Work From Home

I’ve Tried That Investigates: West At Home

Much of my day is spent browsing the web in search of new information. I usually dedicate an hour or so to trying to catch up on the latest scams in order to better educate myself to pass the knowledge on to you, my lovely readers. Usually when you come across a blog post or forum thread giving astounding praise to a program, they’re almost always promoting a scam. Even though it’s deceitful, it’s just smart business.

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I came across my first ‘West at Home’ discussion in a forum a few days ago and I didn’t think much of it. The original poster had asked if it was a scam, and the follow-up response denied that claim. There wasn’t any substance there so I carried on about my business. A few days later, I discovered an entire subsection of WAHM.com dedicated to West at Home and that’s when I realized that maybe this is something we should be looking at.

The Program

West at Home hires people as customer service representatives to take inbound calls from home. Those working for West at Home are considered independent contractors and are thus not technically employed by the company, but rather you pick up outsourced work. Essentially, you will be running a customer support call center from your home. There are no start-up fees associated with West at Home other than the required equipment. West at Home requires either a VoIP or landline phone and a broadband internet connection in order to work for them. You probably already have both of these items.

West at Home employs people to do a variety of tasks from their home. These tasks range from customer care, live chat and email, and incoming sales calls. You’ll be assisting a number of companies by handling their customer support. An average day could include assisting an individual with resolving a billing inquiry, helping another customer purchase an accessory for their new wireless phone, or providing assistance/troubleshooting on a non-working product. West at Home offers paid training and claims that if you are qualified, you could be assisting your first customer within days of applying.

If you choose to work with West at Home here are some companies you may be dealing with. Technically, you aren’t supposed to talk about West at Home clients, but this is IveTriedThat.com not FollowTheRules.com.

  • HSN
  • H&R Block
  • Office Depot
  • ProFlowers
  • Sears Home Repair
  • ShopNBC
  • Toys “R” Us
  • Virgin Mobile
  • Walgreens
  • Whirlpool
  • And more…

Getting Paid

In terms of payment, there doesn’t appear to be a set $/hour number anywhere. I’m assuming you’ll be paid more on the quality and quantity of work that you do. After browsing around for a little I’ve seen some people saying they were receiving anywhere between $0.12 and $0.30 per minute. That sounds incredibly low in terms of cents per minute, but that works out to be anywhere between $7.20 and $18.00 an hour. Again, these are just ballpark figures.

There you have it. West at Home is another legitimate way to make money at home in your spare time. Now I know some of you reading this are currently West at Home contractors. I want to hear your comments below. Let us know, first-hand, what it’s like working for West at Home.

http://www.westathome.com/

145 thoughts on “I’ve Tried That Investigates: West At Home”

  1. This company is LEGIT. Don’t take it from me but, just for the know, I have been working with them since 2013. You start getting your feet wet and dependent on you keeping your employee agreement (schedule and performance metrics) all is paid via ADP myAline Card/Direct deposit. This includes training and work hours. Every project works different and there may be times hours are minimal. Not something you can base your living off. SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME.

    Reply
    • West Corporation acts as a temporary employment agency. They have contracts with the larger Fortune 500 companies to provide customer service reps to take customer service phone calls for that company. West charges a fee in which the company pays. Out of that fee the actual employee that takes the call gets paid a small portion and West keeps the rest of the money. That’s how West makes its money and that’s how they outsourced you as an employee to other companies to take phone calls

  2. I work with this company some years back. I was paid for the training and completed it. I really enjoyed the set-up, especially talking with different people. My down fall was getting enough hours. There were so many representing, everyone fighting for hours. I didn’t have any problems with my pay being deposited. They had me working with HSN.

    Reply
  3. I have tried to apply for this company, but they aren’t eligible in my state. I wonder why that is. It is an at-home job. That doesn’t make sense.

