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Review: Call Catcherz/Arise – Homeshoring Opportunities

One of my readers has been asking my opinion on Call Catcherz. This is a company that offers ‘homeshoring’ call centre services.

I’d never heard of homeshoring until this came up. From my research I discovered that this is a new alternative to offshoring – where companies outsource call-centres to foreign countries where there’s cheaper labour.

Homeshoring is a where customers services are outsourced to ordinary homeworkers in the same country as the business is located.

The idea is that individuals take customer service calls from their homes and earn a second income for it.

In the case of Call Catcherz, they’ve set up a company that recruits home workers and offers a ‘homeshored’ customer call service to companies.

When I first saw this, I thought, “This isn’t really a biz opp, it’s an employment opportunity.”

However, I discovered that Call Catcherz ask for YOU to pay fees of £20 a month to them. You have to buy your own headset, high speed internet connection, a second phone line and other bits of equipment. This is unlike most job opportunities where the company takes on the costs.

So in this case you have to invest your own money for the chance to earn some money. For me, this makes it a business opportunity. And quite clearly, having to invest your own money makes this a riskier proposition than simply taking on a job from home.

What I’ve found out so far…

The Call Catchers website has contact details and VAT registration, so that’s a good sign.

If you’ve tried Call Catcherz or any homeshoring opportunity, then let me know how you’ve fared. There’s also a company called Arise who offer a similar thing.

One of the criticisms I’ve heard from people writing about Arise is that they’ve been told they are ‘not needed’ anymore. I assume because the company has enough workers.

If your job is terminated I wonder where this leaves your investment, then?

On the Moneysavingexpert website, a forum user says:

“Me and many others have also paid for disclosure, passed voice assessments, and then been told we are no longer needed…. so have invested days, weeks and ££s in training 2nd phone lines, Ltd co regs etc to be out of pocket.’

Others say the wages are low (but this is to be expected since homeshoring is similar to a company outsourcing to India – it’s got to be cheap!) And some people complain that you don’t get enough hours to make decent money.

I’m trying to find out more about ‘homeshoring’ opps so let me know if you’ve any feedback. My concern with ‘work at home’ businesses is that they’re presented as job offers with reliable incomes… but most are actually opportunities that come with financial risk.

It’s always worth being aware of this downside before you raise your hopes of a second income.

Posted by Sophie on November 21, 2010. Filed under Home Business Opportunities,Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry