Warning: Beware of Networks and Traffic Sources

Charles Washington · 07-15-2010, 11:18 AM

There have been a rash of people posting "warning" threads in here. They are all started by people using screen names, hiding their identity. If these stories are true, and I am sure some are, the advice is always the same. "Have you contacted your AM about this?"

I tested this advice yesterday. Here is what happened. I started an account and campaign with Yahoo PPC. I uploaded $30 to the account and started running a campaign.

I set my daily limit at $10 to be safe ( I was testing). Anyway, yesterday I get a notice hat they charged my credit card for $100, even though I had only spent $7.43.

I was freakin ticked off. MY daily limit for the account was $10. The campaign budget was only $10. I spent $7.43 and all of a sudden I am billed $100, even though I still had over $20 in the account.

But instead of freaking out and blasting them on a forum. I went the productive route of contacting them. I got an email back that stated my automatic replenishment when the account got low was $100, and they charge the credit card when there is less than three days worth of funds in the account.

Then, without me asking, they refunded the $100 since I was new and didnt understand what happened. They also showed me how to reduce that $100 auto replenish to $30.

Moral of the story. Coming to forums and blasting networks is the most unproductive thing you can do. CONTACT YOUR AM OR THE NETWORK DIRECTLY TO GET THINGS WORKED OUT!!!

williamrs · 07-15-2010, 12:27 PM

Yes, contacting the network or an affiliate manager should be always the very first step. However, you were dealing with Yahoo!. We all know that Yahoo! is not a scammer and won't steal your money. However, sometimes people have problems with shaddy networks, try to contact their affiliate managers and get no response. In this case, I agree with them when they make the story public and prevent other marketers from doing business with that network.

Anyway, your advice is good, because there are guys who just want to destroy the reputation of a network and come to this forum with false stories or simply before contacting their affiliate manager to look for a solution for their issue.

So, first contact people, talk to them and try to solve the problem. Not all the problems happen because the networks have bad intentions or want to screw up affiliates, and, most of the times, everything can be solved with a simple phone call. However, there are scammers out there, we know it, so when we find one of them it's our obligation to spread the word and prevent other people from doing business with them.

Just my opinion

William

ihatemels · 07-15-2010, 03:49 PM

yea you are talking about the automatic charge amount...didnt even realize they had that until i looked in my yahoo ppc account just now thanks to you saying something...it looks like theres no way to turn that off to where you wont get auto charged am i right?? it appears you HAVE to have it set at a minimum..?

ben565 · 07-15-2010, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ihatemels

yea you are talking about the automatic charge amount...didnt even realize they had that until i looked in my yahoo ppc account just now thanks to you saying something...it looks like theres no way to turn that off to where you wont get auto charged am i right?? it appears you HAVE to have it set at a minimum..?

NO, you can get them to turn it off,just contact them and tell them that you want to manually add funds to your account

Charles Washington · 07-15-2010, 05:59 PM

They said if OI contact them they would turn the auotreplenish off.

ihatemels · 07-15-2010, 10:21 PM

good to know, thanks ben and charles

07-15-2010, 11:18 AM	#1
Charles Washington Highly Actionable War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 1,595 Thanks: 341 Thanked 265 Times in 182 Posts	Warning: Beware of Networks and Traffic Sources There have been a rash of people posting "warning" threads in here. They are all started by people using screen names, hiding their identity. If these stories are true, and I am sure some are, the advice is always the same. "Have you contacted your AM about this?" I tested this advice yesterday. Here is what happened. I started an account and campaign with Yahoo PPC. I uploaded $30 to the account and started running a campaign. I set my daily limit at $10 to be safe ( I was testing). Anyway, yesterday I get a notice hat they charged my credit card for $100, even though I had only spent $7.43. I was freakin ticked off. MY daily limit for the account was $10. The campaign budget was only $10. I spent $7.43 and all of a sudden I am billed $100, even though I still had over $20 in the account. But instead of freaking out and blasting them on a forum. I went the productive route of contacting them. I got an email back that stated my automatic replenishment when the account got low was $100, and they charge the credit card when there is less than three days worth of funds in the account. Then, without me asking, they refunded the $100 since I was new and didnt understand what happened. They also showed me how to reduce that $100 auto replenish to $30. Moral of the story. Coming to forums and blasting networks is the most unproductive thing you can do. CONTACT YOUR AM OR THE NETWORK DIRECTLY TO GET THINGS WORKED OUT!!!

07-15-2010, 12:27 PM	#2
williamrs Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 3,496 Thanks: 174 Thanked 1,159 Times in 614 Posts	Re: Warning: Beware of Networks and Traffic Sources Yes, contacting the network or an affiliate manager should be always the very first step. However, you were dealing with Yahoo!. We all know that Yahoo! is not a scammer and won't steal your money. However, sometimes people have problems with shaddy networks, try to contact their affiliate managers and get no response. In this case, I agree with them when they make the story public and prevent other marketers from doing business with that network. Anyway, your advice is good, because there are guys who just want to destroy the reputation of a network and come to this forum with false stories or simply before contacting their affiliate manager to look for a solution for their issue. So, first contact people, talk to them and try to solve the problem. Not all the problems happen because the networks have bad intentions or want to screw up affiliates, and, most of the times, everything can be solved with a simple phone call. However, there are scammers out there, we know it, so when we find one of them it's our obligation to spread the word and prevent other people from doing business with them. Just my opinion William
	>> STOP... << Stop struggling alone. Stop wasting time. Stop being scammed. Only 1 SPOT LEFT - CLICK HERE

07-15-2010, 03:49 PM	#3
ihatemels Warrior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SE Louisiana Posts: 19 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Warning: Beware of Networks and Traffic Sources yea you are talking about the automatic charge amount...didnt even realize they had that until i looked in my yahoo ppc account just now thanks to you saying something...it looks like theres no way to turn that off to where you wont get auto charged am i right?? it appears you HAVE to have it set at a minimum..?

07-15-2010, 05:59 PM	#5
Charles Washington Highly Actionable War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 1,595 Thanks: 341 Thanked 265 Times in 182 Posts	Re: Warning: Beware of Networks and Traffic Sources They said if OI contact them they would turn the auotreplenish off.

07-15-2010, 10:21 PM	#6
ihatemels Warrior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SE Louisiana Posts: 19 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Warning: Beware of Networks and Traffic Sources good to know, thanks ben and charles