    Reply
  4. I worked for West At Home for about 8 years…They are a good company to work for especially that you actually get to choose the hours you would like to work. The Pals are very nice and always try their best to help.
    What I did not like is when there are issues and request information, you always have to do it in writing to who knows who….there seem to be no direct person, supervisor to talk to.
    I would recommend this company for anyone who would like to work from home. The pay is really not good and for all the years it has never increased….so that would be something you would want to accept working for West.
    Right now, I was just dismissed in January because of a Test call we always took once a year..where a Pal plays to be the customer…I completed the call and was told I Passed..however another Supervisor listened to the call and told me i failed and blocked my account. Another Pal called me and apologized for the miscommunication between the pals that lead to me losing my job. I am now collecting unemployment and looking for another work from home job.
    good luck to all who work for or apply for west…we all can and will have different experiences but its always worth the try…I just wosk the pay was better . Good Luck. Anyone want to write to me.. sweetypie553@gmail.com

    Reply
  5. I went thru all the module training and passed. I have till next Sunday to take a total of 4 incoming calls…but I am having trouble with their programs pulling up . I have windows xp and ie. but I read somewhere that XP will not work and I need ie 10. Is that true? Also I don’t understand how the phone call process works,, I have a headset and just to test it, i was talking to a family member and i took the handset off the phone, cliked the headset button –and I could hear family loud and clear, but they could not hear me speaking. Any help, & answers to my questions & suggestions asap would be appreciated.
    Thank you

    Reply
  6. I have finished all training & downloaded their programs that are to be used for taking calls. I fee that WAH should test your phone to make sure the line is ready and your clairity is good. I have a corded phone with a head set,,, and when talk to someone to test it myself, I can hear that person very clearly, BUT they can’t hear me talking. I don’t understand how their call taking system works. In the training modules it showed a program where you clik on the “talk” button. Is that how the calls come thru-thru your computer? I really think they should help you thru the phone call taking first, before you actually take 2 test training calls. Any advice on the headset and corded phone and how the program actually works?

    Reply
  7. I have just started at WAH and I do wish I had better training. I will say that the PAL’s are wonderful and very helpful. I did not want this skill that was offered to me but decided to accept it in order to be hired. Although it is not something I would like to do for a long time I do want to do it well and wish I felt better prepared to help the customers. If we would like to learn new skills how long do we have to stay with the first one? Can we work more than 1 skill at the same time in order to work more hours?

    Reply
  8. I did not pass one of the modules and was not able to complete the training. Does anyone know how long it takes for them to offer you another position?

    Reply
  9. I have finished my DR training. Now they are telling me to do a “webinar’, anyone know what all it consist of? I was told I have to do a “live” call. What all are they looking for in it and how difficult of a call will it be? (surely its a set up call)
    Just wondering because I have not had a chance to look at a screen and play around to learn it. Only reading through self paced modules…

    Reply
  10. Hey, I recently got my offer letter and completed my 1-9 the weird thing about is that after doing my background check it didn’t ask me to pay. I’m aware that I have a small charge for drinking (probation) so will that prevent me from working with west! And is anybody else going through this problem

    Reply
  11. I agree with “WAH Employee, GA says: April 19th comment 121) I to am a very intelligent person and have always been in the to 5% of any training classes I was required to take by previous employers. Some of them were quite difficult, especially when I worked for Ford Motor Credit Co., we had to learn all retail and lease laws for 20 states and of course the laws were different in each state. I did the training at a pace where I was able to absorb all the information and felt I would be able to do a good job for West at Home. I too did not finish all of the training in 15 hours but, I did pass in all the segments that I completed. I don’t see how anyone can actually finish and retain all the information in 15 hours. I think they are setting people up for failure. If they truly want representatives who do a professional and knowledgeable job for them they should allot more training time.

    Reply
  12. I was hired. Went through everything and now when I go to choose a skill all I see is a message that says “There are no skills open for recruitment at this time. Please check back again tomorrow!”

    I’m hoping it won’t always be there cause if so that’s a horrid waste of my $31

    Reply
  13. VERY concerned with the legitimacy of this company. Sent all of my personal information and final step is for I-9 verification. Sent email asking them for the third party they use to do this (in my research they should have a vendor set up already this since all of their “reps” work from home.) No response and now they have all of my info. BIGGEST SCAM to get your personal data.

    Reply
    • I’ve worked for WAH for 4 year and I can say that it is not a scam. I-9 verification is done through the government and you are sent to a third party site to complete the background check. Also not all of the reps work from home the have agents in call centers.

