Whatever your reasons for ordering an essay online are, you probably want to get the best out of this investment. That is, you want to receive a high-quality text that meets your requirements at a relatively low price tag. And, surely, you don’t want to be left with no money and no essay (or a poorly written one).
Of course, ‘beware online scams’ is hardly a new commandment for students who practically grew up on the internet. But, unfortunately, falling victim to a scam is easier than you might think. The thing is, just because you know that essay-writing-related scams exist doesn’t mean you won’t ever make the mistake of trusting one.
There is one way to mitigate the risks, however: do your research before placing an order. In other words, read up on what others have to say about a certain service. But it’s no secret that not all reviews are created equal, so here are 5 platforms checking which should be on your to-do list.
Part 1. Detailed Overviews
The following three platforms work akin to a mystery shopper. The reviewers place an order incognito, communicate with customer support and the writer as a client, and assess the quality of the received work.
NoCramming
NoCramming overviews are extensive as their authors assess each service against an array of criteria. Their level of attention to detail is outstanding, as proven in the NoCramming.com My Perfect Words review. Each overview is summed up with a pros-and-cons table and six scores that contribute to the general grade:
- Price;
- Features;
- Ease of use;
- Quality;
- Support;
- Reputation.
NoCramming publishes a detailed description of their customer journey. What’s even more important, they take into account customer feedback from TrustPilot and SiteJabber.
This platform currently has 16 overviews of the most popular essay writing services out there, and there are more to come.
ScamFighter
This platform started out as a passion project of an Illinois State University graduate who has had his share of experience as both a customer and an essay writer. Fast forward several years and ScamFighter has been featured in tech news for students multiple times. Now, it has a substantial community of users that contribute their own feedback to the platform.
ScamFighter reviews start out with a pros-and-cons summary and describe the service’s:
- online reputation;
- guarantee policy;
- types of services offered;
- ordering process;
- prices and fees (including any hidden ones);
- paper quality;
- customer support;
- offers and extra services.
Every overview is also summed up with a Frequently Asked Questions section. There, you’ll find the authors’ conclusions on whether the service is legit, good, and reliable.
There are over a hundred essay writing service overviews on ScamFighter at the moment, and you can sort them by experience, price, quality, and timing.
EssaysRescue
This platform was started by professional editors and writers and now contains more than 75 reviews on essay writing services. As is the case with the previous two platforms, EssaysRescue’s posts are extensive and in-depth. The platform assesses each service’s:
- paper/essay quality;
- website and its ease of use;
- customer support;
- reputation;
- policies.
Each review is summed up in a pros-and-cons section at the beginning and a FAQ one at the end.
Part 2. Customer Reviews
Of course, the reviews on the following platforms aren’t going to be as descriptive or detailed as on the ones above. Still, they are as valuable as ‘mystery shopper’ overviews because these comments come from real customers.
That may not always be the case, though. To filter out untrustworthy reviews, focus on long, detailed comments. It’s also a good idea to check out negative reviews: many customers tend to make an effort of posting their feedback only when something goes wrong.
SiteJabber
SiteJabber was founded in 2008 and quickly became the go-to place for online businesses’ customers to leave their feedback. Now, the website has a separate Essay Writing category with more than a thousand businesses present. This list is ranked and can be sorted by the number of reviews and the consumer rating.
Each essay writing service has four scores based on their customers’ reviews:
- Service;
- Value;
- Quality;
- Shipping.
Reviews.io
Reviews.io came into existence in 2010 as a project conceptualized by Callum McKeefery and Nikki Albano. Now, it’s the second most used customer feedback platform with more than 13 million reviews posted.
The business pages and feedback are fairly simple. Unlike SiteJabber, each service has only one rating, without any additional assessment criteria. But there’s a Questions section that allows users to reach out to businesses via Reviews.io.
In Conclusion: 4 Tips on Choosing the Right Essay Writing Service
Reading reviews is important, of course, but it’s not the only thing that should be on your to-do list before you place an order. Here are 4 more tips on how to make the right choice and get the best value for your money:
- Know your selection criteria. These include the type of essay or paper you need, all requirements towards it (content, style, formatting, citations, etc.), your budget, and time frame. It’s also a good idea to provide reference materials (relevant textbooks or study notes) to the writer.
- Don’t opt for the cheapest option. The cheapest rarely means the best (or even good). Of course, money is usually scarce in a student’s life, but you’ll probably end up having to pay twice if you go for the cheapest option.
- Read the fine print. Every service has a Guarantee Policy and other policies on pricing and refunds. Make sure you understand when you’ll be charged, whether there are any hidden fees, and what your refund rights are.
- Make sure revisions are free and unlimited. You wouldn’t want to be stuck with a text that doesn’t meet your initial requirements, would you? Writers should be available for your revisions at no additional charge.
