I was reading another thread about duplicate orders and double charges. I wanted to vent a little, but didn't want to hijack the thread.... I see a double charge at least once a week.... First of all -- UGH! Why can't clickbank do something about it! Surely they can set their computers to recognize a double charge.... Why do they even ALLOW people to be charged twice??? Secondly -- I feel like I have to closely examine my Clickbank stats everyday to SEARCH for double charges. If I can't be on my computer for a day or so-- or if I'm out of town-- I panic because I am so afraid that people have been double charged and I'm not home to do anything about it. Thirdly-- to other publishers out there-- don't you do anything about it?!? Someone in the other thread said, "Sometimes I see a refund a few days later...sometimes I don't." Ack-- if I see a double charge, I send a nasty (well, sort of) email to clickbank refunds department and request a refund... then I send a short apology note to the customer. Double charges make me angry. I can't stand that Clickbank allows them to happen. As a publisher, it's downright embarrassing and stressful! And shame on publishers who turn a blind eye to the double charges in their stats. Charging customers twice is like stealing money-- it's just plain wrong. Okay... I'm done venting.... thankyouverymuch for reading my rant.
LOL - Funny that your 100'th post is a rant. Yes it's a tedious hiccup - have only had the pleasure a few times luckily, but I usually contact the customer and offer a paypal payment rebate + bonus first - avoid the refund... NC.
I'm all for making money... but knowingly accepting money that is a double charge seems very unethical. If any less than 100% of my customers' double charges end up with a refund, I am unhappy. Whether you are an affiliate, a publisher, or CEO of Clickbank, if you ignore a double charge, you are accepting money that a customer does not intend you to receive. I want to receive money because I provide a product that someone thinks is worthwhile. That's it. - FB
Lol! Sorry... I love Clickbank, but that's just one of those things that REALLY bothers me. It was worth using my 100th post on the rant. Smart idea to offer a paypal rebate and avoid the refund. Do most customers take you up on it... or do they request the "official" clickbank refund? What if it was an affiliate sale? Do you then have to swallow the affiliate commission? - FB
Some double charges do happen by mistake. But how do you know that none of the customers want more than 1 copy of the product? About 1% of my sales are double charges. Of these 10% refund one of the charges. Another 10% refund both. I even saw a quadruple charge once that wasn't refunded. I just let it be. As for contacting the customer. I think it's a bad idea. Most customers don't even know what affiliate marketing is about and they may be surprised at least if someone who's not a seller nor payment processor contacts them regarding their finances. It just may cause more trouble for anyone than it's worth.
What do you think is the affiliate's responsibility regards double charges? Have any of your affiliates ever contacted you about a double charge, bringing it to your attention?
No, my affiliates have never contacted me about a double charge. But, in their defense, they're not getting the double copy of the "invoice" email that comes into the publisher's email box either. Unless they happen to spot it on the clickbank stats, they might not know. As a publisher, it's obvious when there is a double charge-- you get two "invoice" emails sent within a munute or two of each other. WHen I see this, I feel that it is my responsibility to inform the customer and clickbank of any over charges I notice. As an affiliate, if I notice a double charge, it would be my responsibility to send a quick email to the publisher and "suggest" that he/she refund one of the orders. But you're right-- I don't feel it is right for affiliates to contact customers. I suspect that 100% of my customers' double charges have been by mistake. I can't see why anyone would do it on purpose. Hahahaha... it's an eBook. Who is really going to buy multiple copies!?!? C'mon everybody... is it really wrong to be ETHICAL in this business???? If you accidentally rip someone off... and you notice it... shouldn't you do something about it?
Yes, you should. Affiliates: Notify your publisher if you can. You leave yourself and them open to a refund/chargeback which hurts statistics. Try to work together to offer a rebate-bonus, as an affiliate though you should not contact the customer directly. Publishers: Contact your customer and do the same as above, avoid the refund if possible. It's funny that in this business there is a two fold offering most times: a) Products that are logical, needed, and customers buy based on need for consumption or incredible enthusiasm on their desire. These products are usually tangible and again - logical to buy. b) Products that fill peoples head with influence promoted via incredible sales letters/presentations while targeting a customers weak point/emotion/sense/creating and solving a problem..., and these usually borderline TOS/law, and of course 'ethics'. I find that over the years, if you plan on really sticking around, you should put a standard on your name/business - like an iso 9200 practice (only the best/cleanest). You will earn your customers long term trust and will essentially learn to create a top quality standard of business without any sneaky/bad habits that may repeat downstream with other more lucrative ventures. (all this product pushing is fine, what if you were closing contracts for 50K, would you still be sneaky about it or influence/overlook those overpaying?). If you accidentally rip someone off - you should do the right thing - and at the very least believe in Karma! Someday it will happen to you or already has and you don't know it yet. NC.