Should We Use Vocal Stories To Highlight Platform Issues?
What Should We Do When Vocal Ignores Issues? This Has Reared Its Ugly Head Again
Introduction
This is a result of some recent issues that have not been platform-wide on Vocal, but have severely affected some creators who are Vocal Plus members, and therefore pay for a service.
So What’s Happened
Vocal got hit by another Denial of Service attack and finally set up a Status page (which I had been publicly advocating for years, and they published this story about it. That was something that affected all creators and Vocal itself, so something was done about it.
And this is where I advocated this last year:
As I write this, I am on the fourth day of being unable to post on Vocal due to a system error. I have raised a ticket, put a website error message on Discord and emailed Vocal about my problem. At this point I have received no response.
Recently, Jay Kantor lost everything (thankfully restored now) and Mark Gagnon has been having issues. Judey Kalchik highlighted this on Discord, but there seemed to be no response.
This is the email I sent
I Am Unable To submit any Vocal Stories
Mike Singleton
to Vocal
This has been the situation for two days.
I have raised a ticket and put a question on Discord.
When I save, I get this
Also, my page 301 of my stats is not being picked up by the system.
Sometimes the story appears in drafts, but when I try and access I get this
I am paying for my subscription and if this is not fixed I will go public with it and cancel my subscription.
Given all the support I have given Vocal over the years I find this behaviour very unprofessional
Mike Singleton
Conclusion
I am not happy with this situation and am sorry I have to resort to this backup account.
The only way Vocal might see this is if it gets on the leader board, but as this is a backup account, I know that is unlikely.
This is an update with the Zendesk replies to three of my enquiries on this
And the lack of response on Discord
Thank you for reading.
About the Creator
Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred - EBA
This was a profile for my more adventurous posts. Now I'm using it for an emergency backup. A glitch has stopped me from posting on my main account and Vocal refuse to acknowledge my tickets
Keep reading
More stories from Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred - EBA and writers in Writers and other communities.
Vocal Creator Support
Introduction I am still unable to post on my main account. I have been unable to post since Saturday. I left it for a day, expecting the situation to resolve itself, so I raised a ticket and got this automated response.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred - EBA2 months ago in Writers
Comments (28)
I’m sorry this was happening, Mike and hope the issue got resolved.
My goodness Mike, what a lot to go through to post a story! At least I know I'm not alone, as I've had those issues too and thought it must be my laptop. At this point, with it happening so much, Vocal needs to pay us a salary.
Indeed you did it Mike, leadership board!! It's highly unprofessional to have questions go unanswered for days. I hope Vocal finds a way to resolve all the platform issues in a timely manner.
JUST TO LET EVERYONE KNOW. THE ISSUE IS THERE IS A LIMIT OF 3000 STORIES ON VOCAL. THAT INCLUDES DELETED ONES. THEY ARE LOOKING TO INCREASE THIS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU VOCAL,
Just came over from your considering the situation post to support you and help get you on that leaderboard! Any updates since yesterday? https://shopping-feedback.today/writers/considering-the-situation-ii?via=mike&fbclid=IwY2xjawKaOW5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtTzjRxTLhBAbmoyQjc1FqPHGEHVp7-BziMfwf9Gm27jrWaYhzTvBufJnUEp_aem_45GllAZROJcKGVexUNUU8g</span></span></span></a></p></div></div></div><div class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
JUSTIN, WHERE ARE YOU??? JUSTINNNNN!!! Mike still can't publish. Please fix this for him ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
Don't worry, we're joining you here. Let's hope this gets sorted quickly.
Why isnt this top story yet, WELL WRITEN.....
They're sure taking their time on fixing the issues. Is anyone awake over there?
I have had this issue several time when editing on the platform as opposed to in word or other such program. It has happened enough that I have learned to save in word or only to copy into vocal when I am close to publishing- accepting the risk that all might be lost. Given my relative computer illiteracy in this " intuitive" era--which is not intuitive I just assume I am not the only one who suffers from system failure. Perhaps that is why I am more forgiving of the platform . I still am at the stage where I accept limits of my own and the platforms capacity.. but gather it is reasonable to expect more... for now I remain humbly grateful for the advancement of technology and hope it can keep up with itself.
Just to say a huge thank you to everyone who has shown their support by heating and commenting. It means a hell of a lot to me
Ahh there’s a nested error! Try this and let me know if it works: Create a new draft, copy your story there, etc., and submit. That should solve the problem. Let me know.
I cannot believe you of all people are being ignored. You publish so much and do so much. Sorry that happened to you.
Vocal-- Silence is too often your response to our petitions. When Silence continues day after day, it amounts to neglect. This is supposed to be a place where writers feel safe. Currently, the only people that feel safe here are plagiarists, scammers, spammers, hackers, and theives. Awards for Top Stories result in us being targeted even more. These people are everywhere, supporting each other. They especially love liking any story about A.I. and thievery-- as a way to cover themselves. If we can identify them, why can't you? We support Mike, who has supported everyone for so long. He leads a Facebook group that does even more for Vocal authors. He is the Best of The Best. If he's upset, we are even moreso. We need answers. A status report isn't enough. Respond to petitions.... and direct responses to stories like this. We Unite Behind Our Friends. âš¡
This is exactly why I have stepped back from publishing: fear of getting lost in this tangled web of incongruencies. Thank you for bringing more details to our attention MikeyD!
Does anyone know of an alternative way that Mike can contact support? What's the most reliable way? Do they have a phone number he can call?
Hoping Vocal gets this worked out soon. This is unacceptable.
Let the people speak! This is our expression for weekly or daily meetings at the office or newspaper offices. We the people are the cornerstone and creators that make this platform work.
I saw this linked on Facebook and had to check it out, I've had some similar issues but they typically resolved on their own in a few days. I wonder what's going on on the other side of the looking glass.
The last time I emailed them with a question they never got back to me either. And then a few weeks later hit me with what I assume was an automatic email asking how satisfied I was with the response to my issue 🤣. I've had my account for a while but only started really writing and sharing last year. I've enjoyed myself here and I'd really like to stick around. Really hope they pull themselves together soon.
Bizarre they are not getting back. Novel too cannot comment I’ve heard. Who even are you Mike!? A secret account lol. Love it!
I think it highlights many problems that Vocal likely is not equipped to handle…or they would’ve already. What bothers me is that there is no attempt to communicate to members (or investors!) with transparency.
This is terrible! I've been wanting to upgrade my membership, but I feel like there are too many issues right now. I don't want to give them my money.
Vocal really need to get their house (and website) in order. In the second paragraph, you may wish to edit the line 'and the published this story about it.'
It is ridiculous what is happening as I can see on social media that quite a few people are having problems and Vocal are being unresponsive and, well, useless. Not what you expect from a company that must earn a lot from so many subscribers. Their customer service has always been a joke though. I do hope they manage to sort it out for you asap.