  14. Let me reassure everyone here with questions about West. I have worked for them since 2008. They are a legitimate company. Paying for the background check was not required when I started but I guess after losing money paying for so many unqualified absences they begin require applicants to pay for it themselves. I love working for West. Make your own schedule in 30 minute intervals and you NEVER get fired (unless you commit and act of fraud or something). If you fail at one skill they simply remove you from that one and in about a month or so later they are emailing you with a new offer. SWEET! Pay varies depending on skill. I have been certified on like 8-10 skills. Some seasonal and some permanent. Great company to work for. Training is paid at minimum wage and you train at you own pace at home with a minimum hour allowance and time limit to complete so as not to spend weeks training just for an easy pay check

    Reply
  15. In answer to Sandyp I applied on 6/30 and received an employment offer on 7/7. Sent money for background check on 7/18 in the late afternoon received an email that I had passed the background check on the morning of 7/19. Seemed awfully fast for a background check. I then was told to go into the skill training site. When I did there were no skills training available at this time. I was assured that there would be in 1-2 weeks. I hope this is a realistic time frame as I am disabled and need the work.

    Reply
  16. I was thinking about taking a position with West at Home and wondering about the 31.00 they ask for a background check. Is this check really done or is it a way for the company to collect money from potential employees. Is this really a legitimate work from company. Is it possible to work 20-40 hours per week. Is it a big problem to get acceptable hours to work.

    Reply
  17. I almost applied for west at home but they are not available in Nevada. I am looking for a flexible job while I am finishing college. I have work for a job like this before but I am looking for customer service experience.

    Reply
  18. Lacey, they don’t have discount background check. I think is around $40 or $50. They do not charge for training, they will pay you and you will get pay the minimum wage in your state. Training could last a week or two depends on the skill they offer you. If you have the chance of getting the training that means you got the job. Unless you cannot finish it up for any reason.

    Reply
  19. I have alot of questions and I hope someine can help me! Does West at home discount backgrounds checks?
    Do they charge for training?
    Do they pay for training?
    How long does training last?
    Is there a chance of taking training and still not getting hired?
    Thank you for reading, hope sommeone can help!!!

    Reply
  20. I Applied On June 12th and then did the phone interview on the 14th. I haven’t heard anything since then. For those hired recently how long was it before you were asked to do the next step?

    Reply
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    Reply
  22. I was recently hired with WAH. My skill was picked for me which was Direct Response. I had 15 hours to complete 29 modules of training with a test at the end of all of them. I passed all of my test at the end but did not finish all 29 of them. I don’t understand how they can expect you to take in and learn all of this information in such a short amount of time. I am a 4.0 college graduate student and I have never felt so incompetent of anything in my whole life! I really want to work for WAH, but not sure what will happen next since I was terminated from that particular skill for not completing it in the time allotted. Has anyone else had this experience and if so, what happened? Did they give you another skill or did you have to wait 6 months to retrain for the original skill that they assigned you to? Thank goodness this is not my only job but was really looking forward to the extra income. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply
  23. I worked for WAH for a very short time. I had a horrible time with Windows 8 being compatible with “their system”. I also took notes during training for the position hired for and did not finish training in the allotted time. I had to wait for “approval” and when I did get that, I had to see the email and get the training completed within 24 hours. I was actually out of town and missed that time frame so another “approval” had to be extended. I have a college degree and have had my own business and felt totally incompetent. There were no examples of what the job would actually consist of, only training. Numerous complaints by first-time CSRs for not enough training. I kept the current position I was in as I only wanted something else to occupy my time at home. Found something else. Good luck to everyone.

    Reply
  24. Hi….I did phone interview bout 2 weeks ago. I receive email within 72 hours saying I did fine..Today I receive email to do phone interview wit one of their companies…starting pay is hourly and require min 30 hrs a week…don’t want to give up my other job but they must have changed a lot cos it seems like I have hours but idk kind of scared to try it now

    Reply
  25. I applied last night to WAH and received an email at 2 am for a phone / computer interview. I to am wondering how long after the interview does it take for them to get back to you and actually start working

    Reply
  26. H Becky, it sounds like this is new tothe process. I have been through this process in 2008 and didn’t have to do a phone interview. I decided to reapply last week and also had to do the phone interview. They say it takes 30 mins but it probably took me more like 10-15 mins. It’s pretty straightforward and the software they use is pretty impressive because it’s not a real person you interview with.

