Dear Forum Viewers,

Whilst we are aware of the views expressed by the site owners about Deveraux and Deloitte -
http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=1431&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60

and their general opinions on the academic writing industry,

http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=1431&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

we believe that the actions of Angela and Richard Hoy in policing this matter have done an unnecessary disservice to you, themselves, the reputation of this forum and our company.

Deveraux and Deloitte wish to issue an official statement in order to counter the statements contained within two threads bearing our name on Writer’s Weekly.


“Firstly, despite Deveraux and Deloitte’s view that the personal feelings of the Writers Weekly Administration have often overridden clear, objective judgment and courteous action on their behalf, the company would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any offence caused to Richard and Angela by any communications sent by members of Deveraux and Deloitte’s staff or their agents. After reviewing some of the mails in question, we would like to comment that they are at times not befitting of conduct expected by Deveraux and Deloitte, and accordingly the relevant parties have been warned for their, at times, overly personal comments.

Contrary to speculation fuelled by a statement form Richard Hoy (Angela Hoy’s business partner), placed on this forum, Deveraux and Deloitte welcome the debate on Writers Weekly about the academic research and writing industry. We welcome both positive and negative opinions about the industry and indeed our place within it. It is company policy to take on board all fair and accurate comments about us as constructive feedback.


However, it is Deveraux and Deloitte’s opinion that by creating such a useful forum like Writers Weekly, a primary concern for Richard and Angela must be to facilitate an honest and open debate that properly informs and educates their readers. In our view, such an objective can only be achieved if the Writers Weekly Administrators use their best endeavours to reasonably police the accuracy of facts contained within forum posts.

Especially, when those directly concerned challenge such accuracy.

Accordingly, to assist the Administration with this goal, Deveraux and Deloitte made numerous requests that several posts concerning our company be properly reviewed, and edited or removed accordingly.

Deveraux and Deloitte maintain these posts contain varying degrees of fabrication, incorrectness and on occasion, potential libel.

Deveraux and Deloitte have offered to submit evidence that we believe reasonably rebuts the content of the posts in question, but these requests have, unfortunately for both parties, been ignored. The only reply of genuine substance that has been issued to Deveraux and Deloitte, illustrates the Site Administrators view that the responsibility for wrong or illegal content does not lie with Writers Weekly.

An official policy that Deveraux and Deloitte hope you will agree, is not conducive to honest and open debate, nor useful to writers hoping to obtain accurate information about potential employers or business partners such as ourselves.

It is Deveraux and Deloitte’s view that such a policy is far from conducive to preventing misuse of the Writers Weekly forum, and that in fact it may actually encourage such misuse and diminish the usefulness and reputation of the forum.

Despite assurances from Writers Weekly, we have not bee able to contact any of the posters we have complained about via e-mail to take issue with them. Equally, our requests to Writers Weekly to reveal several IP addresses have been ignored. Furthermore, Writers Weekly have categorically stated that because the problem is simply not theirs that they will not cooperate unless we use an American based lawyer.

Whilst we do not approve of the expense to both parties that this action entails, due to the alien jurisdiction we are located in and the vulnerability of our position, we have no choice but to comply with their wishes.

Accordingly, Deveraux and Deloitte request that Angela and Richard Hoy allow us the honour of rebutting the posts we have taken issue with in public, in order to mitigate the damage caused to our company and any damage caused to Writers Weekly.

We can only hope that in light of this incident, Angela and Richard modify their procedures accordingly for the protection of all involved.

Indeed, should similar posts about Richard and Angela Hoy, or their business interests ever manifest themselves on other forums, we sincerely hope that those forum owners will display a more protective and objective approach towards the Hoys, then has been afforded to us.


Deveraux and Deloitte maintain that several of the posts below are objectionable because they cover important issues, yet contain glaring factual errors. Furthermore, it is Deveraux and Deloitte’s position that some of the posts below cannot reasonably be said to be true, or proven as true, nor can they be held to be simple or mere expressions of opinion, but are presented as fact.

Accordingly, some of the posts have caused - and continue to cause - material harm to the business interests and reputation of Deveraux and Deloitte.”




Post 1

http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=1431&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60

This company offers extremely low-paid jobs: I've been offered to write 2000 words Strategic Management report for 27 pounds!!! It will take anyone to do it at least 4-5 days, therefore the pay is less then 1 pound an hour! I'd better go working for Tesco!!!

Alex

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Reply

The writer of the piece in question would have been paid £80 at out current rates. Our UK undergraduate standard rate is £80 per 2000 words, and the lowest that it has ever been – in early 2003 - is £60 per 2000 words.

Our top rate for undergraduate writing is £320 per 2000 words.

Accordingly £27 could have never been offered for a piece of this size.

Deveraux and Deloitte have offered to provide Writers Weekly with a full list of rates, past and present, to corroborate this claim, yet no response to our offer was ever made.

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Post 2

http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=1431&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=75


Jeez, that brought a tear to my eye. Can't wait for the movie to be released on video.

One guy said that he took 4/5 days to produce a 2,000 word essay for 27GBP, less than 1GBP an hour. Another said she would only take 4 or 5 hours to do it.
Well, I do not believe she could write on a specific question on a specific topic such as the Russian Revolution, that she would only know in a general sense at best, in 4 or 5 hours. And to a 2:1 degree standard. That frankly is rubbish.
I wrote one essay (3,000 words) and it took me 25 hours for 80GBP. Quick and hurried research was included in that. So I earned just over 3GBP an hour.
Yes the guy was right, Tesco would pay better. I may be able to increase the speed slightly, but still it would not be worth it.

I do believe I may have answered the question, rather than just self-righteously criticised everyone.

One of BookCoverDesigner's illiterates.

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Reply

Deveraux and Deloitte refute the claim that our positions are poorly paid. However, it is admitted that writers with a speed of just over 100 words per hour may view the financial return for their efforts as reasonably low.

Yet, even at the astonishingly slow speed claimed by the poster above, our top rate for undergraduate pieces would pay you £12.80 per hour or approx $20 per hour.

Over 40 hours that is of course £500/$900 per week for writing just 4000 words.

Those that can write and research 500 words per hour – a good speed – will find our base rate equates to about £15 per hour or over 40 hours, £600/$ 1,120 per week.

At that speed our top undergraduate rate pays £53.30 per hour or approximately $100 per hour.

Rates, when it is considered are for pieces that are wholly chosen at will by the writer involved, we believe, are the highest within our sector of freelance academic writing..

We believe our high rates are testament to the fact that many of our writers, even those that have other commitments, such as full time jobs or postgraduate study, are able to invoice us regularly for £3,000 plus a month.

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Post 3

http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=1431&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0




http://www.blagger.com/scripts/db4.php? ... e8c9a1c89c

This company calls itself a supplier of research papers to students and general members of tghe public in need of a research paper. They operate in the UK, Australia and the USA. I worked with them for a feww months and a the moment of remunaration they came up with a story of plagiarism to avoid paying me my salary. They are very smart as only reachable via E-mail. I contacted Jon Tudor via E-mail and even wrto to BBC Watchdog about this. I received an abusive e-mail from Jon Tudor and never heard form the other partner Stephen Deveraux or anyone else from the company about that matter. I only received a pathetic sum not even worth half of the money the company owed me!!!! IF OYU ARE A STUDENT AND SEE THEIR ADVERT RUN AWAY AND IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF A PAPER PLEASE, PLESE DO NOT COMMIT THE MISTAKE TO GO TO THE: SCAM!SCAM1SCAM


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Reply

Deveraux and Deloitte believe this claim is libellous. We of course do not operate any sort of 'scam', whatever personal views about any industry we operate in the poster may have. Moreover, we have never 'just been contactable by email', and have 3 landline phone numbers on which we can be contacted. The US number is toll free.

