The contract that I made with Voiceville Communications Inc, a call center in Cebu Philippines is still gathering dust in my desk - a notarized document totally legit  and stamped by a lawyer in the Philippines says it all - the problem with doing business in the Philippines is that the paperwork is all correct, but the loyalty and trust has gone - there was none. The authenticated papers were worthless because the promise of their management team was empty, to say nothing of the credibility of the virtual assistants that they supplied.

The taste in my mouth still delivers a bitter lesson of my dealings with other Filipino firms in the Philippines - one strike and all the goodwill is lost. Do you know what I mean?

Voiceville have a credible web site, but their references are fraudulent, and I remember the disappointment that AskSunday had with the team supplied of virtual assistants - in the beginning they supplied mature experienced people but later they swapped that maturity for a young inexperienced crew - what a pity, and what a shadow that gives to the Philippine people - I guess their management team were just plain greedy.

This I remember happened to a company I network with in Watford (UK) who employed an Indian company, who on their first contract did a brilliant website for them, and then on another deal left them wanted on the time delivery, and as a result they lost a longstanding client.

It all boils down to trust, and a reminder that if you pay peanuts you may certainly get peanuts.

At times I use people per hour and have had a recent experience that a job I posted to be done in Asia, had so much interest, and a lot of freelancers answered but few of them had tangible references, but since I was guaranteed a certain amount of safety with my deposit I went with some of the bidders - they were people who boasted experience, good qualifications, and I felt so sure that my task would be done on time. Yet they all were unable to do the job at hand, and one by one they backed out - one asked me frankly to pay upfront by Western Union, but there were no guarantees. Fortunately I didn't, but I missed the deadline that I set for the job to be done, and there was a certain slackness by the site's owners to refund my deposit.

Be warned whoever you do business with - free trials etc don't buy me - if you have good customer service deliver it!

Unlike the other Filipino firms I deal with, I do use Filipino staff and we do display traceable business references.
We also use Paypal which does in fact give clients a certain degree that theu can get their money back if they are not satisfied with the service.

Catch Friday Media Ltd supplies virtual personal assistants who are reliable.