I wasn't going to say anything about this, because neither of these situations involve me but I feel like someone has to say something, if only to get the word out there that working for Vice Magazine sucks. In the past month, I know at least two people who have gotten swindled for their work for Vice. Both situations had Vice making near impossible demands for impending deadlines, and despite meeting all their demands, both of my friends weren't reimbursed for the work they did.
Supposedly, Vice is notorious for not paying or delaying payment for their freelancers, and it seems like the same policy runs for people who work there daily. Being a freelancer myself, it's completely unfair to ask someone who depends on odd jobs to wait a month or more for a paycheck. It's even more unfair when you ask people to perform ridiculous tasks and then refuse to reimburse them. If you can't pay up, then don't hire freelancers.
This goes out as a word of warning to people who are looking to work for Vice. Don't put your own money up and expect to be reimbursed in a timely fashion or even at all. I'm sure there are some people who have had positive experiences with Vice, but it seems like there's an overwhelming number of people who have worked with Vice and were disgruntled by the experience. Take this as a warning to proceed with caution around them.
Monday, October 11, 2010
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Well thankfully I don't buy Vice, nor would I ever entertain the idea of doing so.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how the opinions of Steve Albini ,a musician in Chicago, make the editor of Vice a douche.
ReplyDeleteWhoops.
ReplyDeleteYou know what's really shitty? Major magazines do it too. I have a few freelance friends who work for years with Conde Nast and once in awhile Conde loses a 200-500 dollar check and it's impossible to collect on. And you don't want to burn a bridge because it's Conde but I think it's insane how it keeps happening to people. There's a rule in freelance, have enough money to survive for at least 3 months--it's true for all projects, big or small. I'm still waiting on checks from people a month, 2 months ago. Some people have never even paid me and know I won't go after them because of the time/effort/no one enforcing it. It's sucky all around :(
ReplyDeleteI completely agree -- I had the exact same experience with Vice as a freelancer. My supervisor was completely unprofessional, rarely responded to emails, and regularly asked for same-day turnaround times with no advance notice, which I (regrettingly) met time and time again. I am still waiting for a single check from them, and I started working for them nearly 5 months ago. What a shitty company. They consistently blame their inability to cut checks on their "accounting department in Montreal" that "takes a long time to process checks" and was "recently audited", as if cutting a check to you is a miraculous gift from God. Anyone who has worked at or dealt with an accounting department in a company of any size knows that it takes about 5 minutes for an accountant to cut a check. They just choose to treat their freelancers like dirt, and then stop giving them work when they want to be paid on time (or at all).
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