How do you deal with slow pay programs who have excuse after excuse?
 

How do you deal with slow pay programs who have excuse after excuse?

I try to practice the Golden Rule and treat others as I would like to be treated, so I always initially assume that a slow paying program has made an error or is having a bad week, as opposed to assuming they are trying to not pay me. So I always start out with the polite email option and eventually point out if I feel like folks are dragging their feet, but I think there are some programs riding out the bad economy on people being unwilling to fuss over amounts around $100. I've always felt like it is easier to just write it off, pull links, and move on, but this is happening more and more now.

For example, I've had one or more programs in the past six months change their minimum payout without notice, change my pay to name on my account so I couldn't cash the check, repeatedly misplace my tax paperwork, complain they don't like my name, even accidentally enter one pay period as a negative number instead of a positive one when changing backend, etc. Getting awfully tired of this and wondering if I'm being too chill about it. At a certain point, dunning people for chump change in private starts feeling like more bother than it is worth, but I don't really want to just let shady folks walk with my money.

right now if its not ccbill, verotel, epoch i do not send traffic (webcams.com and a few other very long timers exception)

Maybe I should look into Verotel programs more. I'm def with you on promoting CCBill and Epoch above most standalone programs at this point. Been trying to expand sponsor list, partly to address sucky economy, but not worth it, if I have to be a bill collector. Then again, some of what I thought were the biggest standalone programs I promoted have done some of this stuff recently. Crazy times.

check is in the mail

Maybe a 3rd party debt collection agency could handle it all for you, and you won't let it stress you.

Yeah, the check is in my mouth; they won't come in the mail.

call them out. bump threads continuously. there are other boards that will make your thread the number one in google for their program name. their are tons of programs pulling shady shit right now - if you are right, gfy has your back.

it's your money. con artists prey upon you to be too afraid to make a stink. also be aware they are going to blame you for calling out their scam, but fuck them.

How long should they hold minimum payouts? I've got a few sponsors that I have like $60 or $70 sitting in their for years now, unpaid. Seems odd that they'd hold it that long. That must be a nice buffer too, depending on how many affiliates they have.

pull links , move on. Need to get these peeps out of the biz so the people who pay can give a bigger peice of the pie.

Yea even though ccbill having wms problems I would only promote programs that use them, vortel,epoch I don't trust nats or mpa3 too easy to cheat the webmaster with them programs! NOW don't get in a hissy I'm not saying nats or mpa3 team is or has done this I'm just saying that some programs that use their services tend to cheat a lot more then you or I would know! *shrugs*

With very very few exceptions unless it's ccbill we don't send traffic.

Not paid? Getting dicked around? Call them out.

They will either pay you right away so that they look good. Or they will not pay you and you'll never hear from them again, at least that way you'll know they are gone.

Nothing bad will come from calling them out. It's like giving a loan to somebody for $20 that never gets paid back... sure, you are out a night at the movies but you also know who to never trust with money again.

True dat.
:thumbsup

Cut off traffic until they pay. When (if) they pay, tell them you want interest on making you wait. If they refuse, don't send them traffic again. They should be bending over for your traffic, so make them jump thru hoops.
WG

Stick with programs that always have paid/will pay

programs like us

Let me guess, one of them was sybian?

I drop programs immediately that mess me around, not worth the hassle.

i'm checking boards, google and asking friends\partners before signup and send traffic. Have not programmes who dont pay or not paying on time in my list. After two delays with payment - i'm pulling links.

1 week late. Pull links.

2 weeks late. Make thread.

Wow, I don't usually even notice if a program is one or two weeks late, unless it is someone I've promoted for a long time. I understand that a lot of programs are not run by huge staffs or anything and someone could get a cold and delay payments for something innocent. Some standalone programs have such arcane systems of pay periods and pay lag time that it is difficult to even tell precisely when payment is due. The programs that really put a bee in my bonnet are the ones where I have to log in to see what is up with payment and then deal with their support dodging me or making excuses, while I have to contact them more than once. I shouldn't have to think to myself that it seems like maybe I should have received payment from so-and-so by now.

Happened to me once, didn't send any more traffic, simple as that. Even though I was paid later, I would never ever send a hit again and I don't care if the reason is a mistake, such errors just can't happen, period!

always remember, every program that stopped paying always at one point paid slow,

Name names. If a sponsor is shady or just plain dishonest, they deserve to be named.

Not affiliated with Score Cash at all, with the exception of being one of my many sponsors, but they are just one of the most kick fucking ass programs out there. Always nice as hell and checks always on time. As is Swank Dollars and many others. There are jerkoffs out there, but the quality programs will always be there because of rock solid reputations imho.

Pull links, plenty of people still making payments on time.

what a hassle... yeah at some point it isn't worth it to even chase them for the money. And companies have ripped so many webmasters that never made the minimum payout, I'm probably owed hundreds, if not thousands I'll never see from that.

good luck Amelia!

some names would be helpful

Bingo!
:thumbsup

That is sadly probably a very true point.

From a program perspective, it's sad to see so many people feeling this way; but from an affiliate perspective, it's totally understandable.
I think what we need is a *completely* unbiased rebirth of the GBU.
Serge, you up for it? :1orglaugh

working with four - five affiliate programs only , maybe that way will never gone have payment issues

That would take too much time from zipping wine and laughing at the zoo :upsidedow

We always pay on time and have been doing so since 1999, send us your traffic if you want paid on time.

We offer epass, check, wire and can pay weekly if you so desire.

yeah these days more and more companies are paying slowly or holding money for one reason or another...eventually they all pay up...but seems like a big hassle these days

It's your money they are holding, probably to pay their bills instead of you paying yours.

