I initially heard about this company, Arise, on a national morning news show, and my first thought was that they were a legitimate work at home company. So with this presumed knowledge, I decided to go to work for Arise. But let me tell you, I had a lot of money that I had to put out BEFORE I was able to even begin to make money with them.
First, I had to form a corporation, which in my state costs $100 and I had to file a DBA which is $50. Then, I had to pay Arise $99 to take one of many certification courses that basically says I am capable of using a computer. At the time I began working for Arise, they never indicated that I nor anyone else would have to pay them any additional money other than the $99. By the way, if you don't pass the first certification course on your first attempt, you have to wait three months and then pay again and retake the certification course. So far I had spent $249 and I haven't even made any money.
Now, in order to work for a "client" so that you can try to make money, you have to then pay for a certification course. These courses range from $50 for a 'seasonal' client up to $250, with most costing $225. Furthermore, most courses are at least 15 days long and run three to four hours each night. Again, you are not getting paid while training; therefore, you are not making any money.
Each course has mini quizzes, a mid-term or two exam, and a final exam. If at any time you fail a quiz or exam, you fail the certification for that client, forfeit all money paid, and have to wait for another client certification class to start and pay again to take that client certification course. Did I mention that I have taken many a final college exam that were no where near as deceptive as these client certification courses?
Anyway, determined to try to earn my hard earned money back, I stayed with Arise for almost one year. In this year's time, I ended up paying them $650 for client certification courses - there are no opportunities for full-time or year-round employment with Arise, something that they failed to mention. When I totaled up my invoices from them, I grossed just over $3000 - (they don't pay hourly, they pay by the call.) When I look at the amount of hours I worked over twelve months, not including the time spent in unpaid training, I earned a whopping $3.85 per hour.
Below is a list of companies that Arise contracts with to greatly under pay their customer service reps. Now I know why when I call some of these companies the customer service reps are less than pleasant to deal with - I would be too if I wasn't even making the federal minimum wage as indicated in the Fair Labor Standards Act.
AAA Arizona AAA Mid-Atlantic AAA MSC AAA New York AAA North Jersey ACG ACS AIG AIG-AA Apple Apple Care Barnes and Noble Carnival Cruise Lines Circuit City CSAA Disney Encore Exelon GSI Interval International Jewelry TV MAG-CS NJAC SafeGuard Sears Staples Verizon Avenue Virgin America Virgin Atlantic
As I have read on this site, and I agree, THERE ARE NO AVAILABLE HOURS to work with Arise, with any of these companies. NONE. ZILCH. NADA. ZERO.
This company ha been on Good Morning America boasting about work form home opportunities. The problem is they don't have enough work and they will take your money.
They are miss representing themselves. How ethical is it to take your money then once you get set up, which costs over $500.00 by the time you pay for their ACP 101 course get you own tax ID #, get a computer that will align with their stahndards...by the way forget about having vista as your operating system becuase they can't ahndle it or don't want to update themselves.
After the $500.00 start up then you must pay for the opportunity which you must pay for. It's ususally between 150-250 dollars. That is if you can get in!!! I have waited infront of my computer for their posting times...tried to apply for a class and the only thing that comes up is "sorry the class is full" . So here is a company that will gladly allow you to pay a fee to get in and not have real opportunities to be aprt of. They brag about a having over 2000 employees nation wide...but what they don't tell you is good luck gettin an opportunity.
Oh, and by the way...don't try to speak to a live voice...This company does not like to deal with real people. Every complaint ir form of communcation must go through the "resolution center". The will be happy to take your money but after that you are only a number. This company is treats their ACP's like numbers...end of story. When you can't find a phone number, or get the feeling that no one has the time to deal with a real issue voice to voice then there is something really wrong.
Arise is in business for themselves...their communication with their agents is poor at best...their performance facilitators are hard to get a hold of, client managers are hard to get a hold of, and again getting an opportunity to appkly for even if you get emailed is hard becuase their is not enough work.
This company will steal your 100 dollars to apply and boast about their great opportunities with only a fraction of a chance to get a opportunity that pans out.
Oh, don't try to ask fora refund...You will never get to talk to a real voice and they will never refund your money. Why? No ethic.
Arise hires employees with the premise that IF you successfully pass training and several exams you can work for an employer. I feel as though Arise misconceives people knowing that there may be only several slots opened with a particular company, but take a great deal of money from many unknowingly applicants (in one of my classes there were about 26 students, but only several successfully qualified and were able to work for that one employer) for those to few positions.
In order to become eligible to train for a particular company, each applicant MUST pay first, that is the first step before having access to the training is expressing interest in a company. The applicant is then sent an email saying they are eligible to take the training. However, the applicant then pays a fee, which ranges from $200+ on up. If you don't get through training, pass the exams, or are not certified, the person DOES NOT get a refund of monies. Additionally, you get NO explanation as to why.
I have applied, was qualified, successfully passed training and all tests, 1 with a 85%, and the others with 100% and got to the certification process and was told after the second day of that certification that they would go no further with me. My daughter worked for two employers with Arise and both times her account was locked, which means she could not access the employers secured sites. She tried repeatedly contacting her performance facilitators (PF's) and emailing Arise, as well as the employers and was told absolutely nothing. It can be surmised that she was terminated with again NO explanations whatsoever. No phone calls, and no emails stating that she was terminated (we're guessing that she was terminated, but Arise never confirmed).
The first employer was seasonal, so maybe that is the reason why her employment was abruptly terminated. However, with the other employer just the day prior to them locking her account she received an email stating she was doing a great job! The position was for a Customer Service/Sales positon, but before while in training, many had asked the trainer if Sales was mandantory for the position. The instructor informed them that although sales was desired it was not a mandatory requirement for the position. In other words, sales were not being pushed. I paid $250.00 for my daugher for this training through Arise. She worked just a month.
