The Following is an email I got from one of my readers where she talks about her interaction with Voxbox india:
Hello,
Has any of you ever rendered VO services to companies in India and did not get paid? We did and, after 7 months of pursuing payment and sending repeated messages, we were challenged to search for the end client and pursue payment through them. However, it was not the end client who contracted us. It was this Localization Company in India by the name of Vox Box where the three people running are: Melory D’Mello, Michelle D’Mello and Shaw Pereira. They are all listed in Linkedin if you want to take a look. What is sad about this situation is that they have been banned out of sites like Voice 123, Voices.com and others for failing to pay their VO job on time. So, just a friendly warning…. Some companies located overseas could not pay you for your work.
We welcome any suggestions, comments and appreciate you passing the word to all your colleagues. We will not get paid but, at least, we can help all of you avoid a situation like this.
Sincerely,
Isabella Arévalo
Talent Director and Spanish Voice Actress
Certified Spanish Translator and Interpreter
IsaTalent International ITI
“Offering Ethnic Voices and faces”
Another Reader sent me this complaint against VoxBox:
“Hi Mahmoud,
I saw your posting (about voxbox) and The same company sent me this email when I inquired about payment for another voice talent. It shows the depth of his unprofessional way of doing business. The only thing this person has done right is market himself – he has plastered his information all over the internet, making himself appear to be a large, well-established company. In reality, he is a charlatan who once played guitar in a failed rock band in India. It’s very sad – he does not pay his talent.
…”The people I pay late are the inept ones. They are being made to wait for payment because they sucked at what they did.
Yours Sincerely,
Melroy D’Mello
+919833020332
http://www.voxbox.in
Sent from my iPhone”
I can assure you the talent is by no means “inept” and is one that my clients request repeatedly. This talent has almost 20 years experience and has always delivered a perfect performance!”
And another email from another Voice Over Artist:
Hi everyone! I am the Spanish VO female who was not paid by Vox Box and Melroy D’Mello in India. I truly appreciate all the support and feedback I have received from a ton of fellow VO professionals. The emails keep on coming non-stop! This goes to show us that even when we demand and receive a deposit in our pay pal accounts prior to commencing the project, we still cannot trust that we will be paid for our work. I also wanted to share that I received messages from Voice123, Voices.com and Bodalgo to let me know they had banned this character and his Box from their sites and had received complaints about them before my inquiries. I am posting an email from Aline, another female VO colleague who is not being paid by Vox Box. She wrote the following:
From: Alline
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 4:08 AM
Subject: problems with VoxBox
Dear Colleague,
My name is Alline, and I’m also facing problems with VoxBox. I even had to record (over 50 files) twice, as they asked me to record them as mono, low quality files and then complained about them. Almost 2 months have passed since I sent the files, and they keep on sending me excuses and apologies.
I wonder if there’s anything we can do to stop them!
I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon,
Best regards,
Alline
VoxBox is now posting voice-over jobs on translation sites such as TranslatorsCafe.com
I passed your feedback on to TranslatorsCafe, and as a result, VoxBox is now banned from that site as well.
Karma will always catch up with you!
Excellent Job Paul,
I think these people are pretty much painting themselves into a corner…. and your karma comment is very appropriate and works very well in this situation… it also works well with the more western saying what goes around… comes around.
taji
Thank you for passing the word to Translators Cafe Paul. Deeply appreciated. In spite of the fact that Karma comes as a second nature to people in India, it is totally disregarded by VoxBox. We are more aware and respectful of it than they are. How ironic!!!
Just had a request from them to do a job – after reading your post – this is what I sent:
“Your reputation is well-known… so, NO THANKS!!!! Some advice: Pay your talent.”
Thanks for the heads-up!!:)
Thanks for the warning, but be aware! It’s not just companies in India that default on payment.
A company called Cream-Club or CABTEC have actively recruited voiceovers for some years. At the moment, I am in a legal suit against them along with other Equity members, so will not say too much. Look out for a Company Director called Craig Cook, also Alan Kersley, they seem to migrate with the company under its various guises.
I have learned that many county court judgements have been brought against them, but they just open up again under a slightly different name.
Be Warned, and stay vigilant!
And they still exist! I just received an email request for an audition from voxbox.in. Glad I did a google search before replying, and also glad that this here post and thread was one of the front page results. Into the trash it goes.
I just received an email from VoxBox asking me to submit quotes for my work. I will not be working with them after reading these posts. Thank! Kathryn Fields, Voice actor
They also did not pay me. I’m absolutely disgusted with this company. Something should be done with the Indian chamber of commerce. Either that or we get a concerted campaign to go after their clients and tell them VOX BOX DOES NOT PAY THEIR VOICE OVER ARTISTS
I wish I’d read these comments before I took a job for Krishna Chapter from voxbox.in, two months ago!
I’ve completed a 20,000 word job for Voxbox.in and made all the corrections they asked for within 48hours… Guess what?
No reply when I email them, no money has been paid $450 too and no sign of it coming either. I will naturally be proceeding to use a debt collection agency in India if they fail to pay the balance.
Very disappointing to work for a company with so little regard for the little guys in the business.
Word of advice do not work for Voxbox, you’ll be taken for a ride!
Hope that helps.
Well, that’s a turn up for the books! I asked them politely to pay again and gave them a date to pay by, before I instructed debt collectors and they paid in full… Result!
This company posted a job ads on upwork.com
I’ll let ya guys know if the updates if I get the job.
They did the same to me. Although,the amount was small and i would had forgotten but the excuse they made was unbelievable. They alleged that i used google translate for translating the content. This allegation was made only after i asked for payment. Nice timing and Very convenient.