    Reply
  27. I received an email yesterday for phone/computer interview. I haven’t read of anyone else having to go through this process. If anyone has, how long did it take to hear back from them after interview completion?

    Reply
  28. I’m with Ruby Rose on this one..

    West is a great company HOWEVER…that really depends on the skill you get. I started in 2007 and there was some really great skills ones that were consistent and you can have a 40 hour week if you wanted too. However over the years skills have been dropped and most skills now are skills that have high peaks so you can make soem ncie money but after that peak is over.. you are blessed if you get 30 minutes a week…and this can last for months.
    As far as the quality of help.. there have been soem skills that give you job aids and a whole website dedicated to everything you need on a call, team meetings, one on ones – .. to absolutely nothing and PALS that tell you we dont have that info..so you are left like bumbbling idiot with the customer.
    As far as your performance..again all skill related.. there are skills where a PAL reaches out to you lets you know you need to improve on certain things other skills you get pinned for EVERY LITTLE THING After so many you get terminated which is what occured with me. I had a customer on hold for an extended time wiating for a PAL to assist during one of our busiest times and well I do take responsibilty for that b/c I should ahve checkd back however she was extremely upset and I had no new info to give her as I was waitingfor soem kind of assistance from a PAL..and when they did get back to me.. it was we dont have that..just transfer her to cust serv…oh but wait there closed for the next two days…

    I’d say it’s a gamble working for them.. yes there are some great skills, and PALS willing to assist and you can make some great money… but you have no control over what skill you get placed on. If you do work ith this company mind you Ps and Qs. b/c one wrong move can send you out the door regardless of how long or how great your stats are.

    Reply
  29. Hi. I’m newly hired. Just submitted my background check. Question: I am having a problem locating a reasonable priced phone (corded, with headset input jack). Any help, please.

    I keep hearing cordless, with jack but I thought it was corded.

    Reply
  30. Oh, and one more thing!! Their Spanish translations are horrible!!! Yes, horrible!! I often read passages where there were run-on sentences. The sentences also lacked sometimes the subject and sometimes the predicate. There was no correct subject/verb agreement. After I would finish reading the passage, I would ask myself, what did I read?” And, it was not because it was lack of comprehension because Spanish is my strong language. The translations were all wrong and had a ton of bad errors. I even suggested for them to hire me as a translator or a trainer to help those people translate properly.

    Reply
  31. Yes, the company has a different vision. I worked for them back in 2009, I believe, and I felt so bad for those people that would call and I would offer, and offer and offer upsells. Some people just say yes to everything and with them providing you with their credit card number, WAH has all their info. and for all that they said yes to, WAH or the company (that WAH contracted with) will charge their credit card left and right for all those upsells. I just could not do it!! I felt like I was ripping people off and I certainly would not want someone to do me that way. I tried telling them I wanted to work a different skill but I was too new and they would not move to a different type of work. I was harassing people left and right trying to sells them stuff. Some people would get mad, cuss you out, call you names and hang up on you. I quit!! I could not take it anymore. I really did not have any trouble getting hours nor getting hired. For me, it was pretty fast. I did work a project and they promised to pay a certain amount. Then, I got connected and I was kicked out of the system like 30 times and every time I got connected, I would get disconnected. Every time, I called the 1800 number or a number they gave me. Well, to make a long story short, I was told the system was not equipped to handle that many associates working at once. Like I mentioned, I was also promised a certain amount an hour and I ended up getting minimum wage. And, since I was using my home line, I racked up my cell phone bill from making about 30 phone call trying to solve the connecting problem I was having. Yes, WAH does want you to harass people and they are sharks and they want you to become one too!! All they care is for you to make them some money at whatever cost just so the employee can make $7.30 per hour (Texas minimum wage). The best thing you need to do is as soon as you get the email invite to work for them, choose the company you want to work for. If not, they will chose for you. That is what happened to me!! The man that called me told me to wait and not respond to any email because they still had not received all my information even though I had already sent it. If you do not choose a company, they will put you wherever they need you. I was some comments where it says you can have a VOIP phone. No, you can’t!! I just reviewed their site and it clearly states not VOIP phones and no cell phones can be used for doing the job.