Not to mention, when a person is employed through Arise, they take out $19.95 from each paycheck, which is twice a month. They claim that this is to have the ability to have access to their website, the employer, etc. Collectively, between my daughter and myself have spent over $1,000.00 just in Arise's fees (paying for the training alone), and other fees for headphones, internet access, etc., and we have nothing to show for it, but a empty pocketbook.
We even had a study buddy's with whom we practiced with everyday to endure we all would get hired, and they didn't make it either. Although, they too paid money to Arise. The only thing that I can say about this company is DO NOT apply with them. It is a growing company, because of the money they take from many many people and the NO REFUND policy, and that's whether you qualify for just the training or not. After trying twice to get a job thorough them, and my daughter working twice with them a being abruptly terminated we have ended our contract with them, and with NEVER apply for another position with Arise again. I suggest you don't either. Applicants Beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I originally thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make some extra money and maybe even set up a business in which friends and family could join under my Virtual Services Corporation thereby saving them the initial fees I had to pay. I worked for Arise providing customer sales and service for Apple so bear in mind my comments apply to this type of servicing on this particular company I did not take any other courses and service any other customer and never wanted to try with another based on that experience.
I read the reports that were available and I still decided to go ahead with getting set up, hence my title Leap Of Faith. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be sure to do your research you will be able to sign up for opportunities but they may not be cut out to be what they seem. For one you will only be paid for actual time you are talking to a customer and time you are in AVAILABLE status to service any phone calls. The time you take to read the numerous procedure for which you will not receive hands on training or intructor coaching for including the time you take to figure out how to log the call and the call logging will be UNPAID unless you perform these functions while you have the customer on the phone you will NOT GET PAID.
The training is a joke as you will find that once you get into service the clients application you will need to be continually coached in a chat room that you will remain in all the time your are servicing by this I mean the customer you are trying to help will be on the line waiting for you to help provide a resolution, there are anywhere from 15-20 people in this coaching mode so do not expect to have your question answered immediately and be sure to pay attention becuase it will get overlooked all the while you have the customer online waiting. I hate to think of the number of places I have called that have kept me on hold forever becuase this is what is actually happening, also keep in mind if the customer wants a manager that will involve another consult that can possibly take up to a 1/2 hour all while the customer is waiting on the phone. The system established is riddled with connection issues and problems which in all fairness would probably not occur if better training and set up were provided by Arise.
There are so many meetings and updates that need to be attended for you to keep up with the products you are servicing which are UNPAID, that if you do the math you may want to reconsider. Also you will need to spend much time reading and going over procedures just to get basically familiar with how to adequately handle and service the customers needs all of which the training courses do not even touch the tip of.
The training is equivalent to getting a drivers manual and the rules of the road, being driven around the parking lot while you are in the passengers seat and then given a set of keys and having your instructor put you on the highway while giving you his phone number to call him if you have any problems.
I made several friends during the time I serviced and they all felt the same, but did not address their issues, because in these economic times they like me felt some job and some money is better than none.
I felt so much stress and frustration at the lack of training and they way customer service was being handled that I ended up going to the clinic for stress related issues brought on by the whole ordeal.
I finally got a job with a call center that PAID for the training provided, and had support available for me at all times, gave me both medical and dental benefits and PAID me for all the time I was available to service their customers.
Good Luck in making your dreams come true through Arise, I hope that unlike me your leap of faith pays off.
Yes I have to agree with a lot of people about Arise. It is a rip off company, I have had a lot of friends who took the client trainiing for Carnival Cruise and at the end was told they did not make it. I know 3 individuals who took that training and each one of them have had only 2 to 5 persons in the class that past the cirtification. I really believe Carnival knew they wanted a certain amount of people which they will tell Arise then Arise will start like 4 classes of 24 knowing d**n well they only need like 10 to 20 people and I believe they do that with all companies also.
Just think of the money they are making $200 to $250 dollars is not easy to come by but they do not care about anyone. For those of you who got problems resolve you were fortunate I yet to have any problem I have resolve without putting up a fight. And don't forget about the stress they put you through its unbelievable. I have never been through anything like this in my life, you will think you are working for the president of the United States with the stress they put you through for to work for a client.
I just think if you can do better please do not take this as a full time job. You are being monitor every week like you are in high school like a kid, the system break down everytime and then you get penalize for their problem, forget about tech support you have to say thank God if you get someone nice to help you fix your problem. Or and not to mention your talk time, they want you to book a whole week of reservation for someone in less than 5 mins and they cannot even do it themselves.
Unfortunately I know someone who lost her contract because she was offering quality service and was accuse of being too long on phone. They really need to be reported and to be sued. I am just fed up with them. All those people who are saying how good this company is, are the ones who kisses their a.. and are also a bunch of deceitful people. Good luck everyone, Arise you will meet your match one day.
I signed up to be a Arise Certified Professional In hopes of being able to work from home. I had heard great things about Willow CSN, and thought the same would apply under their new name "ARISE". First off i was surprised at the lack of support i got through the whole process. First you have to pay for your background check $20. Then you have to Incorporate yourself $150 and last you have to pay $100 for their test to be certified and Start applying for work with them. Once you are certified you can start looking for company's to work for though Arise.
Also once you have paid all that money you will need to have a bare computer with basically nothing installed , for me that meant a new one from ebay $150. You can not have dial up internet, it must be broadband and you must have 2 internet providers in case one goes down, in my area broadband is about 45-50$ x2. You will need a battery back up surge protector($40 eBay). A NEW phone line IT MUST BE NEW($30 a month). and you will also have to pay to get trained with the company you chose to work for, the prices vary.
I spend about $600 Just to get started with them and to top it all off THE REASON FOR MY COMPLAINT ON THIS PAGE,,,,,,
********THEY DON'T HAVE WORK******** I have been certified for 5 months and they have not had a single client to apply for in all this time. On their forums there is countless amounts of people with the same complaints, WE HAVE BEEN RIPED OFF.
