©06 The Media Desk
http://themediadesk.com
The Desk had started the new article reviewing the http://www.jobsbyfax.com JobsByFax.com's new and improved website with new features and updated information and so on at the behest of the business's owner, one Mr. Matt from Virginia. Well, the Universe had other plans for the Desk and the article. Right after this writer got over whatever evil crud had invaded his sinuses the Desk's van was involved in a fender bender accident (it was parked, the Desk was at the Day Job). The aftermath of the accident involved much driving around and screaming into telephones and at fax machines while dealing with an insurance company the Desk had never heard of trying to get it repaired.... then there was some other nonsense, a homecoming parade and a sudden trip out of town... and 'had started' was all the further it got for some time.
Life has become somewhat more mundane of late and we can pick up where we'd left off.
From what the Desk has been able to find, the people and service behind the JobsByFax.com site is indeed a straight up legitimate business. Yes indeed.
As was mentioned in the article When is a Game a SCAM? if you GET what you PAY FOR, it is by definition NOT a scam.
You pay your fee for them to send out your resume to howevermany businesses who have evidently opted-in (or at least didn't opt-out) of their database. Therefore, since they do complete the service for which you are charged, you get what you pay for. Whether or not you end up with a job is at least as much up to you as it is them after all. They send out your resume, you have to answer the phone and show up to the interview (on time and sober is a good idea) and then go from there. If thirty days later you're not working, they'll send your resume out to another swarm of employers (equal to the number of the original purchase if you go for the 1000 contact package or greater). There are no refunds.
And with this one site, jobsbyfax.com they do exactly what they say they are going to, and from where the Desk sits, it would seem they also back up their guarantee with actual action. Which is more than a lot of 'brick and mortar' shops do, including some temporary service and job placement companies with offices and desks and coffee pots in the corner.
During the Desk's research it did find a couple of complaints, but you can find complaints about businesses ranging from that "you want fries with that?" place all the way through Irma the Internet Used Appliance Lady.
Yes there are scam outfits offering this service to people, they seem to come and go on a regular basis. Many of the "Junk Fax" outfits also offer resume faxing, evidently as an attempt to give their business a coat of whitewash.
AirComUSA.com is a Utah based fax broadcaster. They claim not to be a "Fax Spammer" but their site spends a lot of time talking about the advantages of fax broadcasting without promising they will cover every fax machine in North America.
"Send your resume from your email account using AirComUSA. You can send your resume fax to multiple numbers with a single email. Send the email to an email address that we provide when you register for an account. Place the ten digit fax numbers you wish the resume fax to go to in the body of the email. Attach the documents you wish to send as a fax."
http://www.aircomusa.com/resumefax.html
cut and paste that address and the next one, the Desk doesn't want to risk cross-contamination from the spammer!
Another is Faxtarget.net who promises to send your resume to 10,000 employers for $600. Besides sending your resume out
Faxtarget is a fax broadcaster based in Thornhill, Ontario who says they will send 100,000 faxes (or more) to unsuspecting fax machines in the US and Canada for five cents a fax. Let's let them state their own case [posted exactly as it was on their site]:
"Unsolicited fax really works for promotional purposes. It's a fast way to introduce your product or service to potential prospects. Sure some will ask to be removed (and we take them off diligently - they are not prospects), and some people complain about it, but the statistical fact is that most people will look at the fax upon receipt to see if of interest."
http://www.faxtarget.net/services.html
Enlightening isn't it?
Having a known junk fax outfit sending out your resume may not be the best course of action if you were looking for an HONEST job.
At least if you're looking for a job where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police won't be knocking on your door anytime soon.
As far as can be told without actually digging through their trash bin and perusing their calling records, JobsByFax does NOT use their considerable resources to bombard fax machines with offers for low interest loans, sunglasses, Mexican vacations and stock tips. At least they don't under the JobsByFax name, what any evil cousins do by night is something altogether different.
Also JobsByFax.com has a removal option on their website if a company decided to opt-out of their database. Also they say that the FAX TO number is in the header of every fax they send. Something else most fax broadcasters don't do.
By Law, faxes sent in this manner must have Real and Working removal information on the cover sheet. Most spam faxes have bogus removal information if it is there at all. Others use the removal number to confirm that they have reached a working fax machine where there is at least one person who pays attention to what comes through, then sends even more garbage to it.
JobsByFax.com seems to work to stay within the law. A number entered into their removal window generated a page of hints and tips for ensuring that the number was indeed removed. Including the suggestion that the person entering the number make sure there were no 'rolling over' to the machine in question. A somewhat technical tip that is actually in use in larger businesses with multiple high traffic fax machines.
So there you have it. As with most other things.... used car dealers, online auctions, lawyers, politicians, demonically possessed cult leaders and third world war lords... it is the ninety eight percent of them that give the other two percent a bad name.
Bottom Line:
The Desk would say that if somebody was looking for a new job and wanted to pay somebody to fax out their resume to everybody this side of Pope Benedict, then the JobsByFax.com service would be the one to choose. NOT the others.
Right Here and Right Now, the Desk will apologize to Mr. Matt for calling his service a scam. However, the Desk reserves the right to call him other things if he ever decides to run for Congress.
thank you
Thanks again to Mr. Matt, both for his concern for his business and setting the Desk straight.
[NOTE: JobsByFax.com and the cast and crew thereof paid no consideration or incentive to the Desk for this updated and corrected review. The Desk is not affiliated with the service or the gentleman that runs it. ]
LINKS to Stuff
Outside links will open in new window
The www.jobsbyfax.com website.
A discussion of the Federal Junk Fax Law www.keytlaw.com/faxes/tcpa.htm
The Desk's look at Junk Faxes. In Depth.
The primary Hoax and Scam Page
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