Commission Junction Scam

As a publisher (account #3383677) in the Commission Junction affiliate program I have sent 350 clicks to partner businesses this year. CJ claims none resulted in sales which is not only extremely unlikely, it's factually incorrect. I know this because one of the clicks was from me and I purchased a pair of earbuds from ThinkGeek (Order #45ca7801e).

On October 1st I received and email telling me I had 30 days to make a sale or they would assess a penalty, which they did nearly a week before the deadline. The rep (Peter) also told me I had to contact ThinkGeek directly to get credit for sale, which I did. ThinkGeek informed me that CJ handles all commissions. In other words, the rep lied and gave me the runaround in order to run out the clock. I contacted CJ again with receipt of sale, which I originally included when I contacted them a week ago but got no response since they told me to contact ThinkGeek.

Perhaps if you are a huge website you will make you money but otherwise they play games with fees to make sure they never pay out, which would be fine (legally speaking) if they actually followed their own rules instead of moving deadlines and refusing to count documented sales.

Be wary of signing up with them!

 

I use CJ for a couple of my sites. Have done since they started in 1998 as "Valueclick" I think.
I have had a couple of issues with them in the 15 years I've used them, but always managed to get them resolved.

While I can't remember the specifics, cookie stuffing and click-jacking came into them somewhere. In the first case I just had to accept that I had lost a couple of sales to a competitor who had used underhand tactics to get their affiliate cookie dropped instead of mine (my own PC was infected with the virus that did it! - that was hard to take)
The other they withheld a payment to another affiliate who had used my marketing banners (with my own name and business name on) and made people think they were buying from me - when they weren't. She was banned from the network and I got my money 2 months late.

The other 178 or however many payments have all gone through without a hitch. They are not fast payers, they have the "30 days after clearance" policy to get through then a normal clearance system that takes well into the month after that.
Worst case scenario, sell products on day 1 month 1 - and not get the cash till about day 20 month 3 (11 weeks approx after the sale) But once you are up and running they seem ok.

I feel for you L7world, it took a lot of communication to get my cash when I did, but I never felt ripped off. Send them as much detail as you can. The payment number, date. method used, item. Tell them it was you that bought it etc.

Good luck - hope you get it sorted.

Paul Rone-Clarke

 

See that's my point though.
You are bigger publisher with many sales so if you miss a sale it's no big deal.
Small publishers like me lose 1 or two sale our account balance goes to $0.
Furthermore, CJ is not even responding to email and calls after they promised to look into if ThinkGeek didn't.

 

That's not good.
Do you want me to contact them on your behalf? They won't get specific to me as it's not my account, but I could draw attention to the issue - say a friend from this forum is having difficulty reaching them and... well you know.

Let me know if I can help

Paul Rone-Clarke

 

Sure if you want to but I don't put much faith on CJ actually doing anything.

 

Done - now let's see what happens...

Question Reference #131101-000061
Summary: Sales Query
Category Level 1: Reports
Date Created: 11/01/2013 10:10 AM
Last Updated: 11/01/2013 10:10 AM
Status: Unresolved

Fingers crossed.

Paul Rone-Clarke

 

350 clicks without a sale is not only possible, with many publishers it is probable.

Also, it is usually not a commissionable sale when you buy for yourself. Sounds like your fight is big waste of time and probably admitting that you are violating the terms of service. So rather than proving your are owed a commission, your are more likely showing that you are trying to scam them for a commission on a sale you do not deserve.

 

350 clicks with a sale is unlikely particularly since the only links I use are banner ads and product posts. In other words people clicking are interested in product.
Second why shouldn't a sale to myself count. Both ThinkGeek and CJ made money. More importantly, it proves that they're not counting sales.

 

Because it is not a discount program, so most affiliate programs do not allow you to use your own affiliate link to get yourself a discount on a purchase. It is a commission for driving a new customer, not yourself, to their store to make a purchase. I am merely suggesting you might want to be familiar with the terms you've agreed to before you make a big stink about something has the opposite effect of the one you intend. Bringing them a sale made by you does not show you are owed a commission but instead shows that you are trying to be paid on a sale where it is not warranted.

 

Not using it as a discount program as I already explained I am promoting advertisers on my website.
And again you are missing the point which is that this is proof they're not counting sales.

 

They finally responded and say the will restore balance and investigate sale.
I'm going to assume because you vouched for me so thanks!

 

Glad I could help.

 

Hello

Since 3 years I have very bad result with CJ ( and many other affiliate platform) using their programs in French and english language
Shaving ?
In past I 've earn a lot of money with travels programs :-(

Regards
Christophe

 

Commission Junction lied.
They didn't restore balance nor did they make any effort to find out why sales not being counted, like they said they would.
I've sent them over 500 clicks now with supposedly no sale or leads.
At this point, I'm just going to quit using them and remove their links.
I suggest others do the same. Unless you're making a lot of money, they will screw you over and you'll never see a dime.
Better programs out there anyway like Amazon which actually pays!

 

I think you are the one missing the point here. Browntwn is correct. If they catch you buying through your own site then you are just asking to be banned. I'm not sure what you are trying to prove here other than the fact that your only sale was YOURSELF through your affiliate ID.

 

You missed the point.
It was not my only sale, which is why I said I wanted by balance restored (i.e.; other sales).
The point is if they missed one sale then they missed more.
The point is they said they restore it and lied.
The point is they said they'd investigate why sales were not being counted and they lied.

 

I really believe that Commission Junction unknowingly signs up Advertisers that have no intention of paying commissions. I always do a test run, either the Advertiser pays or they do not. Now that I have a few years of experience, the tell tale signs are fairly easy to spot. The Advertisers that normally don't pay post their phone numbers numerous times, call now, live help all over their landing pages from my experience. Another big factor, is the payout, the scam Advertisers all offer to good to be true payouts.

I think it is so easy for some to say that Commission Junction is cheating or stealing, when CJ, along with Publishers are the real victim to unscrupulous advertisers. I am in the finance industry and I can only count on a few Advertisers that always pay, they are Lending Tree, Quicken, Experian, Springleaf Financial and Lexington Law.

 

cj.com is not a scam

 

Very much a scam. Just because you or someone else got paid doesn't mean it's not a scam.
People also make money in ponzi / pyramid schemes doesn't mean they're not scams.

No idea what "real" site is as opposed to imaginary site?

 

"Stay Calm & Learn To Market"

BRO - .......Bro......... I push 2.2 million clicks sometimes with a 3% conversion,.....

it happens, either the ad sucks, or the website sucks,

PS - Banner ads are only as good as your content,

PSS - I agree with @browntwn - You have yourself a discount, you didn't make an "affiliate sale"

The CJ LAWYERS , just passed the bar yesterday.....but they learn fast

Keep trying and you will succeed, or just use adsense