Fixed Sum Deduction

[Aidan90]

Last month I earned £327 from one of my programs, which may not seem like a lot to many but is actually a big deal to me. I checked the account today and last months revenue changed from £327 to -£22 due to a £349 'Fixed Sum' deduction. Obviously I was shocked so emailed them and got this response:

I would like to inform you that it during the monthly payments process, and as part of our reconciliation process, we have adjusted the Net Revenue for some of the gaming products, to reflect bonuses that did not appear during the month.


What exactly has happened here? Is this normal?

[Scampi]

In my experience it's certainly not normal, but it looks like the bonuses that are usually deducted throughout the month were instead deducted all at once at the end of the month.

[RacingJim]

Sounds pretty dodgy to me. Fancy telling us what company, or PM me if you don't want it public? I know of a couple of companies who like to put on stupid deductions now and then. Pretty gutting to think you had a good payment due only to see it wiped out.

[Aidan90]

Yeah it was pretty soul destroying to see it go from a big positive to a negative...

I've still not had a response from my account manager about it either, despite multiple emails and calls.

The company won't surprise anyone... rhymes with Million Bill.

[MannyBetting]

The company won't surprise anyone... rhymes with Million Bill.

Ha ha, I like your choice of rhyme there. Very appropriate as you're far more likely to receive a £million bill than an actual payment from them.

[Aidan90]

I finally got a response of my affiliate manager and all he's saying is that it was bonuses.

I'm trying to get more information about it but I don't seem to be getting anywhere?

Any advice?

[RacingJim]

Any advice?

Stop wasting your time with them mate. Focus on better/fairer affiliate programs.

[Aidan90]

Yeah I agree with that. I'm not actively pushing them anymore.

The trouble is, I rank for quite a good converting term related to them and I want to make the most of that traffic.

At worst I just want an explanation of what's gone on. Does anyone know of a semi-competent AM that I could speak to?

[MannyBetting]

Unfortunately, just by definition, any semi competent AM would have left WH years ago.

Have you considered just converting those ranking pages to advertise another brand? Just add something at the top of the page along the lines of "Instead of William Hill try brand X instead. They are actually better because......"

This has been done before on sites I have an interest in and it has worked well.

[RacingJim]

Unfortunately, just by definition, any semi competent AM would have left WH years ago.

Have you considered just converting those ranking pages to advertise another brand? Just add something at the top of the page along the lines of "Instead of William Hill try brand X instead. They are actually better because......"

This has been done before on sites I have an interest in and it has worked well.

I'm sure that would depend very much on the search term though. If people are looking for something specific to do with that brand and you don't give them the answer, back they'll go in their browser to Google and his site will tumble down the rankings.

[RacingJim]

Yeah I agree with that. I'm not actively pushing them anymore.

The trouble is, I rank for quite a good converting term related to them and I want to make the most of that traffic.

At worst I just want an explanation of what's gone on. Does anyone know of a semi-competent AM that I could speak to?

All you can do then is just stick with it, I've had a couple of dealings with WH managers and just lost my rag a bit and said I'd escalate it higher if they didn't pay me what was owed, then they sorted it out.

[Aidan90]

Yeah I think the search term is too specific to translate to a different brand but it could be worth trail in the future.

I've finally been able to speak to a senior affiliate manager there who was able to answer my questions and clear things up straight away. It's just frustrating that it took this much to get an explanation, my actuall affiliate manager just copied the same generic paragraph in response to every question I asked him!