Has anyone ever been blocked by PAC IT? I did 15 of the "Search for Linkedin profile" HITs yesterday, all were approved and paid, and then today I get the email saying I'm blocked. I know I did this correctly because I only did the one's that had a name + company or a picture. Has this happened to anyone else?
They are new I believe. Only 4 TO reviews and all from today and yesterday. So sorry! Those new ones or ones with only a couple TO reviews are scary. I rarely do them. And if any I do 1-5. I would write them and ask why you were blocked because you had all approved. Ask them if they can remove the block and you just won't do their HITS anymore if there is a problem. Requesters should have to prove a lot before blocking someone. Amazon's system is really screwed up against workers.
Well they get their money from the requesters so who else are they going to give the short end of the stick - and yeah I know that without workers there wouldn't be requesters but the requesters pay the fees after the work is done. There will always be more workers.
If you write to them and ask about the block, keep your tone neutral and let them know that blocks negatively effect your work record with mturk, maybe that if they do remove the block you'll make a note to not work for them in the future.
Me too! I hope they unblock you. They could have just done a soft block if they felt so strongly. Some requesters are just bad people.
Ouch. I hope this doesn't happen to me. I've done at least a 100 of his HITS. He will likely get back to you re: email, as he did respond to a query I had.
Or like was noted earlier, this guy is new and doesn't know that there is a soft block or the consequences of a hard one.
OMG!!! I am gonna have a heart attack reading all this. I also did some 100+ hits for this requester. I am hoping that doesn't happen to me. Feel really sorry for deb28. All the bests for getting the requester unblock you.
Good point- You should include in your message to them that they can soft block as a enough hard blocks can hurt you and can prevent you from working anymore.
Thanks for the heads up on this.. I did 1 or 2 of their hits but i'm definitely not gonna do any more now I know that, screw any requester who hands out hard blocks so easy.
Good luck! I agree with others - they are probably just new. One time I was blocked by a requester, and I wrote them a message explaining that blocks put the worker's account at risk and make others avoid the requester, and I said at the very least I would promise to just not submit any more hits for that requester. They not only lifted the block, they said I'm welcome to keep working on their hits! I'm going to give PAC the benefit of the doubt but will of course not do any more work for them until I hear a good outcome. Thank you for sharing your experience with this requester.
Just wanted to post an update. I got an email back from them and they said that due to abuses/poor quality they are experiencing, their anti-fraud algorithm has been enforced, and they said the remote block has been removed. I'm so relieved! Should I be getting an email from MT saying that the block has been removed?
I got accidentally blocked once, and I don't remember getting an unblock email. The only way I knew I'd been unblocked was that I was able to accept the HITs again.
I tried to accept one of their hits and it still said they're not accepting HITs from my account. I think I'm going to email MT and ask about it.
MT is VERY unlikely to even give you a human response or otherwise help. I suggest emailing the requester again, politely letting them know that their unblock didn't "take".
Last and final update, just checked the HIT again, and I'm officially unblocked! Thanks for all the help.