FAQ. I sent them an email asking for an explanation.
I think I would react the same way as you at being called a plagarist, but in the end I would just like my work back- which I doubt I'll get.
Oh, brilliant -- they've deleted the forum on which multitudes of eHow contributors detailed their dissatisfactions. That's one way to clean up your image in preparation for an IPO.
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