I have called Arise almost daily since about the third month and they know me by name pretty much, I have yet to speak to a manager or anyone that can help me get my money back.
WHY DOES ARISE KEEP TAKING PEOPLES MONEY IF THEY KNOW THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH WORK FOR EVERYONE THAT APPLIES AND PAYS????? THEY KNOW HOW MANY CLIENTS THEY HAVE AND THEY KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE PAY TO WORK FOR THESE CLIENTS AND THEY ALSO KNOW THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH WORK FOR EVERYONE YET THEY CONTINUE TO TAKE THEIR MONEY!!!!!
I WOULD ADVISE NOONE APPLY TO WORK FOR ARISE AND IF YOU ARE IN THIS SAME SITUATION THEN YOU SHOULD POST YOUR COMMENTS HERE.
Arise is currently paying it's agents or so called "contractors" $.24 per minute, for servicing Carnival Cruise Lines. They've come up with a brilliant plan to take that money away and only pay $.60 per call. Of course they claim they're trying to cut down the ATT (average talk time) when in reality they are making people lose their livelihood's. Almost all of the calls are a minimum of 10 - 15 minutes and trouble calls from customers up to 30 minutes. So if you get two trouble calls within one hour, you will have made $1.20 for that hour. This should be illegal but they are getting away with it because they make you become your own corporation (which is very costly $750 for myself). They know people are desperate in these economic times and some will have to work under these conditions. Are we supposed to tell the customers "sorry, times up - gotta go!". They have been holding Town Hall Meetings where we have chat available to ask questions. The chat is being hidden from one another and the questions being screened. They are only answering the ones that they choose. We also have lost our right to speak. How can they call this a meeting? They're going to lose a lot of great, hard working people over this. All that I can say is don't get pulled into their "racket". You have to pay to become incorporated, anywhere from $50 - $250 to be trained for a client, $25 to take their assessment, $35 for a background check, the cost of your high speed internet, phone bill, and on top of that they take $29.99 from you pay every pay period for administrative fees. You cannot make money through this company and they are a rip off!
I started with Arise back in March 2008. Doing all the right things, for Arise; incorporate, computer, phone line, bank account, etc. Only to be treated unfairly. My first client, Virgin America, which I worked for about six months, eventually did not renew their contract with Arise, thus terminating all ACP's, in Oct 2008.
Being in need of income, I put in a interest and got excepted to Interval International Exchange (II) and paid my $150. Soon after my credit card was charged the $150, Arise then gave us a credit for $100, to be used on our next new venture. But unfortunately, I was not allowed to use mine. Why? Because, responsible as I was, I applied and paid for, a new client, II, before the credit was issued. Arise's response was basically, to bad!!
Going through the classes with II and being certified, on November 19, 2008, I received my codes from my instructor, that following Monday. She instructed me not to post hours until all the phone systems are downloaded and are properly working. For the next three weeks, not able to download Avaya, I have been with Arise live support, Arise resolution center, my supervisor, with II and, they have ignored my plea's for help. I have not received any calls, which the live support tech said I would from II, nor emails. NO ONE CARES, THEY JUST WANT THE MONEY! I did all the right things and was treated, unfairly and lied to.
I have since sent my letter of resignation to II and have filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau, and in less than five days, was able to get a legitimate job, from a legitimate job agency.
If you are looking to do a "at home" business...think second on Arise/Willow!
What you are reading is true. I have been with Arise for about 2 years. I have had 2 clients and the only one that was decent to work for was AAAMSC. But then they dropped their pay, telling us that we would make more money this way...try to figure that one out, so I started looking for another client so I could make more money. I also moved and was dealing with illness, flu type illness, so I could not put in the required hours. They terminated me. Before I started with AAA I took a class for Carnival Cruise. The first time I took the class I went through the whole class and started the certification calls and I was working for a couple of days. Then my instructor said they could not certify me and I had to take the class over or try something else. Since a friend of mine was also signed up to take the Carnival class, I did sign up for the class again. I had to pay for the class the second time, as well. While in the class, when I wanted to participate, the instructor said, "No you can't answer, we know you already know the answer" so she would not let me do anything. I helped others that were in the class and helped the instructor explain the "How to's" in the breakout rooms and when I got to the certification calls, I got ONE call and was told I could not be certified AGAIN. Of course, there were NO refunds.
After I was terminated from AAA, my PF was hoping I could get recertified because she knew I was a good worker but Arise would not let me recertify so I tried with Apple. Well, I passed all the tests with flying colors, and did everything with above average results but when I took the certification calls, the PF's that did the mock calls lied on the score sheet and gave lame comments which gave me very low scores. I had to get at least an average of 80%...well they made sure I didn't. I even told my instructor and she felt terrible but had her hands tied, supposedly, and could do nothing about it. Now I just finished a class with Disney Dining and the same thing happened. I flew through the class and did very well on the tests and was helping others that needed it. I even made cheat sheets to help others understand the steps help input the info on the application. But when it came to certification, the application did not work properly, they said we were taking live calls with real people and they were not, they were scripted calls made by PF's and they did not certify me because of the lies that the PF's reported. I have proof of this because my brother sat through the Apple class and the Disney Dining class as well as the certification calls. He saw what went on and how scammed me twice. So if the person that wants to hire an attorney and file a class action suit, count me in. They do not care, they are stealing money right and left from people in so many ways it is unreal. The rebutals are are just people that are paid to make positive comment for Arise. They are not a good company. They do not care how they financially drain people and you can not talk to a human to discuss anything.