Deveraux and Deloitte have always paid our researchers promptly and will only remove writers for legitimate reasons such as copyright fraud, or poor quality. The latter with pay.

We have asked Writers Weekly to provide us with this researcher’s full name so we can provide them with the reasons for their removal, this request has not been honoured.

Similarly the person in question never replied to our request for information made to their post on another forum – indeed the forum that they have linked their very post to.


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Post 4

http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=1431&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15


Angela, it is obvious, that this company is using WritersWeekly to increase its PR coverage!!! How cheap is that!!!

Back to top

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Reply

Deveraux and Deloitte have never engaged in this forum in order to promote our company, or for other purposes, bar offering this official statement. To suggest otherwise insinuates that we are involved in illegal spamming activity and is certainly damaging to our reputation.

Several researchers have placed posts, and whilst by and large we commend them for doing so on, we would also like to take this opportunity to highlight the point that their views do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Deveraux and Deloitte.



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Post 5


http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=1431&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30



All i know is that this discussion has put me off getting a job at DD. They have just offered me a job but it sounds like 1 big scan. The email sent even looks automated like its sent out randomly to poor innocent students roping them in to a nastey trap. The company has sounds pretty dodgey and i dont like what they r doing to students work, but if university lecturers did more than #### all may be we wouldnt have tried so hard to cheaply cheat gettin results.





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Reply

Deveraux and Deloitte view this as irrefutable proof of the damage caused by the posts that we have complained of.

Needless to say, allegations of traps and scams, are unwarranted, unsupported and libellous.


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Post 6

http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=1431&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=75



I thought I'd throw my two cents in here, too, since I was approached by Deveraux & Deloitte at the beginning of the year. I was hesitant to accept the contract because it just didn't sit right with me - writing term papers for students who should be doing it themselves.

Then I found a discussion about them on Monster between a lot of other people who had been approached by the company as well. About five posts into the discussion someone from Devereaux & Deloitte who had discovered the forum and blasted any naysayers. They were incredibly rude, used excessively strong language (no swearing, but calling people in the forum who were nervous about joining "idiots" and "morons") and by the next day, all ads for the company had been deleted from Monster.

I wouldn't touch that company or any of their affiliates or subsidiaries with a 10-foot pole; however, since I've never worked with them, I can't know if they're a good employer or not. But it strongly goes against my ethics and my pride to work with a company who a) produces term papers for students and b) calls people names because they have questions.


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Reply


Deveraux and Deloitte wish to highlight that most of this post is incorrect. Our adverts were never removed from Monster, and ran their full 60-day cycle, as was agreed and paid for between both parties.

At no time did Deveraux and Deloitte use the language or approach claimed by this poster - despite being the victim of libellous posts. On the contrary, we received a compensatory discount from Monster of just under $1,500 on the posting costs due to our complaint about libellous material not being removed in a timely manner being upheld.

We asked Writers Weekly to contact Monster UK (who act as agents for Monster USA) should they require further proof of this event. It seems that thus far they have declined to do so.



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Thank you for taking the time to read this statement. In accordance with our current legal advice, we will not be posting further statements on this forum until and if we are prompted to do so by our advisors.

We wish the Hoy’s and all readers of this forum well now and for the future.

We would also like to extend our thanks to Angela Hoy for allowing us to post this statement on Writers Weekly.

Should we need to communicate further with the owners of Writers Weekly, at their request, we will do so through an American-Based Law Firm.



Kind Regards,

Deveraux and Deloitte

Warned?! If this was a US company that person would be fired. To the people outside of your company your employees do not just represent you, they are you. When you employ someone you are giving them permission to speak for you whether you agree with what they say or not. A person from your company, representing you, harrassed and insulted the owners of this site. Why would you continue to have someone speak for you like that?



Which they do to the best that they are able.



