Side hustle platforms like Postmates and GrubHub have created a new way to find flexible, part-time work, which can be a huge help to people who are struggling to make ends meet. This has been a boon to students and recent graduates, who are often overwhelmed with debt built up to pay the high cost of education, as well as for some retirees, who are barely getting by on Social Security income.

However, whether a side hustle is a help or a hindrance varies widely. In some cases, platforms hide unpleasant details in terms and conditions that many side hustlers don’t find until it’s too late – until they’ve risked both time and assets in an effort to get ahead.

While there are also plenty of success stories, SideHusl.com went looking for what real side hustlers had to say. We found a number of hustle quotes that were both cries for help and a warning. These worker complaints should remind you to be careful; look at each opportunity with some skepticism; and do some research before committing yourself to a side hustle. Remember that your time is your most precious asset. Don’t waste it on a platform that is likely to abuse your time and trust.

Here are some hustle quotes that you don’t want to hear; the platforms that spurred them; and why.

Survey sites

Fusion Cash, a survey site, requires users to accumulate at least $25 before they can cash out. But, when you attempt to cash out you might have a problem “validating” your identity.

“FusionCash is the one and only site I have dealt with that, after accumulating the $25 cash out, and waiting approximately a month and a half for their review process, they then deny the cash out and take the money. It is SO easy to make a mistake with them, and they only notify you once you try to cash out (waste your time and money to $25 and then deny you).”

“I spent hours of my time it took me over a month to earn the cash out requirement of $25.00 to be tossed around like a idiot avoid at all costs somebody needs to shut them down!!!”

Music reviews

A number of platforms that allow you to review music, including MusicXray and Slice the Pie,  have a similar formula, requiring users to hit a certain dollar threshold before they can cash out. They have different formulas for making cashing out difficult, according to these hustle quotes:

“The clowns at Music Xray are a joke. When you sign up to listen to music clips, you get 10 cents for each song. They claim you can cash out your earnings when it reach $20. You will get songs to listen to during the first few months. However when your total is approaching the $20 requirement, all of a sudden you will no longer receive songs to listen to. They are full of you know what!”

“Just 10 minutes ago I was on the lovely Slicethepie and I was happily working away getting so close to my $10 payout. When lo and behold! All of a sudden I get a notice saying my account is shut down. Closed because I rated too many 10’s. I will never get paid for the work i did for them reviewing and they keep my reviews for free”

Writing jobs

Text Broker and TheContentAuthority are among a number of writing platforms that pay such a sorry “per word” rate that it’s nearly impossible to earn minimum wage.

If you treat it as a full-time job (40 hours per week), I do not think it would be too difficult to make $200 per month.” – Text Broker writer (Note from SideHusl: That works out to about $1.25 per hour.)

Content Authority sucks. Anyone who pays $5.00 for 600 words is a cheap jerk. I’ve earned about $600 for a 1000 word magazine article many times…They expect perfection yet pay peasant rates.”

Delivery drivers

Many delivery opportunities offer pay formulas that work great for the platform, but poorly for the side hustler who is spending his/her time, car and gas.

“As a driver you get paid in tips only which usually compensates for the gas you’ve used driving around town all day. You get paid weekly but a minimum of $25 is taken out every week due to “delivery fees and other.” I drove around town for 6 hours over the course of 2 days only to make $42 before fees and $18 after “delivery fees.” I used that [windfall] for gas used while driving around for those 6 hours.” – Mr.Delivery driver

“If you dare reject a dispatch (which they claim is your right as an independent contractor) that is on the other side of the delivery area and makes no economical sense for you to accept, you can guarantee business will immediately slow down for YOU. If you reject 2 dispatches in one hour (or miss them due to the faulty app), they punish you by knocking you off the app for 15 minutes.” – OrderUp/Groupon-to-Go driver.