Affiliate Program Fraud?

Join a program, earn commission but not paid.

[Rufus_dog]

I am wondering if anyone has the experience that you join an affiliate program, earn commission but do not get paid and the company does not reply to your email message. What is the best way to handle this? Is there any place I can report this?

I have encountered this recently. Worse still, I've just checked my affiliate earning report and everything reset to zero. Just a few hours ago, it showed that I have generated ~$500 in sales revenue.

[Dinkar]

Try another program. Don't promote them and keep posting your experience whenever someone ask about them. But DON'T start new threads or post in very old threads just to cry.

FYI: I have also lost few thousand $$$$, I know how it feels :(

[jomaxx]

IF the traffic and the methods you were using are perfectly legit, then keep at it. Phone them up. Phone conversations are a lot more compelling than simply sending an email.

OTOH, if you were using spam, spyware, junk traffic, bidding on trademarks, or mass overwriting of cookies as strategies, then check the terms of the agreement because you probably violated them.

DON'T start new threads or post in very old threads just to cry.

I disagree. It probably wouldn't be allowed here, but there are lots of affiliate forums where you could name names and warn others.

[Rufus_dog]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I don't use any spam, spyware or trademark violation. All I did is to add product information on my website. Are there any good affiliate forums I can visit? I am very new in affiliate marketing.

BTW, I am in Hong Kong and due to the time difference, I did not think of contacting them by phone.

[edited by: eljefe3 at 3:59 am (utc) on May 30, 2006]

[teenwolf]

Dump them. NOW. This is half of the battle with AM -- Trial and error. Move on to another affiliate program. The faster you can recognize this kind of behavior, ther better.

[jomaxx]

I still think it's worth figuring out what's going on. If you can make $500 for them you can make $5,000 for them, so it's in any company's best interest to work with affiliates rather than ripping them off.

[simey]

not that uncommon.

[edited by: eljefe3 at 3:59 am (utc) on May 30, 2006]

[Essex_boy]

From one site on that subject 'We need your username and password to access your stats page regarding your file. By supplying this information, it allows us to printout the proof of monies due, that we need to process your case.'

Yeah that made me laugh as well.

[hunderdown]

Do you know for sure that there wasn't a fraudulent PURCHASE which has been backed out of your earnings? That does happen, so until you are sure that the transaction was legit (and I don't mean your part of it--I mean the customer's part), I'd be cautious about next steps.

I ask because affiliate reporting is sometimes less than informative, and cancelled or reversed transactions can show up in different and hard to understand ways....

[Rufus_dog]

The Collection Agency won't help as my earning report was reset to zero.

As for fraudulent PURCHASE, I doubt it, can't believe ~20 copies are all fraudulent purchase. I will check with them again after the holiday.

[edited by: eljefe3 at 4:00 am (utc) on May 30, 2006]

[hunderdown]

Rufus_dog, I agree, 20 separate transactions sounds like a different story. I couldn't tell from your original post if it was one or more.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

[Rufus_dog]

Hello all, I think my problem is going to resolve soon. I got a reply from the affiliate manager. They had some problems with the online report during the weekend, so everyone's record reset to zero. Now it is displaying the earning again.

As for my payment, they said they sent it to my old address :( so I did not receive it. I sent them my new address before but I guess they missed my message.

[jomaxx]

Great news.

[venrooy]

Like a previous poster said, it is in their best interest to make their affiliates happy. Show me a site that steals from their affiliates, and I'll show you a site that won't be around for long.

[mann]

Show me a site that steals from their affiliates, and I'll show you a site that won't be around for long.

Debtconsolidation.com steal my commission and give stupid reasons while I caught them red-handed (I have proof but matter is a year old).

Just posted here to show you all that there is some program who pays Big Affiliates and Steal from Small Affiliates.

This is a FACT and you have to accept it.