This is the email they sent to CJ and all of their affiliates. I don't agree that it should have been sent to the affiliates though. April 18, 2006 Jeff Pullen President and CEO Commission Junction 530 East Montecito Street Santa Barbara, CA 93103 Dear Mr. Pullen: I write regarding our unacceptable experiences with Commission Junction's payout policies and recklessly false correspondence to our publishers. Several of our publishers received the following response from CJ representatives regarding their commissions for the month of April: "Unfortunately, at this point it looks like drjays.com does not have sufficient funds in their account to payout their publishers" Further investigation showed that, per CJ policy, we needed to have a positive account balance at a vaguely defined time between the 10th or 20th of each month, despite our funding our account three times per month. In the event that our account balance was negative when CJ's payout script began to run (a time completely unknowable to the advertiser), CJ would withhold all commissions and performance incentives, including commissions/incentives from past months for which money was already paid to CJ. As if this wasn't enough, not only was CJ falsely telling our publishers that we couldn't pay, but did so before the payout script even began to run. CJ's use and endorsement of such a woefully archaic, simplistic, and dysfunctional payout process severely debilitates the business and interests of advertisers and their publishers. The only possible explanation for such a system is that it allows CJ to hoard funds while deflecting any commission inquiries to the fault of the advertiser. CJ's insistence that an 'Access' account ought be self-maintained is impossible when advertisers are not even apprised of the exact time that funds are required. Our only available assurance of commission/incentive payout is to ceaselessly deposit funds into our account. CJ would balk at the suggestion that it payout commissions on its own dime on the promise that we would pay them back at a later date. We too are reviled by the idea that we should constantly pre-pay CJ and remain at the behest of a payout system that has no regard for the interests of advertisers, repeatedly delays commissions to publishers, and tells publishers that its our fault. In short, I take strong exception to such poor form on CJ's part and demand proper explanation. This is our policy is an unacceptable catch phrase that explains nothing and only betrays CJ's willingness to stand proud upon the unjustly strained backs of its membership. We will be informing our publishers of our experiences with CJ and the true reasons why they have not properly received their hard-earned commissions. I eagerly await your reply. Sincerely, Casey K. Lee Marketing Analyst DrJays.com
why not? all the affiliates should be able to know what's going on with any advertiser at any given time. there's why CJ is there, they are there as a relationship maintenance vessel.
I feel it just gives one side of the story without CJ getting a chance to explain. Of course CJ could always email all of their affiliates explaining what's going on but I doubt they'll do that.