Review site refunders - Is it ethical?

What an A**Hole! This is basically a threat. I would copy their email message and forward it to Clickbank as fraudulent activity. Also forward it to their hosting provider and anyone else you can think of. You should definitely name the review site and/or membership site connected with the review sites. Why protect this ecommerce terrorist?

Get the full email header and start posting everything to scam forums. This is nuts .

Hey Gary, this is what you have to do to him

I would send him a copy, I know its not under the best circumstances
but who knows he may get you a lot of sales.

With the amount of sales that clickbank processes I doubt they would
be much help or have the time to look into something like this.

Your probably best just not rock the boat and just focus on the possible
future sales.

I would politely tell them that when approaching other vendors in the future, it would be best to not mention purchases and refunds as we all know you can do this. Mentioning refunds might be interpreted as a threat and is not the best way to start a mutually beneficial relationship. Tell him that you are also interested in his product and suggest an exchange. There is no reason to act as badly as they did. After all, doing that would just be bad business and the email may have been thoughtless but (the threat) unintended.

TomG.

I agree with Steve. Though it is easier to take the safer route and send him the ebook, it is really infuriating how these jerks can be allowed to twist our arms. These SOBs should be put behind bars. And he really has some balls to email you and demand you to send him your product so that he can do a review and shove dollars into his pocket. WTF, is he doing you a favor?

I agree with Steven on this one. Give in to this and you may as well automatically send him/her a copy of every new product you develop, as I am sure you will be on his/her radar from this point on.

Update - Ok I just received an email back from this merchant, apologizing and giving me a free membership to their review site. Hopefully they don't get into too much trouble, because I guess I'm not the only one that forwarded their email to clickbank.

I guess it was a good lesson for them - AND - for me. Honey attracts more flies than vinegar.

The refund is an unethical way to get around the issue. we had review sites contacting us for a review copy. few of them did a good job with thorough review. Nowadays if I see its a decent review site i arrange for them to review our products. I doubt a review site pulled the refund stunt with us, i have no evidence

I agree with TomG. I think that his threat was unintended. It was just poorly worded, very presuming, and not very well thought out. And while I agree that there are a ton of jerks out there. We shouldn't assume that everyone is one.

I think it's always best to give someone a way to crawl out of the hole they've dug (is that proper English?). If they decide to crawl out, then bravo for them. If they bury themselves, then at least you can say that you gave them a chance. I know I've dug many a hole for myself. I always appreciate a second chance.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I agree, totally rude. It is amazing how stupid he was in that letter, instead of being a jerk, he could have asked politely. If you had said no, he may have done it anyway, but fairly rude that he blackmailed you

Another update - I got an email back from Tom - security at Clickbank, and he said that he has reviewed this person's purchase history, and so far he is not abusing the system. But he'll keep an eye on it. Maybe the guy is just talk, and doesn't follow thru. Either way, bad form. I hope that he has seen the error of his ways.

You should have blasted them out here on the WF. I would not have sent a review copy. Let them buy and refund if they choose to, no extra work on your part since clickbank is the processor. IMO review copies are for top producing affiliates not everyone that requests one. This was flat out extortion. Do not negotiate with marketing terrorists.

Tony

I'm glad it worked out well enough for you. I'd have gone in guns blazing which may not have yielded results this good.

I think he is a newbie- Needs hand holding maybe? Tell him quickly that its not the way to deal with it.

OR if you find out he's not a newbie, JUST IGNORE HIM altogether. Let him do what he wants to. Let CB know this happened. If you want an info war, make a video and post it on Youtube. Simple! Enough publicity for him that way. Personally, I;d just let CB know and then mind my own business. Plenty of serial refunders out there anyway. At least he's ethical enough to have warned you!

yeah this pretty poor form IMHO. I mean there are enough of these serial clickbank scammers around without getting demand emails from them as well. Having said that, i would probably just go ahead and issue a review copy if hes going to steal it anyway...its a bit defeatist but i just dont have the time to deal with people like this.

Best of luck gary.

Not all people who ask for review copies are newbies. Far from it.

I agree with Wagenheim.

Forget negotiating with terrorists. Bullies don't want a fight, they want a victim. The reason they continue these tactics is because they work. If people fought back, these parasites would have to find another way.

You want to steal my product, you are going to have to STEAL it from me. Let the karma be on you. I won't be complicit.

Ok, everyone so I am really interested in this post because I have a review site. First off, garyv, I would have never have given them a copy. The problem is, a review site is supposed to be for people that actually review the product. How are you supposed to know if it is good or not by just getting a free copy.

For example, I had a survey site on my page a while back simply because it had paid out well. Big Mistake. Why? When I actually tested out the survey site it was a joke. Not saying your product is a joke but a review site is for people who actually use the product, no just have it.

It bugs me because I try to help people by showing them what has actually helped me be successful online. I offer video reviews etc. It's not all about the money here, I have helped friends free of charge and family.

People just don't believe in other peoples opinions anymore because of people like them.

p.s. I am sure your product is great garyv but I just hate seeing fake review sites. I just wish clickbank had a price tag on each hoplink that is created.