Beware of this company!! I signed up for Arise full well understanding that I would have to pay a fee to train for one of thier clients. BUT, no one could have possibly predicted until you work for this rip off company that shortly down the line your "metrics" AKA, your performance will cause you to be terminated. It took a little while for this to sink in, unfortunately after paying for a possible job with a few companies. I noticed that all of a sudden an "Opportunity" would show up on their site. I was truly confused why they would be calling for MORE agents when people couldn't even get enough hours to meet their minimum "SOW", service agreement. How can you hire more people when you can't keep the ones you have busy? Arise is so un-responsive it is rediculous. You have to put in a request for help if you are in a jam BUT there is no one to help you. The end result is that your metrics suffer so your performance suffers and you are terminated. Their systems go down alot and they blame you for that also. I should have known better when I paid for a class, this is a scam. You might work, BUT not enough to make a living. MAYBE a few do, but for the vast majority all you have to do is look around at some of the websites for people working at home to see how angry Arise agents are over not getting enough hours or being terminated due to their metrics. I FINALLY figured it out what is going on with this company. They lure you in, you pay for a class, you might qualify, go to work and then get no hours. They put up a request for more agents and the cycle continues. The result of this is that Arise makes TONS of money for classes full well knowing that people will get annoyed and quit and if they don't, no problem, Arise will figure a way to get rid of them so they can have another class and make money that way. The classes cost on an average of $200 upward. You are in virtual school for many weeks and at then might not even qualify to go to work. To add insult to injury IF you get a job you have to pay Arise a fee every 2 weeks. The joke is you might not even get any hours so you end up paying Arise and work for FREE! This is a scam plain and simple. You have no recourse or rights. BEWARE!!!!
I have just recently completed a certification course with Arise to work with a major cruise line and did not pass. Arise uses their affiliations to find homeworkers for major corporations in cruising, dining and retail to appear legit when in fact they recruit four or five times the people needed to fill the job openings, charging them hundreds of dollars for their training courses and certification programs.
Their software applications fail continously during the training period, whilst their instructors rapid fire information in the online classrooms, constantly warning that the client(the cruise line, communication company, etc) has very high standards and students must work very hard to comply. Students are told that if they fail it is their own fault, not that of arise. The applications used for their clients are antiquated and in the class that I was in, there were over twenty screen codes to learn, each have different navigation instructions. While speaking with a customer online it would be necessary to access other databases to explain details of corporate offers. It is a very complicated and antiquated system.
No refunds are offered under any conditions, even when the applications fail and students cannot hope to catch up with the class. Students are told that no retakes are permitted. The class I was in, four people said that they were taking the course for a second time, without paying for the privilege. I was denied that opportunity. I am over 60 and possibly that is the reason I was refused.
In addition, I am due a refund of $99.00 for a class that I was encouraged to join even though the instructions excluded those in my area code. I was told that I would be refunded the money if not accepted because of the location requirement. I paid for the course in early august 2009 and have not received the refund yet. The last communication I had with the Resolution Center, asked for additional information (they could not identify the refund information).
I would be interested in joining any class action suit against this company and its unfair business practices.
You can take the advise of the people that have made comments on this web site or you can sign up to Arise and find out for yourself and then we will read your complaints and comments after about a month of being certified. Arise has taken my money and they don't care what kind of hardship you are going through. They feed off people that are desperate to work because they are layedoff, or unable to work for some reason or another and they know that every dollar that you invest in working for this company is very hard for you to come up with and when you sign up for a certification class for a company you express interest in they only certify a very few people out of a class of 20 to 30 people. You get NO refund and you get no second chances. If you want to work, you will have to sign up for another company and take the class, which us usually a month long, and hope that you get certified again. Read these comments, they are not lying. The one that uses foul language, she is just so mad after the treatment she has received that she is ready to blow. It may not be professional but that is how Arise treats you and they push you to the edge with no feelings for the agents, or others that are below them. She is just showing how far Arise will go to screw you and use you, and above all, SCAM you. So like I said, you can believe what is said on this site or you can go sign up and find out for yourself. If someone is willing to hire an attorney for a class action suit...you can count me in. Oh and the rebutal comments on these comments are nothing more than dronds that get a bonus for writing something nice about Arise. The comments are not written by the real agents. Arise will steal all your money then they will spit you out and shove you down the tubes. I have reported them to the BBB and the Attorney General as well and I am not afraid to sign my name to this. Arise stole from the wrong person this time.
Arise Virtual Solutions Inc. Formerly Known As Willow Beware, you should NOT have to spend money to get a job! Miramar, Florida
Beware of this company!! I signed up for Arise full well understanding that I would have to pay a fee to train for one of thier clients. BUT, no one could have possibly predicted until you work for this rip off company that shortly down the line your "metrics" AKA, your performance will cause you to be terminated. It took a little while for this to sink in, unfortunately after paying for a possible job with a few companies. I noticed that all of a sudden an "Opportunity" would show up on their site. I was truly confused why they would be calling for MORE agents when people couldn't even get enough hours to meet their minimum "SOW", service agreement. How can you hire more people when you can't keep the ones you have busy? Arise is so un-responsive it is rediculous. You have to put in a request for help if you are in a jam BUT there is no one to help you. The end result is that your metrics suffer so your performance suffers and you are terminated. Their systems go down alot and they blame you for that also. I should have known better when I paid for a class, this is a scam. You might work, BUT not enough to make a living. MAYBE a few do, but for the vast majority all you have to do is look around at some of the websites for people working at home to see how angry Arise agents are over not getting enough hours or being terminated due to their metrics. I FINALLY figured it out what is going on with this company. They lure you in, you pay for a class, you might qualify, go to work and then get no hours. They put up a request for more agents and the cycle continues. The result of this is that Arise makes TONS of money for classes full well knowing that people will get annoyed and quit and if they don't, no problem, Arise will figure a way to get rid of them so they can have another class and make money that way. The classes cost on an average of $200 upward. You are in virtual school for many weeks and at then might not even qualify to go to work. To add insult to injury IF you get a job you have to pay Arise a fee every 2 weeks. The joke is you might not even get any hours so you end up paying Arise and work for FREE! This is a scam plain and simple. You have no recourse or rights. BEWARE!!!!
Arise Virtual Solutions Inc. Reviews
I initially heard about this company, Arise, on a national morning news show, and my first thought was that they were a legitimate work at home company. So with this presumed knowledge, I decided to go to work for Arise. But let me tell you, I had a lot of money that I had to put out BEFORE I was able to even begin to make money with them.
First, I had to form a corporation, which in my state costs $100 and I had to file a DBA which is $50. Then, I had to pay Arise $99 to take one of many certification courses that basically says I am capable of using a computer. At the time I began working for Arise, they never indicated that I nor anyone else would have to pay them any additional money other than the $99. By the way, if you don't pass the first certification course on your first attempt, you have to wait three months and then pay again and retake the certification course. So far I had spent $249 and I haven't even made any money.
Now, in order to work for a "client" so that you can try to make money, you have to then pay for a certification course. These courses range from $50 for a 'seasonal' client up to $250, with most costing $225. Furthermore, most courses are at least 15 days long and run three to four hours each night. Again, you are not getting paid while training; therefore, you are not making any money.
Each course has mini quizzes, a mid-term or two exam, and a final exam. If at any time you fail a quiz or exam, you fail the certification for that client, forfeit all money paid, and have to wait for another client certification class to start and pay again to take that client certification course. Did I mention that I have taken many a final college exam that were no where near as deceptive as these client certification courses?
Anyway, determined to try to earn my hard earned money back, I stayed with Arise for almost one year. In this year's time, I ended up paying them $650 for client certification courses - there are no opportunities for full-time or year-round employment with Arise, something that they failed to mention. When I totaled up my invoices from them, I grossed just over $3000 - (they don't pay hourly, they pay by the call.) When I look at the amount of hours I worked over twelve months, not including the time spent in unpaid training, I earned a whopping $3.85 per hour.
Below is a list of companies that Arise contracts with to greatly under pay their customer service reps. Now I know why when I call some of these companies the customer service reps are less than pleasant to deal with - I would be too if I wasn't even making the federal minimum wage as indicated in the Fair Labor Standards Act.
AAA Arizona AAA Mid-Atlantic AAA MSC AAA New York AAA North Jersey ACG ACS AIG AIG-AA Apple Apple Care Barnes and Noble Carnival Cruise Lines Circuit City CSAA Disney Encore Exelon GSI Interval International Jewelry TV MAG-CS NJAC SafeGuard Sears Staples Verizon Avenue Virgin America Virgin Atlantic
As I have read on this site, and I agree, THERE ARE NO AVAILABLE HOURS to work with Arise, with any of these companies. NONE. ZILCH. NADA. ZERO.
This company ha been on Good Morning America boasting about work form home opportunities. The problem is they don't have enough work and they will take your money.
They are miss representing themselves. How ethical is it to take your money then once you get set up, which costs over $500.00 by the time you pay for their ACP 101 course get you own tax ID #, get a computer that will align with their stahndards...by the way forget about having vista as your operating system becuase they can't ahndle it or don't want to update themselves.
After the $500.00 start up then you must pay for the opportunity which you must pay for. It's ususally between 150-250 dollars. That is if you can get in!!! I have waited infront of my computer for their posting times...tried to apply for a class and the only thing that comes up is "sorry the class is full" . So here is a company that will gladly allow you to pay a fee to get in and not have real opportunities to be aprt of. They brag about a having over 2000 employees nation wide...but what they don't tell you is good luck gettin an opportunity.
Oh, and by the way...don't try to speak to a live voice...This company does not like to deal with real people. Every complaint ir form of communcation must go through the "resolution center". The will be happy to take your money but after that you are only a number. This company is treats their ACP's like numbers...end of story. When you can't find a phone number, or get the feeling that no one has the time to deal with a real issue voice to voice then there is something really wrong.
Arise is in business for themselves...their communication with their agents is poor at best...their performance facilitators are hard to get a hold of, client managers are hard to get a hold of, and again getting an opportunity to appkly for even if you get emailed is hard becuase their is not enough work.
This company will steal your 100 dollars to apply and boast about their great opportunities with only a fraction of a chance to get a opportunity that pans out.
Oh, don't try to ask fora refund...You will never get to talk to a real voice and they will never refund your money. Why? No ethic.
Arise hires employees with the premise that IF you successfully pass training and several exams you can work for an employer. I feel as though Arise misconceives people knowing that there may be only several slots opened with a particular company, but take a great deal of money from many unknowingly applicants (in one of my classes there were about 26 students, but only several successfully qualified and were able to work for that one employer) for those to few positions.
In order to become eligible to train for a particular company, each applicant MUST pay first, that is the first step before having access to the training is expressing interest in a company. The applicant is then sent an email saying they are eligible to take the training. However, the applicant then pays a fee, which ranges from $200+ on up. If you don't get through training, pass the exams, or are not certified, the person DOES NOT get a refund of monies. Additionally, you get NO explanation as to why.
I have applied, was qualified, successfully passed training and all tests, 1 with a 85%, and the others with 100% and got to the certification process and was told after the second day of that certification that they would go no further with me. My daughter worked for two employers with Arise and both times her account was locked, which means she could not access the employers secured sites. She tried repeatedly contacting her performance facilitators (PF's) and emailing Arise, as well as the employers and was told absolutely nothing. It can be surmised that she was terminated with again NO explanations whatsoever. No phone calls, and no emails stating that she was terminated (we're guessing that she was terminated, but Arise never confirmed).
The first employer was seasonal, so maybe that is the reason why her employment was abruptly terminated. However, with the other employer just the day prior to them locking her account she received an email stating she was doing a great job! The position was for a Customer Service/Sales positon, but before while in training, many had asked the trainer if Sales was mandantory for the position. The instructor informed them that although sales was desired it was not a mandatory requirement for the position. In other words, sales were not being pushed. I paid $250.00 for my daugher for this training through Arise. She worked just a month.
