"Rogue Casino" Pays AK small advance to promote them

[AK]

At the time however I was unaware they are a bad casino and affiliate program. They are blacklisted in several major boards. I'm in a bad position, There is a line of real money players asking for the money and this "Affiliate Program" is also now asking for there money back since I brought it up to there attention. Obviously, I would like to keep my reputation at an A+ so please respond!

What Should AK do?


I should probably add that I have always believed in protecting webmasters and players that belong to the programs etc.. I do believe that if a forum or website is getting paid to promote the company, people should always take that lightly "as there is very few legit watchdog sites" and should only take the advice from its current members that actually use there services etc. This has not been very easy "as some might think it is" I do not want to simply pay them and turn a blind cheek on fellow webmasters and Players. I'm not a hypocrite and will always believe in protecting the player first and the business second.

What comes to Ak's mind.

1. Just send them the coin back and wash it off my hands.

2. Just isn't the right thing to do IMO especially when the real victims are still victims and really have no way on getting there money back "legally" from these clowns.

3. I have spoken to many affiliate programs I already work with and asked them to respond as well. I think with such a great posting board over here at GPWA and the fine programs that are here I'm sure I will do the right thing!

A true example of a rock in a hard spot until then.

[Anthony]

I personally would return the money. Plus I would let the know why I was returning it. They need to pay their players!

[TheGooner]

+1 to the above statement.
(I didn't vote - I can't work out which option that is in your vote).

If you no longer wish to promote the casino you should simply terminate the relationship and return the funds.

You can't LEGALLY appropriate the funds and distribute them to players.

[MainStAffs]

Hi,

My advice is simple. Send it back and say you dont want to work with them. Simple. Honest. No harm done.

Regards,

Jason

[Shaun O'neill]

I would send it back otherwise you are then a rouge affiliate that steals money

Good luck.

Shaun

[Renee]

Agreed..

I think you should return the money.. that's the honest thing to do..

Karma is a bitch you know... and it works both ways.

[Doolally]

Ditto everyone elses comments.

Make sure they know why you won't accept it though!

[matted]

Yup, return the money and cut your losses. If nothing else, if someone asks you about it, it sounds nice to say "as soon as I heard I returned every dime they paid me - and recommended they pay their players with it"

[bonusbeast]

I would definitely return the money and end the relationship with them, but maybe you should only return a percentage of the payment, based on the time you took to add them to your site, and the length of time you have been advertising for them.

[Puma]

OK so everybody says return the money. That's fair. But what if it was Grand Prive AK was talking about. Would we all still be saying return the money? Its funny but if a company has dedicated their existence to ripping off other maybe its time they got a taste of their own medicine.

Here is what you do.

Write up a web page with your own affiliate terms and conditions.
State in the terms that if a casino affiliate program is deemed a rogue operator then the contract will be removed and the remaining balance will be void ( sound familiar ? )

Then if they say anything you simply let them know they should have read the terms and conditions closely before giving you their money ( sound familiar )

Now that's how Karma real works !

stick it to the man who stuck it to the man

[Doolally]

OK so everybody says return the money. That's fair. But what if it was Grand Prive AK was talking about. Would we all still be saying return the money? Its funny but if a company has dedicated their existence to ripping off other maybe its time they got a taste of their own medicine.

Here is what you do.

Write up a web page with your own affiliate terms and conditions.
State in the terms that if a casino affiliate program is deemed a rogue operator then the contract will be removed and the remaining balance will be void ( sound familiar ? )

Then if they say anything you simply let them know they should have read the terms and conditions closely before giving you their money ( sound familiar )

Now that's how Karma real works !

stick it to the man who stuck it to the man

And at the same time lower your credibility in the business to those working at the scum end. aka Grand Prive. I see where you're coming from but would you really want to be labelled the same?

Karma's one thing, self-respect another.

[hazo]

Hey AK,

I would give them the money back, dust your hands off and move on with business.

You don't need to be around these kind of people, in any way, shape or form.

Nick

[Skinski]

Two wrongs do not make a right.

[LiveCasinoPartners]

I agree with most here. Give the money back and move on. I would even go so far as to include wire transfer fees to and from to make sure they receive every penny. Renee is right, Kharma is at stake.

Also, if you were going to pay players then it would be virtually impossible to prioritize who gets what. Besides it's not your job to return players money it's the programs. What certainly is (or should be) your job is to make sure you don't send players to programs that will steal their money.

Good luck with that one AK.

[Nandakishore]

I have not voted because I really don't know what to vote. The point is, what good is it returning money to a 'rogue' affiliate program? You can bet such a program will not return the money to the players.

[baldidiot]

Sounds like way more of a headache than it's worth! Lets ignore the legal implications for a moment (I assume there was an agreement made between you either formally or informally that has at the very least an email trail) and look at your cost vs reward.

If you give some of the players or affiliates the money back you'll pat yourself on the back, get a few thumbs up from the players/affiliates and maybe a nice warm fuzzy feeling.

But how do you decide who to pay? Don't you risk pissing off the players/affiliates that you don't pay - do you see them as not as important as the ones you paid?

And how rogue is the site you're talking about? Is it worth making an enemy who you know have very little morals - what underhand tactics could they resort to "get back at you"? Off the top of my head they could start spamming forums with your site and then report you to your other affiliates, or create hundreds of identical copies of your site to burn you in the search engines. Sure these things can be resolved, but with a lot of your time and effort.

And on top of that you might find yourself getting sued. I say just drop it, take the higher moral ground and suggest they pay their players. But then again I am a pu$$y!

[thepokerkeep]

It looks like a majority of the comments advocate returning the funds. I agree with the consensus, it's the right and morally correct thing to do.