First Tsu, now ChatAbout
By Gina
@Gina145 (3949)
Johannesburg, South Africa
August 3, 2016 12:10pm CST
Last night I read that Tsu had shut down. Sad for some, but it didn't affect me because I quit using that site a long time ago.
Now I've just logged on to my computer and found that a site that I have been using seems to be gone too. All that seems to remain of ChatAbout is a message reading "Due to unforeseen circumstances, Chatabout is no longer available."
I'd been contemplating leaving ChatAbout when I reached $5 but decided to stick it out a while longer, so I didn't request my cash as planned two days ago because I like to cash out from more than one site at the same time. Now it looks like that money is lost.
It may not be a lot of money compared to what some people are losing at Tsu, but I'm still annoyed about the time I've wasted there.
23 people like this
25 responses
@infatuatedbby (94914)
• United States
3 Aug 16
I am not a member of Tsu. I joined ChatAbout but I was hesitate about new sites. Now I know the site is not existing anymore. I am sorry to hear you didn't cash out. I always cash out when I get the opportunity because I don't know what tomorrow will be for the website.
5 people like this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
3 Aug 16
@infatuatedbby ChatAbout wasn't so new. I'd been a member since March 2015 and cashed out several times without any problems, though I often heard of others having their accounts deleted for no reason. I know it's best to cash out as soon as possible, but my country doesn't allow people to leave money in their PayPal accounts for long so I like to get a few payments at the same time rather than getting tiny amounts transferred to my bank account. I guess I can't be sure I'd have been paid that money anyway.
3 people like this
@infatuatedbby (94914)
• United States
3 Aug 16
@Gina145 A little over a year is relatively new site. But that is good you were able to cash out a few times there then!
2 people like this
@infatuatedbby (94914)
• United States
3 Aug 16
@zarlamain Yes, totally! We should talk about the lottery now, lol.. :)
@akalinus (43196)
• United States
3 Aug 16
Chatabout recently dropped me after I put in for a $5 Paypal reward. There was no reason for this. I had been there for years and always followed all the rules. I am not surprised to learn it is folding. They would not even answer my email. I don't expect to ever get the $5 and it took me a long time to get the 1000 points I needed.
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
4 Aug 16
@akalinus It may have been totally random. I always regarded myself as the kind of member they wouldn't want because I rarely commented on anything, only doing the daily poll, daily path and watching videos, but they always paid me promptly. I could never be bothered with double points Tuesday, but they wouldn't have had it if they didn't want people to take advantage of it.
2 people like this
@LovingMyBabies (85288)
• Valdosta, Georgia
3 Aug 16
I hate when sites just go down out of nowhere, especially when people are owed money from them!
This is another reason I just stick with MyLot.
4 people like this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
3 Aug 16
@LovingMyBabies myLot is the only one I've really been active on lately, other than my blog and Reddit, which I use to promote it. I joined BlogBourne, but I'm very hesitant about posting there until I know whether the site will pay, and these two failures only make me more reluctant to trust any brand new site.
2 people like this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
4 Aug 16
@akalinus I've got two. One is about my bonsai trees and the other started out being about photography, but I'm planning to use it as a general blog because there's no site I trust for long posts right now (posts that aren't suitable for myLot, that is). The bonsai blog gets decent traffic because I promote it at a specialist bonsai group on Reddit, but I'm struggling to get traffic on the other one. Neither earns much though.
They're both on Blogger. I guess you just need to get creative with titles until you find the right address.
1 person likes this
@hereandthere (45645)
• Philippines
4 Aug 16
i was just there last night (it's lunchtime here now) so i'm surprised. i went there now when i read this and i only get a blank white page, no message at all.
i only cashed out twice, but i agree, they should have told people and not just pulled the plug. even those that gave advanced notice don't seem to stick to their word, either.
2 people like this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
5 Aug 16
@hereandthere I noticed that the message disappeared really quickly. Their lack of communication is really awful.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
6 Aug 16
@hereandthere I never tried that. I wasn't interested in spending too much time there.
@moffittjc (121590)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Aug 16
Should we all be concerned when we look at the big picture and realize that just about every single site like that keeps shutting down? Who's left now? Just myLot? I hope this site is on good, secure footing.
2 people like this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
6 Aug 16
@moffittjc The people running myLot seem to know what they're doing, but I'm very concerned about most similar sites, especially the new ones. I don't think that the people who are starting some of these sites have a full understanding of the amount of work or the risks involved.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121590)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Aug 16
@Gina145 At least myLot has a long track record. They have been around for a very long time, so I hope that means the site is on firm financial footing.