Not to mention, when a person is employed through Arise, they take out $19.95 from each paycheck, which is twice a month. They claim that this is to have the ability to have access to their website, the employer, etc. Collectively, between my daughter and myself have spent over $1,000.00 just in Arise's fees (paying for the training alone), and other fees for headphones, internet access, etc., and we have nothing to show for it, but a empty pocketbook.
We even had a study buddy's with whom we practiced with everyday to endure we all would get hired, and they didn't make it either. Although, they too paid money to Arise. The only thing that I can say about this company is DO NOT apply with them. It is a growing company, because of the money they take from many many people and the NO REFUND policy, and that's whether you qualify for just the training or not. After trying twice to get a job thorough them, and my daughter working twice with them a being abruptly terminated we have ended our contract with them, and with NEVER apply for another position with Arise again. I suggest you don't either. Applicants Beware!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nothingtoshowforit! Hiram, Georgia
U.S.A.
Well I originally thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make some extra money and maybe even set up a business in which friends and family could join under my Virtual Services Corporation thereby saving them the initial fees I had to pay. I worked for Arise providing customer sales and service for Apple so bear in mind my comments apply to this type of servicing on this particular company I did not take any other courses and service any other customer and never wanted to try with another based on that experience.
I read the reports that were available and I still decided to go ahead with getting set up, hence my title Leap Of Faith. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be sure to do your research you will be able to sign up for opportunities but they may not be cut out to be what they seem. For one you will only be paid for actual time you are talking to a customer and time you are in AVAILABLE status to service any phone calls. The time you take to read the numerous procedure for which you will not receive hands on training or intructor coaching for including the time you take to figure out how to log the call and the call logging will be UNPAID unless you perform these functions while you have the customer on the phone you will NOT GET PAID.
The training is a joke as you will find that once you get into service the clients application you will need to be continually coached in a chat room that you will remain in all the time your are servicing by this I mean the customer you are trying to help will be on the line waiting for you to help provide a resolution, there are anywhere from 15-20 people in this coaching mode so do not expect to have your question answered immediately and be sure to pay attention becuase it will get overlooked all the while you have the customer online waiting. I hate to think of the number of places I have called that have kept me on hold forever becuase this is what is actually happening, also keep in mind if the customer wants a manager that will involve another consult that can possibly take up to a 1/2 hour all while the customer is waiting on the phone. The system established is riddled with connection issues and problems which in all fairness would probably not occur if better training and set up were provided by Arise.
There are so many meetings and updates that need to be attended for you to keep up with the products you are servicing which are UNPAID, that if you do the math you may want to reconsider. Also you will need to spend much time reading and going over procedures just to get basically familiar with how to adequately handle and service the customers needs all of which the training courses do not even touch the tip of.
The training is equivalent to getting a drivers manual and the rules of the road, being driven around the parking lot while you are in the passengers seat and then given a set of keys and having your instructor put you on the highway while giving you his phone number to call him if you have any problems.
I made several friends during the time I serviced and they all felt the same, but did not address their issues, because in these economic times they like me felt some job and some money is better than none.
I felt so much stress and frustration at the lack of training and they way customer service was being handled that I ended up going to the clinic for stress related issues brought on by the whole ordeal.
I finally got a job with a call center that PAID for the training provided, and had support available for me at all times, gave me both medical and dental benefits and PAID me for all the time I was available to service their customers.
Good Luck in making your dreams come true through Arise, I hope that unlike me your leap of faith pays off.
Sincerly Dina
Leap of faith Seffner, Florida
U.S.A.
Yes I have to agree with a lot of people about Arise. It is a rip off company, I have had a lot of friends who took the client trainiing for Carnival Cruise and at the end was told they did not make it. I know 3 individuals who took that training and each one of them have had only 2 to 5 persons in the class that past the cirtification. I really believe Carnival knew they wanted a certain amount of people which they will tell Arise then Arise will start like 4 classes of 24 knowing d**n well they only need like 10 to 20 people and I believe they do that with all companies also.
Just think of the money they are making $200 to $250 dollars is not easy to come by but they do not care about anyone. For those of you who got problems resolve you were fortunate I yet to have any problem I have resolve without putting up a fight. And don't forget about the stress they put you through its unbelievable. I have never been through anything like this in my life, you will think you are working for the president of the United States with the stress they put you through for to work for a client.
I just think if you can do better please do not take this as a full time job. You are being monitor every week like you are in high school like a kid, the system break down everytime and then you get penalize for their problem, forget about tech support you have to say thank God if you get someone nice to help you fix your problem. Or and not to mention your talk time, they want you to book a whole week of reservation for someone in less than 5 mins and they cannot even do it themselves.
Unfortunately I know someone who lost her contract because she was offering quality service and was accuse of being too long on phone. They really need to be reported and to be sued. I am just fed up with them. All those people who are saying how good this company is, are the ones who kisses their a.. and are also a bunch of deceitful people. Good luck everyone, Arise you will meet your match one day.
I signed up to be a Arise Certified Professional In hopes of being able to work from home. I had heard great things about Willow CSN, and thought the same would apply under their new name "ARISE". First off i was surprised at the lack of support i got through the whole process. First you have to pay for your background check $20. Then you have to Incorporate yourself $150 and last you have to pay $100 for their test to be certified and Start applying for work with them. Once you are certified you can start looking for company's to work for though Arise.
Also once you have paid all that money you will need to have a bare computer with basically nothing installed , for me that meant a new one from ebay $150. You can not have dial up internet, it must be broadband and you must have 2 internet providers in case one goes down, in my area broadband is about 45-50$ x2. You will need a battery back up surge protector($40 eBay). A NEW phone line IT MUST BE NEW($30 a month). and you will also have to pay to get trained with the company you chose to work for, the prices vary.
I spend about $600 Just to get started with them and to top it all off THE REASON FOR MY COMPLAINT ON THIS PAGE,,,,,,
********THEY DON'T HAVE WORK******** I have been certified for 5 months and they have not had a single client to apply for in all this time. On their forums there is countless amounts of people with the same complaints, WE HAVE BEEN RIPED OFF.
I have called Arise almost daily since about the third month and they know me by name pretty much, I have yet to speak to a manager or anyone that can help me get my money back.
WHY DOES ARISE KEEP TAKING PEOPLES MONEY IF THEY KNOW THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH WORK FOR EVERYONE THAT APPLIES AND PAYS????? THEY KNOW HOW MANY CLIENTS THEY HAVE AND THEY KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE PAY TO WORK FOR THESE CLIENTS AND THEY ALSO KNOW THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH WORK FOR EVERYONE YET THEY CONTINUE TO TAKE THEIR MONEY!!!!!
I WOULD ADVISE NOONE APPLY TO WORK FOR ARISE AND IF YOU ARE IN THIS SAME SITUATION THEN YOU SHOULD POST YOUR COMMENTS HERE.
Arise is currently paying it's agents or so called "contractors" $.24 per minute, for servicing Carnival Cruise Lines. They've come up with a brilliant plan to take that money away and only pay $.60 per call. Of course they claim they're trying to cut down the ATT (average talk time) when in reality they are making people lose their livelihood's. Almost all of the calls are a minimum of 10 - 15 minutes and trouble calls from customers up to 30 minutes. So if you get two trouble calls within one hour, you will have made $1.20 for that hour. This should be illegal but they are getting away with it because they make you become your own corporation (which is very costly $750 for myself). They know people are desperate in these economic times and some will have to work under these conditions. Are we supposed to tell the customers "sorry, times up - gotta go!". They have been holding Town Hall Meetings where we have chat available to ask questions. The chat is being hidden from one another and the questions being screened. They are only answering the ones that they choose. We also have lost our right to speak. How can they call this a meeting? They're going to lose a lot of great, hard working people over this. All that I can say is don't get pulled into their "racket". You have to pay to become incorporated, anywhere from $50 - $250 to be trained for a client, $25 to take their assessment, $35 for a background check, the cost of your high speed internet, phone bill, and on top of that they take $29.99 from you pay every pay period for administrative fees. You cannot make money through this company and they are a rip off!
I started with Arise back in March 2008. Doing all the right things, for Arise; incorporate, computer, phone line, bank account, etc. Only to be treated unfairly. My first client, Virgin America, which I worked for about six months, eventually did not renew their contract with Arise, thus terminating all ACP's, in Oct 2008.
Being in need of income, I put in a interest and got excepted to Interval International Exchange (II) and paid my $150. Soon after my credit card was charged the $150, Arise then gave us a credit for $100, to be used on our next new venture. But unfortunately, I was not allowed to use mine. Why? Because, responsible as I was, I applied and paid for, a new client, II, before the credit was issued. Arise's response was basically, to bad!!
Going through the classes with II and being certified, on November 19, 2008, I received my codes from my instructor, that following Monday. She instructed me not to post hours until all the phone systems are downloaded and are properly working. For the next three weeks, not able to download Avaya, I have been with Arise live support, Arise resolution center, my supervisor, with II and, they have ignored my plea's for help. I have not received any calls, which the live support tech said I would from II, nor emails. NO ONE CARES, THEY JUST WANT THE MONEY! I did all the right things and was treated, unfairly and lied to.
I have since sent my letter of resignation to II and have filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau, and in less than five days, was able to get a legitimate job, from a legitimate job agency.
If you are looking to do a "at home" business...think second on Arise/Willow!
What you are reading is true. I have been with Arise for about 2 years. I have had 2 clients and the only one that was decent to work for was AAAMSC. But then they dropped their pay, telling us that we would make more money this way...try to figure that one out, so I started looking for another client so I could make more money. I also moved and was dealing with illness, flu type illness, so I could not put in the required hours. They terminated me. Before I started with AAA I took a class for Carnival Cruise. The first time I took the class I went through the whole class and started the certification calls and I was working for a couple of days. Then my instructor said they could not certify me and I had to take the class over or try something else. Since a friend of mine was also signed up to take the Carnival class, I did sign up for the class again. I had to pay for the class the second time, as well. While in the class, when I wanted to participate, the instructor said, "No you can't answer, we know you already know the answer" so she would not let me do anything. I helped others that were in the class and helped the instructor explain the "How to's" in the breakout rooms and when I got to the certification calls, I got ONE call and was told I could not be certified AGAIN. Of course, there were NO refunds.
After I was terminated from AAA, my PF was hoping I could get recertified because she knew I was a good worker but Arise would not let me recertify so I tried with Apple. Well, I passed all the tests with flying colors, and did everything with above average results but when I took the certification calls, the PF's that did the mock calls lied on the score sheet and gave lame comments which gave me very low scores. I had to get at least an average of 80%...well they made sure I didn't. I even told my instructor and she felt terrible but had her hands tied, supposedly, and could do nothing about it. Now I just finished a class with Disney Dining and the same thing happened. I flew through the class and did very well on the tests and was helping others that needed it. I even made cheat sheets to help others understand the steps help input the info on the application. But when it came to certification, the application did not work properly, they said we were taking live calls with real people and they were not, they were scripted calls made by PF's and they did not certify me because of the lies that the PF's reported. I have proof of this because my brother sat through the Apple class and the Disney Dining class as well as the certification calls. He saw what went on and how scammed me twice. So if the person that wants to hire an attorney and file a class action suit, count me in. They do not care, they are stealing money right and left from people in so many ways it is unreal. The rebutals are are just people that are paid to make positive comment for Arise. They are not a good company. They do not care how they financially drain people and you can not talk to a human to discuss anything.