Polite email, week later a stronger one and then pull links and replace with other sponsors. Lastly out them on the boards. It's obvious they are doing it to more than you.

I can honestly say that I've pretty much dealt with it ALL. Late payments, no payments, bad checks, unsigned checks, hosted ads not counting my sales...but still work and send traffic, redirected hosted galleries, you name it and I've had it happen to me.

Now I would say...ooooh...85% of the time it's an honest mistake and I get the situation straightened out without any drama. It's usually a new program working through some bugs or an existing program that made some changes and fucked something up. Whatever, it gets fixed and we move on.

Then there the other 15% who either can't or won't fix the issue or even worse, don't respond at all. These are the ones I drop immediately. No hesitation...and I never go back.

I'm more diligent than ever in selecting who I send my traffic to. Most of those I do business with know me, we talk once in a while but they don't harrass me with sales pitches. That personal touch goes a long fucking way in my book.

All that being said...AmeliaG, can you or someone from Spooky Cash please contact me? PunkPussy.com is in need of a facelift and I would like to give your program full/better representation. Banner, galleries, the works. Thanks.

I get the CEO on the phone.

What I do is halt traffic for anyone that is even one day late. I can resume when they pay.

Things happen, and I understand, but nobody gives me free traffic and I aint about to foot the bill for somebody else's program.

I'm not getting in a hissy, but I would like to provide a counterpoint.

Programs that are on MPA3 or NATS have chosen to use a cascading tracking solution and in doing so have reduced their declined sale percentage due to scrub. They've elected to expand their promotional tools offerings, etc. All of these reasons for an affiliate program to choose MPA3 help affiliates make more money, too. More sales through the cascade mean bigger checks for everyone.

Programs on MPA3 are not big cheaters... quite the contrary! They're doing what they can to make the maximum amount of sales for their sites AND for their affiliates using trusted technology that is tried and true in our industry.

Now, I understand that the question here is if the program will SEND the check... I read the thread. I'd just encourage affiliates to review the program and judge it on their individual merits.

I feel ya, a lot of programs have changed there minimum threshold to $200 or $100 from $50 lately. The $50 min. baits affiliates to sign up and send traffic and then later the switch takes place. The result is they dishonor the original agreement with the affiliate and hold onto your earnings.

When 1 program does it to you and they convert, your like $50 no big deal, but when you add it all up the split you earned yourself is in there pocket and not yours.

Cool! I just added you on ICQ :thumbsup

The raising minimums thing is one of the most annoying to me. Partly, who is to say they won't raise them again, the next time it is the moment to cut the check to me. And, partly, it is 100% breach of contract to change those terms, after I have already sent traffic, but they know nobody is going to go to small claims court for $50. And $50 times a lot of affiliates adds up. SpookyCash is not the biggest program on the block, but, if my checks were not cut by Epoch and CCBill, and I decided to raise the minimum payout to $250, I'd be keeping a lot of people's dough to the point where it would really add up to real money. I wouldn't do that regardless because I think a person's word should mean something when they give it. But obviously a lot of programs do not share my view. I've even had pretty big programs swear they were going to pay me, even after they changed to a higher minimum payout and, while some have done so, and I continue to promote them, some surprising players have either sent me a check which shorted me for some ridiculously small sum like $25 or keep saying they are gonna pay me real soon.

The thing is exactly the question you stated where, with CCBill, Epoch, and Zombaio, I do not have to ask is they are likely to actually SEND the payment once it is owed. It is hard enough to make sales in the current economic climate, so the last thing I want to spend my time on is chasing folks down for amounts of money less than $400, often as little as $50. Especially when some of these guys are big established programs with high profiles. But I can't help feeling that, if they were on CCBill, Epoch, or Zombaio, I'd just have my dough.

Right, then stage 3 is that program either goes out of business or sells to another party. And then the Coup de grace, the unpaid earnings slush fund goes bye bye with the original owner.

Pull your links if a program is dicking you around. Then start a thread about their sorry asses and keep bumping it until you're paid.

Exactly. Right now traffic and sales is king. If they don't appreciate it, there are many others who will :thumbsup

Spill the beans...

I worked for a webcam company like this for about a year. They once owed me $7000 for like 6-7 weeks. They usually paid late like every 4th time they paid us and half of the models in my studio would get so upset that I would have to pay them out of pocket, and a lot of them quit. A lot of them still call ME the scammer for getting them to sign up for a shady site. At the time, webcaming was 100% of my income at the time, so being owed $ for over a month was a big fucking deal to me, I wasn't able to pay my billls! I haven't worked there in awhile but I was just contacted by a girl who I know well who is upset because they're not paying HER and the models in her studio. fucking shady.

When I expressed my concerns about this to people at conventions, they all said the same thing. "Oh ___ always pay late, but don't worry, because they always pay." so in other words, it was just accepted in the industry, what a fucking unprofessional joke!

Worst still, the company was based out of some 3rd world country so it's not like I could legally go after them. They had NO model support number, but you could "open a ticket". The only response I ever got out of this, usually 2-3 days later usually, was some bullshit like "dear model, we are sorry this has happened to you. If the problem persists, please contact us and we will investigate further" WTF?!

so what do I think of companies that pay late? I think it's quite obvious.

Drink about 5 beers.. then message them... tell them how you really feel...

they will prolly ban you from their network.

Then message them after a few days say, innocently ask why did you ban me?

And then the checks come in the mail and everything is honky dory.

And life goes on.

Hmmm. worked for me :)


Sabby:)

If your gonna run a webcam studio you dont want to be living check to check.


Sabby:)