1 person likes this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
4 Aug 16
I am very sorry about that. Do you have a hint why Chatabout closed? Do you think it is just a temporary shut down? I am a member of it but did not get active. I hope it won't happen here in Mylot.
1 person likes this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
4 Aug 16
@Gina145 I understand. We could not do anything about it. What we just can do is to move forward and look for other means where we can earn. How many sites are you using now to earn money online?
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
4 Aug 16
@annierose I'm not earning much online at the moment. I'm concentrating on my blogs, but they're not making much money. I'd like to think that will change in time, but I'm not sure it will. Other than that I'm at myLot when I have the time, I sometimes post to forums that pay through Postloop, and I participate in what studies I'm offered by Prolific Academic.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
4 Aug 16
@annierose I haven't a clue what went wrong at ChatAbout because everything still seemed normal this morning. And when they say the site is "no longer available", it sounds permanent to me. I'm not too concerned about losing that source of income as I didn't really enjoy the site. I just wish I'd cashed out while I could.
2 people like this
@sprite1950 (30452)
• Corsham, England
6 Aug 16
I was amazed when I logged into Chatabout and found a big white page .. I didn't even get the message to say that it had closed. Lately I had only been doing the daily poll, paths and vids but I had just cashed out and got paid after a couple of days - everything seemed normal. I never got into TSU so although I had heard it was closing it didn't affect me. I lost around 200 points on Chatabout but I know some people lost a lot more,
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
6 Aug 16
@sprite1950 ChatAbout hadn't been offering me videos for quite a while now, so it was just the daily poll and path for me. That was why I was considering leaving. If only I'd stuck to my decision, I might have got paid, but those 6 points a day for pretty much doing nothing were tempting so I decided to stay. The lack of videos should have been a warning sign though.
I'm not sure why they took the message down after only a few hours. I'm sure a lot of members are left wondering whether the site is coming back.
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30452)
• Corsham, England
6 Aug 16
@Gina145 I had stacks of Supersonic vids which I could play over and over, more than ever before although they were the only ones I could do, the others didn't work for the UK. I really had no idea anything was amiss.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
7 Aug 16
@sprite1950 There were never a lot of videos available for South Africa. I think most of the ones I got were Virool, but there hadn't been any for weeks. They weren't really worth the bother anyway because I often didn't get credited for those I did watch. I'm really not missing ChatAbout at all.
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
3 Aug 16
I was on TSU one day that was enough. ChatAbout I lasted a few weeks.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
3 Aug 16
@AbbyGreenhill I lasted about two weeks at Tsu, but knew it wasn't for me. ChatAbout was different because of the daily path and poll as well as earning points for watching videos, but I always preferred myLot for chatting.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
3 Aug 16
@AbbyGreenhill I've never done surveys there. I wasn't prepared to waste time reading through their terms of service to earn a few cents. Running videos while I was doing something else wasn't really a problem though because my internet is uncapped and I don't think that it had any effect on my internet speed. Anyway there were never that many of them available for my country, so they only ran for a few minutes every day. The fact there had been none available for a few months now should have been a warning sign though.
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
3 Aug 16
@Gina145 I'm not big on surveys or watching video (unless it's for pleasure!) It eats up my time with HugehsNet and if I run over the allotment for the month they don't charge more but your internet speed slows down so I try not to watch many of them at all.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
4 Aug 16
sadly yer not 'lone, hon. i jest don't trust any'f these places (apologies ya sweet folks runnin' this'un) 'fter my dealin's with 'that other place'. so many seem to take advantage'f folks desire to make a few 'xtra bucks 'n many're faced with time spent tryin' to do such that could'a been put to better, more productive use. i did read 'nother discussion 'bout a place called raba-somethin'? sounds to be kinda like this place, with the same $5 payout done automatic the 15th 'f each month if'n reached.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
4 Aug 16
@crazyhorseladycx I don't trust most of those sites any more either, especially not the ones which are brand new. I doubt most of them intend to be dishonest. Their owners probably don't realise how difficult it is to earn money from sites like that until the money starts running out. I've been reading negative comments about ChatAbout for some time though. I guess I was just one of the lucky ones because I always got paid on time.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
4 Aug 16
@Gina145 well, sounds like a good idea i reckon? startin' a place where others can benefit's well 's 'emselves. i aint sure where all such goes awry, but they sure seem mighty shaky. i've more confidence'n the folks here, since they've 'been there, done that'. i aint here fer the funds though, more the folks i've come to consider family, like yerself. sadly i'd not email addy's fer those i 'lost' when 'that other place' caved, so's no way to know how life's been treatin' 'em. many came here, but there's still some that aint 'n i worry 'bout 'em due to their health issues.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
5 Aug 16
@Gina145 oh, that invasion 'f privacy that many don't seem to think nor care 'bout :) i can't run many programs due to such, coz i'll not allow 'em to follow me 'round like some love struck pup. i reckon i'll remain broke from that bloggin' schtuff, lol.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
13 Sep 16
@Inlemay I still sometimes get tempted, but I try to research sites before I join them. I also tried Tsu, but quit after two weeks without earning a cent. I think I joined ChatAbout shortly before I joined myLot, but I always preferred this site for the friendship and genuine discussion, so I don't miss ChatAbout at all.
