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Hotelscombined is a Scam

Discussion in 'Affiliate Programs' started by etc, Jul 3, 2013.

  1. #1
    Since hotelscombined.com is changing their links all the time and I don't know why they do it regularly and you would have to update all your links to earn and if not you get to send traffic to them without pay. I emailed them not to change links every now and then and so they closed my account after it. And my remaining unpaid balance are forfeited.

    They said:
    I wonder why because I'm a tourist myself and book hotels under them. I personally visit places to and talk about it in my blog and our travel forum.

    I use to defend them from threads telling they are scam because I receive payments from them since the start but now I really do realize they purposely change links so you as affiliate sends traffic to them for free. HotelsCombined.com is a scam.

     
    etc, Jul 3, 2013 IP
  2. HotelsCombined Support

    HotelsCombined Support Greenhorn

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    #2
    Hi etc,

    My name is July and I look after Affiliate Support at HotelsCombined. I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed with our affiliate program. Just to clarify, HotelsCombined is a reputable company with tens of thousands of profitable affiliate partners. All clicks and commissions are tracked 100% towards your affiliate account, if you are using the correct affiliate links.

    I can assure you that there is a valid reason why your account was suspended. It's clearly mentioned in our Affiliate Agreement and FAQs that although we pay per leads, we require some of your users to generate revenue for our suppliers. We earn revenue from commissions from our hotel suppliers, and we cannot afford to pay for non-converting traffic that doesn't generate any revenue.

    If you could email us directly at and provide us with your affiliate ID, I'm happy to review your account statistics and get back to you with a more detailed explanation.

    Regards,
    July
     
    HotelsCombined Support, Jul 3, 2013 IP
  3. etc

    etc Well-Known Member

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    #3
    I find it crazy that NONE of my leads are converted. If they are just considerate enough, hotelscombined could have just identify which leads are invalid and not suspend accounts. I read few threads claiming They've been scammed by hotelscombined and indeed its true.
     
    etc, Jul 4, 2013 IP
  4. tamse

    tamse Greenhorn

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    #4
    this is just great! I've been an affiliate of hotelscombined affiliate for 2 years now and got paid JUST ONCE (that low conversion) but I stayed with them. and guess what? I've got $54 earning and today MY ACCOUNT JUST GOT DEACTIVATED... they didn't inform me! What's worse? they KEEP MY BOOKING DOMAIN LIVE... yeah, they cut my earnings but they keep the domain where I promote to make money, so they keep on making money and I DONT!
     
    tamse, Jul 4, 2013 IP
  5. HotelsCombined Support

    HotelsCombined Support Greenhorn

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    #5
    Hi tamse,

    I've just sent an email to you with details of your account performance and traffic statistics. Please reply to that email to discuss further. And our records show that we notified you about the traffic quality issue in advance.

    To clarify, we have no control over your domains and websites. You are free to remove our content from your site or delete any redirection of your domains to our site at any time.

    Regards,
    July
     
    HotelsCombined Support, Jul 4, 2013 IP
  6. tamse

    tamse Greenhorn

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    #6
    July,

    I'm just pissed and disappointed right now.

    I've been campaigning for 2 years, and as a blogger I do at least a month campaign of list of hotels to grab the opportunity to make money though hotel booking. So imagine how many content I've written for the campaign, before deactivating my account you should've think of hat.

    As for my traffic, I don't have the control of the traffic and conversion. I do hope that all my traffic will have conversion and deactivating my account for that reason (that I have no control of) is really discouraging.
     
    tamse, Jul 4, 2013 IP
  7. HotelsCombined Support

    HotelsCombined Support Greenhorn

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    #7
    Hi tamse,

    I understand you've made efforts in promoting your affiliate links. However, there could be a lot of reasons why your traffic isn't converting. You may need to review and optimise your linking strategies, target markets and/or your traffic sources.

    We are like any other business with an affiliate program. As you can imagine, we are unable to pay for traffic that doesn't generate any revenue leaving us with negative ROI. This is extensively described in the Affiliate Agreement Clause 11: http://www.hotelscombined.com/Affiliate/AffiliateAgreement.aspx

    It would be great if you could kindly respond to my email sent on Friday (July 5). So we can discuss the matter further and provide advice for improving your traffic and conversions.

