Rejected Submissions in Paid Directories

For paid directory owners: what do you do with the submission fee if the website submitted is rejected?

Up until now, I've been refunding the fee in full. Today I checked my records and over the last month, I have refunded low $1,xxx in submission fees.

That's a lot of money to lose and and obviously that's a lot of time used up in reviewing sub-par submissions.

I'm thinking about changing my policy, but wondering what other people do. The fee paid is for a review, and whether I accept or reject the website the review is done. On the other hand, I know that most webmasters don't see it that way.

 

Making 50% non-refundable to cover admin time sounds reasonable to me. As long as your submission requirements are clear, one would have to be pretty stupid to submit and pay. It would require an explanation of sorts and maybe a 2nd chance offer.

 

Yeah, refunds do hurt a bit when you tally them up, but I think it's best to just stick to the basics and refund the payment whenever it's called for. That's what I advertise and that's my policy.

 

I would definitly keep it or at least half of it..as when i sell dogs if they lay down a desposit it will be non-refundable.

 

I think it's more the wasted time than the refunds that hurt the most. If the sub-par sites weren't submitted to begin with, you wouldn't be out the time or money.

I'd wonder how it would affect your submission rate - many might be hesitant to submit knowing the fee wasn't refundable if their site wasn't accepted.

You might end up receiving inquiries about sites from submitters wondering if their site meets your guidelines, and end up spending a bit of time doing an unpaid mini-review without any guarantee of a paid submission.

You might consider refunding the fee or a portion of the fee if the submission was made in good faith and not a blatant disregard for your guidelines.

If you're not going to refund the submission fee, then providing a clear reason for the rejection and offering the submitter a chance to make their site guidelines compliant and resubmit within 30 days or less would be a nice option.

Seems many do not take the time to read the Submission Guidelines and submit where ever and what ever - only to get pissed off at the directory owner when their listing is rejected.

Good luck with your decision.

 

I would keep 50% of the fee. If the submitter gets mad, who cares? Most people who submit sub-par sites aren't going to be continuous customers anyway.

 

Me. I'd bloody care if it was one of my sites and you kept my money. If you are claiming to offer inclusion for $9.95 - then I want my sites included for that price. If you don't like the sites, then tough luck.

If you're offering a featured link for $24.99, then I expect the same.

If you chose not to include one of my sites and keep half my money, then that's either stealing or fraud.

Before you all start to get on your high horses, the real question is this : what are submitters to your directory paying for?

If I'm paying for a review then I wouldn't expect my money back if my site(s) didn't get included.

Otherwise, I would expect to be included or a full refund, dependent on the terms and conditions.

 

I do 100% refunds. Plenty of money to be made from quality sites.

 

I'd make it clear that paying does not guarantee acceptance and fees are non-refundable. I'd also include a note, "So make sure your submission follows our guidelines" or something and if you decline it, state why.

 

I have two views on this:

It is a responsibility of a directory owner to make the guidelines clear either on a guidelines page or on the submit page. As far as your directory is concerned, you have your guidelines front and center. No problem here. I do however suggest getting the "Agree to Terms and Conditions" mod for PHPLD which forces a submitter to accept the terms. I'll try to find where that mod is for you.

The second thing is for the people who submit. To be honest, you should treat this like anything else. Do you think Yahoo! Directory refunds directory submissions if they are incorrect or do not meet the guidelines? No, because it is a responsibility of the website owner to thoroughly read the guidelines and make sure their site is acceptable. You shouldn't be concerned about webmasters getting upset with you because the site was denied, for they should be upset they didn't read the guidelines and follow the rules.

Reference:

50% refund is generous in my opinion. This, as everything else is a business, and you can't be covering for peoples mistakes if they can't follow simple rules.

 

ATM, refund it..

True, but how much more do you stand to lose by accepting them? You have guildelines for a reason right?

I'm thinking about changing my policy, but wondering what other people do. The fee paid is for a review, and whether I accept or reject the website the review is done. On the other hand, I know that most webmasters don't see it that way.[/quote]

Refund it seems like the most intelligent way to go IMO. We even edit listings for free, if asked. ie., edit the original listers listing that is...

 

tell them why you rejected, give them 30 daysto fix problem or submit a replacment site. If after 30 days problem is not solved, keep money.

It's a business, it's not about being nice, Time is Money

 

This is a really interesting and pertinent issue thank you onlinedude for bringing it up.

I think the best option is to have a value for the review for example the review costs $15 if you submitted a regular listing for $30 you get $15 back if you submitted a featured for $45 you will get $30 back.

It’s fair to have a review value because you are wasting time looking at the site. But I would make it a fix value because it takes the same amunt of work to review a regular or featured link.

Probably a good idea it’s to put example of sites rejected so people can see it.

 

I am following this thread with keen interest and will be posting our viewpoint on this soon

Thanks for creating the thread onlinedude very helpful

 

I refund it as well, but interesting to read you guys' policies.

 

My policy is to refund in full. I consider the fee paid is for listing space, not for reviewing time.

 

If the directory owner is specific about the guidelines for inclusion and the site clearly doesn't follow those guidelines, the submitter shouldn't expect their money back. I agree if this isn't specific, then it would be unfair to keep the money. But if you are told what the directory expects, there should be no qualms about keeping an "admin" fee for review.

 

I refund the payment as well although it's a pain and wasted time. The main reason is that I am afraid that if I had a non refund policy people would hesitate to submit their sites and in addition to that you may lose repeat customers (although I rarely get submissions from people that I have rejected one of their websites).

 

In my opinion if the submission gets rejected it should be refunded.
Regards