Last month I heard about a new writing site called Seraphic Insights. I joined up because I saw a writer I trusted and followed was a moderator there. Surely that was a good sign right?

It didn’t stop the questions going through my head. Was Seraphic Insights a scam? Would it turn out to be another Bubblews?

A few warning signs popped up when I saw the website, but I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt. Like with all new writing sites, I decided to give it a month. I’d put some content up and see how it went. I’d then see if others had been paid and if I would get paid.

It didn’t quite work out that way.

After just two weeks of being on the site, I decided to remove all my content (not the easiest of tasks) and said on another writing site that I might not be back. Today I’ve made the decision not to return at all. I do still have an account there, but there is no content under it and I have no intention of putting anything up. Once I figure out how to do that, then I will.

So, why don’t I recommend the site? It’s not often I do it, but I will go as far right now to say that it comes across as a scam. Here’s why:

Poor Communication From the Owner

There is only one person running everything on the site. The own, Tony, hasn’t hired anyone else but has contracted work out to others. The problem is this has led to poor communication.

During the two weeks that I was active, he disappeared for a number of days. During these days, people have important questions regarding pay. One of those was an issue processing payment requests and meant one user had to go a week without being able to process her payment request. That’s five extra days until she will see her money—and the site owner isn’t going to do anything for the problem his site caused.

Lack of communication is severe for a site. It’s a turnoff for me, and many others who were burned by Bubblews. But the owner doesn’t acknowledge that it is an issue, and continues to work just on his own.

People Not Getting Accredited for Views

It came out last week—I was following comments on the Facebook group—that people were not getting accredited for all their views. Not just robot views, but any view from an external source. Unlike some sites, Seraphic Insights does not state that only unique views from a certain place are counted for the revenue.

There have since been reports that something on the view counter was turned off. The site is new and not doing as financially well as initially expected. There are some who now wonder whether the view counter was purposely turned off to prevent writers earning anything. This way the site could make some money before having to pay anything out.

Maybe that is just me being sceptical, but I do believe that this happened. I trust the person who reported the news about the view counter being turned off, leading to earnings stopping. It was reportedly turned back on once writers noticed something was wrong.

The Owner Refuses to Accept Problems

It’s a shame that this is happening, but it doesn’t bode well for the site. I see a number of problems with the site, including the allowance of poor quality content (some of that from the owner himself). He puts too much focus on SEO and not on well-written content.

There is also the issue of only being able to use images from the media gallery or search function on the site. While this can be good for those wanting to quickly post something, it doesn’t help those who put a lot of focus on great images. Reviewers can’t really review so well because they’re unable to post their own images of products they’re sharing. Why would anyone buy something if they can’t see what it really looks like?

Rather than accept that writers need the ability to post their own images, the owner insulted them. He doesn’t see that images are that important. As we all know, a photo says 1000 words.

There are many other problems, but Tony is just refusing to acknowledge they exist. Those who speak out against the site are “damaging” it. This moves me onto the final point.

Writers Are Insulted in Public

This issue was more of a professionalism issue.

The Facebook group for the site was a place for members to ask questions and find out more about the site. It was a place for people to share if they had been paid, or indicate that they were still wait (despite their payment due date coming and going).

Rather than be honest, the owner insulted the person who said her payment date had gone without her being paid. He claimed she was damaging the site by saying this, by making writers question his intent.

This continued for a few days until it got to the point where Tony insulted a number of professional, quality writers, who all make an income from their writing, because of their constructive criticism of the site. Most of the professional writers said that they wouldn’t return because of the treatment. Writers don’t deserve to be treated in that way, especially when clearly trying to help the site.

There are still some writers sticking with the writing site. That’s going to happen anywhere you go. I do believe that the site is going to attract the lower quality writers, and that won’t bode well for the site in the long term. Low quality content turns readers off. That in turn leads to Google demoting a site in rankings.

The odd spelling error or misuse of a word doesn’t detract me. I’ve seen errors in books published by reputable companies. They slip through! However, content that is written in English that is very difficult to understand on a regular basis really turns me off. I always end up clicking the back button.

It’s up to others if they want to join the site. If I’m asked if Seraphic Insights is a scam, I will share my experience honestly and openly. I believe that there is a scam element to it, especially with the view counter suddenly being turned off and then turned back on when writers noticed.

Do you have any experience writing at Seraphic Insights? Maybe you have experience writing for other similar websites that have put you off. Please feel free to share in the comments below.