Did you read the notification that the opinions expressed on this board are solely the responsibility of the poster? What is it about this concept that you are unable to understand? First of all, negative opinions do not equate inaccurate, libelous, slanderous information. Opinions are based on one person's experience with a particular company. Second of all, you have had ample opportunity to come forward and clear up the misconceptions about your company. Instead I see insulting posts by people who work for you slamming others for their opinions. Is this how you defend your company?



What you are asking for only exists in a vaccuum. You are asking that everyone that posts here to be honest and upstanding and have accurate information. While that is a noble thought and probably a good percentage of writer's do that, there is always going to be someone who doesn't like you and will do whatever it takes to hurt you. And because we weren't there or involved in that particular situation we don't know that they are lying. That is why it is up to YOU to set the record straight by responding to the allegations.



How would you feel if someone gave out your information all willy-nilly to anyone who asks. It's called privacy laws and all companys must abide by them. If you want the information, go through the proper channels.



Not wishes. Laws.



Visit more forums. You will find that this policy is prevalant all over the net because people's opinions are the property and responsibility of the person expressing them. Basically the scenario you are trying to spin is this: I'm standing at a bus stop next to you and a stranger. The stranger says something negative about you to me. Based on your logic, you would hold me responsible for what that person said and have me make them not say it anymore or delete their words. Interesting.




When people come here, they are looking for information and they are going to get it, good or bad. If you feel the information given is inaccurate, even though you feel it is irresponsible on the part of the person to put out the bad info, it is still your responsibility to correct it. As far as I've seen, no company has been barred from doing so thus far. If you had of come out and did this months ago, maybe you wouldn't be having this headache now.

The academic writing industry? Perhaps that industry* should consider a more descriptive title for what it does. Let's see..:

1. Cheaters R Us
2. Ethics, we don't need no stinking ethics, Inc.
3. Sleazeballs Committed to Academic Misdemeanors (SCAM)



Tom Nixon

*Please note, gentle readers, that I have attacked the industry. I'm sure this particular company does not help college students cheat by selling them research papers. :shock:

_________________
The SmallPress Blog
http://www.smallpress.typepad.com

I must admit, this is one of the best loads of blarney I have read in a long long time.

On the one hand, we have an organization that helps students cheat (for a fee of course) - thus for all ethical purposes invalidating their degrees (assuming the student does not get caught and kicked out) and creating future opportunities for those individuals to fail professionally. Yeah, that is truly a way to make the world a better place.

On the other hand, we have a forum whose stated purpose is to allow persons to share their experiences and opinions in an environment where their legal right to privacy is respected.

And somehow, this ethically challenged business seems to feel it is entitled to legally protected information, even as it has chosen to not address the remarks in a public setting for months. I have to wonder - why the response at this late date? How many people and how much work time did it take to craft this jewel of a response?

Bottom line - if the only writing assignments I could find were within the so-called "academic writing" industry, I would dig ditches or flip burgers. At least the work would be honest and I could sleep nights.

Mike Tatum
Montgomery, AL

Why is it, do you suppose, that "ethically challenged" companies who choose to play with guns invariably shot themselves in the foot? Could it be that they can't see "straight"?

<snickers>

I had posted this a few days ago on on the their other threads, but I think it's relevant here, too:


Just for the record, if Angela or Richard Hoy were to ever hand over personal information about me they garnered from running this website, without a valid subpoena, I'd be all over them for violating my rights so fast your head would spin.

In short, you do not have any right to ask any personal questions about anyone. You're an anymous entity on the internet and could be anyone, anywhere of any character. If you feel you have just cause then you are going to have to follow the same laws and do it the same way as anyone else would: Hire a lawyer, get a subpoena and begin action against the individuals you feel have wronged you.

I'm in Canada, so plan on hiring a Canadian lawyer, also. However, being Canadian, I am fully entitled to publish my opinion about your business, and the last time I checked they didn't extradite people across the Atlantic for civil matters.