    Thank you

    July
     
    HotelsCombined Support, Jul 7, 2013 IP
  8. fileultra

    fileultra Active Member

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    #8
    I was afraid that they are another BS scam and it seems that i was right. I too have been sending them traffic and have perhaps about $23 or so in my account from past 2 years. I am positive that my account will be banned as soon as i get close to minimum threshold payout of $100.
    However till then my useless traffic is very welcome.
    Standard Operating Procedure of all BS orgs like AFF and filesharing sites that promise the moon in their ads to recruit and work for free, only to grab the $ and point to linr 1634 in their 4593 lines TOS
     
    fileultra, Jul 11, 2013 IP
  9. IG2010

    IG2010 Well-Known Member

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    #9
    I am an affiliate of hotelscombined and reached payout level, I should get paid by end of july and see what happen (not the first time I see those threads in different forums). I would be more than happy if I get paid. Let's wait and see
     
    IG2010, Jul 12, 2013 IP
  10. etc

    etc Well-Known Member

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    #10
    constantly check your links because they change it regularly. else you just send traffic to them without pay. heres a tip to you. while you are loggedin to their site, try sending whatever message to them by clicking contact link so they will check your status. In matter of hours you'll be suspended. its better to know now than after you get to reach your threshold.
     
    etc, Jul 12, 2013 IP
  11. hensy

    hensy Peon

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    #11
    IM thinking about putting hotelscombined.com hope it works for me and not get scammed!
     
    hensy, Jul 15, 2013 IP
  12. IG2010

    IG2010 Well-Known Member

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    #12
    I should get paid within the next few days since they pay from 25th to 31st
     
    IG2010, Jul 27, 2013 IP
  13. IG2010

    IG2010 Well-Known Member

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    #13
    Payment not made to my account and no reports in my account.

    Revenus versés $0.00

    email to support sent to know as why nothing has been paid and why nothing is showing anymore in my account. The fact is I can perfectly demonstrate (if no payment made) that HotelsCombined is scamming.
     
    IG2010, Jul 29, 2013 IP
  14. matt_62

    matt_62 Prominent Member

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    #14
    i think start taking and saving your screenshots of sent, and received replies, as well as your account revenue....
     
    matt_62, Jul 29, 2013 IP
  15. IG2010

    IG2010 Well-Known Member

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    #15
    Done already and by my daily job and position I can perfectly proove what I am saying, however, money back in pending situation but not paid yet, server time 30th 17.15
     
    IG2010, Jul 30, 2013 IP
  16. IG2010

    IG2010 Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Payment now moved to august (in account) asked for details of why payment has been moved
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2013
    IG2010, Jul 31, 2013 IP
  17. IG2010

    IG2010 Well-Known Member

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    #17
    just for the case.

    At first didn't get paid on time because I was "an interationnal affiliate"

    their TOS never stated that internationnal affiliates would get paid later than "local" affiliate"


     
    IG2010, Jul 31, 2013 IP
  18. IG2010

    IG2010 Well-Known Member

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    #18
    HotelsCombined Payment proof, seems tthat a misundertsanding happened but finally they paid, i will put back my links on website

    http://picxing.com/pic/297375
     
    IG2010, Aug 1, 2013 IP
  19. dumindushalika

    dumindushalika Notable Member

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    #19
    My recommendation is just go with their CJ affiliate program and avoid using the in-house affiliate program.
    Advertisers can't cheat you easily when you are using a their affiliate program through an affiliate network. I know it well. :D
     
    dumindushalika, Aug 8, 2013 IP
  20. gingimaster

    gingimaster Well-Known Member

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    #20
    Hotelscombined is a scam i agree.
    When they changed their links, visits from the old ones kept showing, but no revenue.
    I lost a couple weeks' revenue.

    When i reached the payment minimum thx to adwords and bing advertising which brought excellent traffic, they shut down my account.
    IO tried several times asking them for GA stats that would help me better analyze traffic and get even better, they didn't even bother answering me.
    They do use Analytics on their webpages....

    Stay away from HotelsCombined ; they're crooks in suits!
    Looks nice and fancy, but others pay better %
     
    gingimaster, Aug 31, 2013 IP