Beware of this company!! I signed up for Arise full well understanding that I would have to pay a fee to train for one of thier clients. BUT, no one could have possibly predicted until you work for this rip off company that shortly down the line your "metrics" AKA, your performance will cause you to be terminated. It took a little while for this to sink in, unfortunately after paying for a possible job with a few companies. I noticed that all of a sudden an "Opportunity" would show up on their site. I was truly confused why they would be calling for MORE agents when people couldn't even get enough hours to meet their minimum "SOW", service agreement. How can you hire more people when you can't keep the ones you have busy? Arise is so un-responsive it is rediculous. You have to put in a request for help if you are in a jam BUT there is no one to help you. The end result is that your metrics suffer so your performance suffers and you are terminated. Their systems go down alot and they blame you for that also. I should have known better when I paid for a class, this is a scam. You might work, BUT not enough to make a living. MAYBE a few do, but for the vast majority all you have to do is look around at some of the websites for people working at home to see how angry Arise agents are over not getting enough hours or being terminated due to their metrics. I FINALLY figured it out what is going on with this company. They lure you in, you pay for a class, you might qualify, go to work and then get no hours. They put up a request for more agents and the cycle continues. The result of this is that Arise makes TONS of money for classes full well knowing that people will get annoyed and quit and if they don't, no problem, Arise will figure a way to get rid of them so they can have another class and make money that way. The classes cost on an average of $200 upward. You are in virtual school for many weeks and at then might not even qualify to go to work. To add insult to injury IF you get a job you have to pay Arise a fee every 2 weeks. The joke is you might not even get any hours so you end up paying Arise and work for FREE! This is a scam plain and simple. You have no recourse or rights. BEWARE!!!!
I have just recently completed a certification course with Arise to work with a major cruise line and did not pass. Arise uses their affiliations to find homeworkers for major corporations in cruising, dining and retail to appear legit when in fact they recruit four or five times the people needed to fill the job openings, charging them hundreds of dollars for their training courses and certification programs.
Their software applications fail continously during the training period, whilst their instructors rapid fire information in the online classrooms, constantly warning that the client(the cruise line, communication company, etc) has very high standards and students must work very hard to comply. Students are told that if they fail it is their own fault, not that of arise. The applications used for their clients are antiquated and in the class that I was in, there were over twenty screen codes to learn, each have different navigation instructions. While speaking with a customer online it would be necessary to access other databases to explain details of corporate offers. It is a very complicated and antiquated system.
No refunds are offered under any conditions, even when the applications fail and students cannot hope to catch up with the class. Students are told that no retakes are permitted. The class I was in, four people said that they were taking the course for a second time, without paying for the privilege. I was denied that opportunity. I am over 60 and possibly that is the reason I was refused.
In addition, I am due a refund of $99.00 for a class that I was encouraged to join even though the instructions excluded those in my area code. I was told that I would be refunded the money if not accepted because of the location requirement. I paid for the course in early august 2009 and have not received the refund yet. The last communication I had with the Resolution Center, asked for additional information (they could not identify the refund information).
I would be interested in joining any class action suit against this company and its unfair business practices.
You can take the advise of the people that have made comments on this web site or you can sign up to Arise and find out for yourself and then we will read your complaints and comments after about a month of being certified. Arise has taken my money and they don't care what kind of hardship you are going through. They feed off people that are desperate to work because they are layedoff, or unable to work for some reason or another and they know that every dollar that you invest in working for this company is very hard for you to come up with and when you sign up for a certification class for a company you express interest in they only certify a very few people out of a class of 20 to 30 people. You get NO refund and you get no second chances. If you want to work, you will have to sign up for another company and take the class, which us usually a month long, and hope that you get certified again. Read these comments, they are not lying. The one that uses foul language, she is just so mad after the treatment she has received that she is ready to blow. It may not be professional but that is how Arise treats you and they push you to the edge with no feelings for the agents, or others that are below them. She is just showing how far Arise will go to screw you and use you, and above all, SCAM you. So like I said, you can believe what is said on this site or you can go sign up and find out for yourself. If someone is willing to hire an attorney for a class action suit...you can count me in. Oh and the rebutal comments on these comments are nothing more than dronds that get a bonus for writing something nice about Arise. The comments are not written by the real agents. Arise will steal all your money then they will spit you out and shove you down the tubes. I have reported them to the BBB and the Attorney General as well and I am not afraid to sign my name to this. Arise stole from the wrong person this time.
Arise Virtual Solutions Inc. Formerly Known As Willow Beware, you should NOT have to spend money to get a job! Miramar, Florida
Beware of this company!! I signed up for Arise full well understanding that I would have to pay a fee to train for one of thier clients. BUT, no one could have possibly predicted until you work for this rip off company that shortly down the line your "metrics" AKA, your performance will cause you to be terminated. It took a little while for this to sink in, unfortunately after paying for a possible job with a few companies. I noticed that all of a sudden an "Opportunity" would show up on their site. I was truly confused why they would be calling for MORE agents when people couldn't even get enough hours to meet their minimum "SOW", service agreement. How can you hire more people when you can't keep the ones you have busy? Arise is so un-responsive it is rediculous. You have to put in a request for help if you are in a jam BUT there is no one to help you. The end result is that your metrics suffer so your performance suffers and you are terminated. Their systems go down alot and they blame you for that also. I should have known better when I paid for a class, this is a scam. You might work, BUT not enough to make a living. MAYBE a few do, but for the vast majority all you have to do is look around at some of the websites for people working at home to see how angry Arise agents are over not getting enough hours or being terminated due to their metrics. I FINALLY figured it out what is going on with this company. They lure you in, you pay for a class, you might qualify, go to work and then get no hours. They put up a request for more agents and the cycle continues. The result of this is that Arise makes TONS of money for classes full well knowing that people will get annoyed and quit and if they don't, no problem, Arise will figure a way to get rid of them so they can have another class and make money that way. The classes cost on an average of $200 upward. You are in virtual school for many weeks and at then might not even qualify to go to work. To add insult to injury IF you get a job you have to pay Arise a fee every 2 weeks. The joke is you might not even get any hours so you end up paying Arise and work for FREE! This is a scam plain and simple. You have no recourse or rights. BEWARE!!!!