1 person likes this
@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
14 Sep 16
@Gina145 I have been here a year now and its been slow and steady with $12 a month, but I have just left the little bits in my pay pal and will cash it out when I need it or when our President does something stupid again to raise the Dollar value to a high of R17 again - hopefully only for a week like in January.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Aug 16
I gave up on that site pretty quickly. It did not look like it would last.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
3 Aug 16
@JamesHxstatic I never put much effort into that site. Mostly I just did the daily path and daily poll, and I used to watch videos for points, but there hadn't been any available for ages. I guess that should have been a warning sign. When it came to interaction, however, I never liked the format of the site and spent what free time I had at myLot instead.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
3 Aug 16
@JamesHxstatic I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one.
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Aug 16
@Gina145 I did not like the format at all either.
2 people like this
@DesirousDreamer (34776)
• Peoria, Arizona
15 Sep 16
That is a shame, I did not really care for Tsu because it was so unorganized and so hard to actually make anything on there. But ChatAbout was interesting, I did not keep up with it, but it seemed like it was doing okay. I hope people actually get their money in some way, seems a bit unfair to lose money on something that was probably not caused by the users.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
15 Sep 16
@DesirousDreamer I doubt anybody received money from ChatAbout when they closed. Most members never even got to see the message about their closure because it was removed so quickly, and I read a lot of speculation over whether it had or hadn't closed permanently. Sadly it's not coming back.
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
17 Sep 16
@DesirousDreamer It's a bit of a mystery as to why that happened. I can't help wondering whether something unexpected went drastically wrong if their closure really was due to "unforeseen circumstances". A part of me really wants to know if someone running ChatAbout suffered some terrible disaster.
@DesirousDreamer (34776)
• Peoria, Arizona
16 Sep 16
@Gina145 That is terrible that they would do that to people. There will always be another website though, hopefully more considerate of others.
1 person likes this
@marsha32 (6631)
• United States
5 Aug 16
I didn't look today but @GardeGerty had contacted me to see if it would open for me today.
I recently had cashed out at chatabout and didn't get in much so was only back up to about 69 points.
I wish they would give a better explanation than unforseen reasons!
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
5 Aug 16
@marsha32 So do I, but even that message disappeared after a few hours. All that's left is a blank page. Clearly they don't plan to communicate any further with their members.
By comparison Bubblews still has a message on their site letting people know that they've shut down.
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
8 Aug 16
@shaggin It only happened to me once. I wasn't a member of Tsu, except for a period of two weeks during late 2014. I knew the site wasn't for me so I left before I had anything to lose there. Many others weren't so lucky though.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
7 Aug 16
I was not active on either site at the time they closed. It's been months since I could log into ChatAbout, and when I wrote to see what was wrong, I never got an answer. I'm almost glad tsu is gone. I knew with my activity I'd never reach $100, yet I always felt pressure to check in every now and then. I did meet some new friends there, but there were simply too many people to try to keep up with.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
7 Aug 16
@bagarad It's good to know that you had pretty much given up on Tsu as well. I always wondered if I'd made a mistake in not using it to promote what I wrote elsewhere, but if it had been worthwhile I'm sure you'd have continued using it for that. There's only so much time any of us can spend online and it's impossible to be active everywhere so we have to work out what's best for us.
@epiffanie (11326)
• Australia
9 Aug 16
We just don't know which sites would close down soon.. I hope this site won't..
1 person likes this
@epiffanie (11326)
• Australia
12 Aug 16
@Gina145 Yes indeed.. MyLot is still here after all these years ..
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
9 Aug 16
@epiffanie No we don't know, but myLot has been around for years so I'd like to believe that the owners know what they're doing.
1 person likes this
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
8 Aug 16
@just4him I get the impression that quite a few people didn't stick with Tsu for long.
I'm not sorry that I lost ChatAbout because I didn't enjoy the site. I'm just annoyed with myself for not sticking to my decision to quit because it's just possible that I'd have got my money if I'd cashed out two days before they closed.
1 person likes this
