Is OhmConnect out of money?

Events of the last month or so seem to point in that direction.
- Cashing out is limited to once a month.
- Prize OhmHours with no points to pay out
- Very few regular OhmHours, even with hot weather
- Buddy points haven't been paid since October 12th.
- Rebate (in points) for Smart Plug hasn't been credited to accounts. (Getting rid of Store inventory?)
- Staff admit they are severely understaffed. Are people jumping ship or can't they afford to hire anyone? I think the programmers were the first to go.
- And now the new status update... Severe cuts across the board which will leave most of us with earnings similar to our 3rd month with OhmConnect.
Did a company that was once thriving commit business suicide by "giving away" $5,000 in prizes each week and turning to gimmicks instead of investing in the company and the users?
So much potential... gone. Just like that.
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FWIW I received my (second) smart plug rebate.
Thanks for that, @Tamal. After a week, I sent an email to the help desk and another OC email address. Never got a response.
I would hope not, they raised $8.5 million in April of this year. (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ohmconnect#section-funding-rounds)
I think the odds are quite low of ever again seeing the $40 or $60 OH payouts we saw in the summer (they've capped the OH at $20 now, right?).
We got in while the getting was good ... it was a good ride!
I would be very curious to know to what extent OhmConnect is subsidizing OhmHour payouts (if at all). I'm kind of hoping that it isn't that high and that the bonuses are coming out of the payout from the grid operators. I guess we'll find out by seeing how much payouts drop when the new streak cap comes into effect.
It's clear that they were spending a lot of money to acquire users. I think it's to be expected that over the time they're going to tighten the purse strings. I don't think this can be taken as a sign that they're running out of money.
I want a token refund on my streak shield.
The idea of losing your streak if you opt out of a no-points OH is the last straw. I for one am cashing out and saying goodbye to OhmConnect. Goodbye. It was a great idea while it lasted but management made a wrong turn somewhere. And to think that I actually referred people .... now I have to apologize to them too.
When I posted this last November, I was already seeing things going wrong. Here we are in February,
I tried to cash out a 2000 reward for a referral, but got this message: Unfortunately, cashing out is currently unavailable
Clicked the link to see why, and OC explains they're being transparent and letting us know SCE hasn't paid them for 8 months. That's not transparency. That's pointing fingers and shifting blame. Read more on the thread: https://forum.ohmconnect.com/discussion/2141/no-payouts-for-sce-customers#latest
If you're not an SCE customer and have points you can cash out, do so, because you may be next!
Update: Go to that thread to see the latest. There was an outstanding conference call hosted by @samklee that has helped me see OhmConnect in a new light.
How do we know it's not a scam? OHM Connect never provided me with proof I asked for. 1,000 points were added and deducted from my account the same day without my knowledge, but OHM Connect never offered any explanation or proof of the transaction when 1,000 points for reaching another tier went missing and they won't issue them back to me. I never received my sign up bonus until I complained and complained. I even complained to the Better Business Bureau, but they didn't do anything. Only 1 guy ever emailed me and he would not directly answer questions. We are entitled to full disclosure, does anyone know where to find full information like Terms and Conditions about the OHM Connect program?
@dotelcomm
Here are the terms-of-use
I cashed out over $600 this morning into PayPal; I have yet to receive a confirmation of the cash-out or to receive my money, but I most definitely don't have any more points. There is no way for me to prove that I ever had the points or that I even requested a payout. I really hope they have money to pay. @samklee will I receive my payout? In a timely manner? I hadn't run into any problems since signing up and thought it was an easy way to save and earn money, I'm starting to feel different about that.
@kziegenh I posted in your other thread.