What is Directly?

Directly is a better way to get help. Our site makes it easy to get fast, personal attention from experts who know the industry and company you’re dealing with inside and out. Our community of experts sign up and work independently in their own free time. They earn rewards and reputation, and can cash out their rewards or donate them to one of the non-profit causes we support. The site is free, with paid options for advanced targeting and better, faster help. Directly is an independent community of experts and is not sponsored by any big company, although companies can informally encourage team members to sign up and help customers.

How does it work?

Great question. Look here :)

Who are the experts?

Experts include current or former employees, partners, or people who know the company and products well enough to be considered, well, expert. To become an expert, a person has to show that they are know athe company well via a LinkedIn profile or other public link. This verification isn't perfect, but makes it difficult for someone completely unqualified to help.

What’s in it for the experts?

Some experts like the rewards. Others like being able to reach other experts for free when they need help. Some simply like helping people with problems, and donate their rewards to one of our causes.

What does ‘beta’ mean?

If you see a beta tag on something, it means we’re in the very early phases of launching that part of service. It’s not like Gmail’s highly polished beta, so expect some rough edges as we learn what’s working and what isn’t. It also means we’re adding companies one-at-a-time, so if you have a problem with a company that is not on the list, you can request it on the home page (once you sign up). We'll launch the companies with the most requests first. 

Can anyone ask for help?

Yes. Visit the home page or any other page and click the ask the experts box. If you are an expert, you’ll be able to ask an expert for free. If you’re not an expert, your request will get more attention if you offer a reward to the person that provides the most help.

How do the pay options work?

You can pay premium faster answers, guaranteed answers, targeting to top experts. All paid services havewith a money back guarantee if you're not satisfied with the help you've got. 

Do I have to pay?

No, but a small payment will get you more help, quicker help, and better help. 

How much of the payments do the experts receive?

Directly splits each payment evenly with the experts that helped, so an expert will receive $5 of a $10 payment. We cover all hosting and payment processing fees from our split of the reward.

Do I have to reward if I don't get help?

No. All payments have a money back guarantee.

How is payment handled?

All payments are handled by either Authorize.net or Amazon, depending on your preference. We don't have or hold any credit card or financial information.

What if I don’t have an Amazon account?

If you don’t have an Amazon account, you can create one or choose to by paydirectly by credit card. We may add other payment options in the future.

How do I become an expert?

Visit the apply page. You’ll be asked to sign up and show you are close to the company by giving us a LinkedIn profile or other URL. You’ll also be asked to create your superhero identity, your alter ego. It takes 1-2 days to be approved as an expert.

What are these superheroes and super-identities all about?

By day, Mr. Incredible is Bob Parr, Spider Man is Peter Parker, and Superman is Clark Kent. When you become an expert, you can create a super-identity that’s different than your day-to-day persona and real identity. When you ask questions, you’ll use your real identity. When you answer questions, you use your super-identity.

As to which one is technically your alter-ego, we’ll leave it to you and David Carradine to decide – here’s our favorite scene from Kill Bill:

What are the benefits of being an expert?

Experts can earn rewards for helping people. They can also ask other experts for help for free when they need help, and their questions are featured more prominently and get more attention. Some experts only help other experts.

What if I don’t have a LinkedIn profile?

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, you can enter a link to your blog, or Twitter stream, or anything else that shows you are close to a company or an expert with its products.

Who can help customers?

Anyone can browse the questions, but only experts see all public and private questions, and only experts can earn rewards by helping. If you are already an expert, click the dashboard link in the upper right to pick a company and view questions for that company. If you are interested in becoming an expert, please click become an expert in the footer. 

Why should I answer questions?

Beyond rewards, experts that help more people will have their problems prioritized when they need help. They get faster and better help from other experts.

What should and shouldn't I say when helping people?

Use your judgment when offering help. Most people can be helped by pointing people to information that’s out there but hard-to-find, or information that’s been given to other customers with similar problems. Don’t give out information that’s confidential, and don’t mislead people. For a complete list of do's and don'ts, see our acceptable use policy.

What does the helpfulness grade mean?

Every expert who answers questions is rated on how helpful they are. Their actions are combined into a letter grade that gives customers an indication of how helpful an expert has been in the past. The more helpful they are, the higher the grade.

How is helpfulness calculated?

When a customer asks a question, they can rate the answers as helpful or unhelpful. An expert's helpfulness is the ratio of helpful ratings out of total ratings. The letter grade adjusts this raw score for other factors, such as overall activity and whether or not the expert has been upvoted or downvoted by other experts. 

How are the companies selected?

The companies in the beta are the ones that were mentioned most frequently during our interviews and surveys of hundreds of consumers.

What if I need help with a company not on the list?

If you need help with a company that is not on the list, you can request it on the home page (once you sign up). We'll launch the companies with the most requests first. 

How is privacy and anonymity protected?

When you ask a question, the default is to use your real identity. When you answer a question, the default is to use your super identity. In both cases, you also have the option to remain completely anonymous.

Why was my email address rejected?

To protect people’s privacy, we encourage them to use personal email addresses.

Where can I learn more?

Check out our Privacy Policy and our Terms.

Is Directly free?

Yes and no. It's always free to sign up. If you are an expert, it's also free to ask for helpproblems. If you're not an expert, you can ask for help for free, but offering a reward will get you faster and better help.

How do rewards work?

If you are not an expert, you can offer a reward for help. When an expert helps you to your satisfaction, you’ll be asked to release the reward, and we split the reward evenly with the expert who helped, and cover all hosting and payment processing fees from our split of the reward. All tips are processed through Amazon Payments or Authorize.net.

Is there a guarantee?

Yes. Since you decide if and when you’ve been helped, you control if your reward is paid to the expert. All rewards have a money-back-guarantee. 

How do tips work?

Outside of the reward, the person asking for help can always tip one or more experts. Some people offer a tip if the problem wasn’t solved but the expert helped, or offer a tip in addition to the reward when help was more, um, helpful than expected. All tips are processed through Amazon Payments or Authorize.net, and all tips are split 50/50 with the experts.

How is the money divided?

We split each reward and tip evenly with the expert that solved the problem, so an expert will receive $10 of a $20 reward or tip. We cover all hosting and payment processing fees from our split of the reward.

How are rewards redeemed?

Any expert can cash out any portion of their balance at any time via Amazon Payments.

How do I flag something objectionable?

All the problems and requests for help have a “flag question’ link, which starts the review process. Please see section 12 (Copyright Policy) of our Terms, which explains how to bring any objectionable content to our attention.

What if I have a customer support issue with Directly?

You can try to contact us via our contact page. If you're getting the same old corporate run-around, you can also reach an expert at Directly here.