Cathi

Whilst at work a colleague, by coincidence, was looking at a forum dedicated to a particular type of marine engine, whilst I was looknig at the Writer's Weekly forum.

"Why on earth are people on Ameircan forums so overly agressive and in your face?"

I had to agreee, there does seem to be a cultural difference. Opinions on US-based forums are never proffered for consideration they are thrown with considerable force.

This can lead to problems with rage-filled arguements developing about something that was a minor point.

I have done paid research many years ago. But not for colleage essays, I hasten to add. I do not agree with some of what Deveraux and Deloitte do, but I have, however, no problem with some of the research functions of this company.

I find it rather amusing that someone decides to write essays so that other people can pass them off as their own, yet is then enraged that he is caught for plagerism and then, and only then, decides that perhaps this was not a decent form of employment.

A case of biter bit, perhaps?

Someone wondered why the member of staff was not dismissed for what they posted? Simply because to do so in Britain would have probably been illegal.

Does this person visit British forums?? Have you ever read some of Mississippi's or Rita's very British posts on ABCtales.com forums (those that aren't deleted)? It was on that forum last week where I first heard the phrase: "sue my middle finger"..

Deveraux and Deloitte is a British firm, isn't it? That's where their pretend lawyer is from.

Cathi

Everyone,

A good rule of thumb regarding privacy on the internet: there is none. It seems that a good hacker can find out information about just about anyone. In a sense, one makes a deal with the devil when posting online and accepts some risk of being found out. I don't think Angela and Richard Hoy would release information about posters, but some people (e.g., stalkers) are obsessed and will go to great lengths to find out information, and if they are computer experts, it's not all that difficult. I can't imagine having such time on my hands, but that's just me.

When I post, I assume that what I write is very public and, so, try to post accordingly. Therefore, I'm not afraid to sign my full name. If I feel uneasy about something, I don't post it.

Having said this, I'd like to throw in my two-cents about Deveraux and Deloitte. I teach college English courses, literature and creative writing, and I have to tell you that I find these term paper mills quite repugnant. When I catch my students cheating (and, believe me, I have), I come down hard on them. I announce this hard-line policy up front, the first day of class, and I tell them that there are ways to catch plagiarists without barely breaking a sweat. Google is great for catching cheaters, along with turnitin.com and other such websites.

These term paper mills exist because, somewhere, students have learned that almost anything can be bought, including a college degree, but students often forget that plagiarizing can carry a huge price. I once had to tell a graduating senior that she wasn't going to graduate because she had stolen another student's paper and presented it to me as her own. It was heartbreaking, but you know what? I didn't flunk her; she flunked herself. She made a conscious decision to cheat. Of course, I was disappointed, but I have no control over another person's actions.

The people who run these mills and write for them don't see what happens to students when they get caught with their bogus papers. They just accept their profits and paychecks and move on, it seems. So, quite frankly, if a writer gets ripped off by a term paper mill, so what! Bad company deserves what it gets from bad company.

Deveraux and Deloitte (and others like you), no matter what your disclaimers say, people buy your papers for one reason and one reason only: to plagiarize, to deceive, and/or to receive an unearned grade.

I sleep well at night. Do you, D & D?

Jennifer Semple Siegel

_________________
Website: http://www.LiteraryAgentBlog.com
Blog for student writing: http://www.Publishes.us
http://www.itsJUSTwar.com

I have to agree with Jennifer on this. As a highschool teacher, I have already had students lose marks they can't afford to lose because they have chosen to use work from D&D or others, believing they won't get caught, or that it's ok because "everyone else does it".
As both a teacher and writer, I have a hard time trying to get my students to understand that people who sell this type of 'service' aren't doing them any favours. If students are doing it in highschool, they will do it in college and out in the real world. I'm trying to teach my students to think for themselves and when I read a paper I KNOW isn't theirs it makes me sad.
Perhaps we should start giving organizations like D&D the same grade I give my students for cheating - zero.