    Reply
  32. The hiring process is kind of long, I got hired six months after I applied. But, once you’re hired- you’re in for good unless you mess it up. The training is easy, the hours are flexible and the pay is decent for part time income. I have enjoyed the opportunity so far and see myself doing this until I no longer have a need for extra income. I tell anyone applying, to just expect to wait awhile. And, once they send you the employment invite, respond promptly or call.

    Good luck!

    Reply
  33. I actually just got hired at West and am in my training now. It took a while, I applied seems like a year ago, but it may have just been quite a few months. But anyway, they just wrote me an email last week, and I began the hiring process. I haven’t really started yet but I am grateful because I have been out of work for a while. I’m hoping I can pick up quite a few hours until I can find a full time job. As for the birth certificate, I just scanned and emailed a copy of mine. They have to have two forms of ID, its normal procedure, my Dad used to manage a department for a Credit Union and he did I9 forms all the time, and had to see two forms of ID from that list that they send.

    Reply
  34. i applied about 7 months ago and missed the first job offer but now they have sent me another one and im filling out my w2 as we speak seems like a legitimate working company unlike the survey sites ive been using …. perfect if your pregnant and on bed rest decided to stay even after i have the baby if things go well …. WML

    Reply
  35. I applied about a year ago and did everything hey asked, except I wasn’t sure why they needed my real birth certificate. So I never mailed it. Does anyone else get that too?

    Reply
  36. Hi there, I have been moved through the hiring process pretty quickly. I am not on the background check phase. I submitted on Friday. The website says it could take 4-7 business days. Can anyone give me feedback on how long their background check took? I saw a comment that it “moved quickly,” but was looking for more of a time frame. I am not concerned about the check, simply eager to begin my skill training.

    Reply
  37. I’ve been doing my 4 hour minimum steadily for about a month. Some times, if I have extra time I’ll sign on for more. ( Last week was 7 hours). The flexibility to work when I want to or can is the main positive for me. Working for less than I made 30 years ago is humbling ,but my business has been slow lately so the extra $$ are welcomed. I’ve really not had too much trouble getting hours.

    Reply
  38. I just applied for WAH on 10/16/13 and received my offer letter today (10/20/13). The process seems to be going pretty quick for me. Maybe because of the “holiday season.”

    I just started with another work at home company about a month ago (on the Sprint program). The training took place in a virtual classroom with 20 other students. It was a bit chaotic at times, because you really don’t speak…your trainer does all of the talking and you post your comments, questions or concerns in the chat room. Friday was our first day on the phones taking inbound calls, and it was horrible! I along with my other 20 classmates feel that we were not prepared for the phones. We hardly received any support from the “support room.” Most of the day, you questions went unanswered from the support room, causing customers to hang up on you or threatened to close their account with Sprint. I am going to hang in there for a little while longer, but if it doesn’t get any better, I’m out of there.

    I am excited about working for West. Hopefully, it will be a much more pleasant experience than the WAH Company that I’m with now. I’ll post here again soon to let you know about my progress with West.

    Reply
  39. When I worked for West, they did not consider homeworkers to be employees. They told us that we were independent contractors.

    They later told us they were converting to employment. So we had to apply and complete the typical tax forms in order to continue our work.

    Reply
  40. WAH is like most companies, they are in love with you when the need is great and when it’s not they could care less about you. I worked on various projects for them and the best one was Direct TV which they lost to another company in 2009 or 2010 I think. Since then getting hours on any project they’ve placed me is like finding a needle in a haystack. They tell you to sit in front of your computers and play wait for available hours to appear on spectrum. Well I find it quite stupid to spend 3-4 hours checking spectrum to only end up with .30 to 1 hour for the entire day or the entire week. Although I’m still an active with them and haven’t had any hours since April or May of this year, I’ve moved on to Lionbridge where the pay is great and the hours are also great and the project I’m on requires no customer interaction. Final comment on west, if you make $8.25 per hour and you are only able to find .5 hours available would you waste your time working that shift???? I wouldn’t

    Reply
  41. Dee Dee, I used Verizon phone service. You should have no problem using Comcast phone service…just like with Verizon, you will need to deactivate most of the features such as call waiting, digital voicemail, etc. You just need a featureless land line (like back in the days).

    Reply

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