VIDEOSECRETS - affiliate program ripoff?

byte4plus3 Peon

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#1

There was a long 10 page thread about Videosecrets over on GFY (adult business board) about how Videosecrets stopped paying an affiliate on lifetime revshare because he wasn't sending them traffic anymore, but Videosecrets has bought advertising on GFY before, so the admin there decided to remove the whole thread and banned the affiliate that was ripped off in the first place!

that is really sad that companies can operate like that and just because they are buying ads they can get away with anything and the ones that are being taken advantage of are censored and banned

byte4plus3, Jun 18, 2008 IP

byte4plus3 Peon

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#2

censorship is wrong

here is the post that the affiliate posted that got him banned for criticizing an advertiser there:

chromewave-on-gfy said:

VIDEO SECRETS AKA VS MEDIA SCAMMED ME AND DON'T PAY!

I'm posting my experience with Video Secrets aka VS Media to let other webmasters know what type of company they truly are and hopefully prevent others from experiencing the same bullshit I just went through with them. FYI, I welcome Video Secrets to comment and respond to this thread and should they choose to do the right thing and reinstate my account and pay me the back money they owe me, I will certainly post on here that they chose to do the right thing and did indeed pay me. Here's the story:

I had several adult sites back 02-05. I joined the "lifetime" rev-share program with Video Secrets as an up sell in my members area and began sending them traffic. I did very well with them and was averaging about $20k per year (my cut). In 2005, I closed down the websites and left the industry to pursue other ventures. Video Secrets along with several other companies I had sent members to, kept sending me checks for years to come (as they should). Year to date from 2005 when I closed down the website, Video Secrets paid nearly 30k to me since I closed down the website. They paid like clockwork every month and I never had any issues with them until recently. In November of 2007, the checks stopped coming. I was checking an old e-mail account that I used years back and found an e-mail sent to me in March of this year from Eddie Bastian asking me to please get in touch with them regarding my account. I then e-mailed him back last week when I finally found the e-mail letting him know that this was an old e-mail address and to please contact me at my new e-mail. He responded back to the old e-mail address and said "Unfortunately your account has been deactivated as of March 18, 2008. We did or due diligence to get a hold of you for months but could never reach you. Youâ€™re more than welcome to sign up for a new account if you want to give us another chance."

I wrote him back of course upset wondering what level of "diligence" was done to cancel this large of an account since I never once received one physical letter via mail to the address they had been mailing the checks to that had been getting cashed monthly for the past 5 years. He never responded to that e-mail. I e-mailed him several more times and got no response. So finally I called their corporate offices and left a voice mail for Eddie Bastian, Tim Siner, Jeff Kozlov, and Brad Estes. I finally got a hold of someone in accounting named Monet and she informed me that the account and funds were put on hold in November 2007. She Informed me that in November and December in 2007 alone I was owed $5,014.50. She said she was not able to see how much was owed up until March 18th, when Eddie said the account was deactivated. She was very nice and said she would have Jeff call me back and personally give him the note.

I spoke to Jeff several days ago and he said that they had been trying to get a hold of me for about a year via e-mail and my out-dated cell phone number on the account but were unsuccessful in reaching me. He then told me that they decided to terminate the account because they noticed I hadn't sent them any traffic since 2005. I asked him why they never thought to mail me a physical letter stating the account was in jeopardy of being cancelled and he told me that one time (he doesn't know when), that he put a business card in with the check. If any of you get VS Media checks, you'll know that they litter them with flyers on new promotions, programs, etc. (most of it just shit you throw away). He claims he put a "note" in there asking me to call him. I can assure everyone here on my parents grave I never received a physical note in with one of the checks. I do believe I did receive a business card one time, but since I'm out of the industry with no current plans of returning....honestly what is the point of contacting a sales rep who's going to want to talk about sending more traffic, etc... I had no idea at any time that if I did not contact a sales rep that my account could and would be killed! At no time, did I every receive any notification even in my old e-mails that I can see back up to one year stating the account was at risk of being closed.

So basically as it sits now.....I had an account with Video Secrets that made me about $15k per year and am currently owed probably about $7k-$10k in past due payments. Jeff has been a complete jerk and keeps informing me that it's in their terms that they can cancel an account if they ever choose to for any reason. I of course believe this is completely breaking the lifetime commitment revshare program that I sent them customers that made them a great deal of money and are continuing to make them a great deal of money and what they are doing is ethically wrong. They're basically pouting because I stopped doing business with them and are selfishly stealing my money and telling me to "go fuck yourself" because they believe I will never send them any new business. My final offer to Jeff to settle this issue (which is still a bullshit deal for me), was simply pay me the money that I was owed from November of 2007 when they started holding the money and through March 18th 2008, when Eddie informed me the account was officially deactivated. Jeff said OK (as if he seemed to agree that was a fair settlement) and would get back to me with the amount of the check. Several more days went by and I never heard back from him so I called him today to see if the check was mailed out and he then informed me that his boss didnâ€™t feel that they had to even pay me that money (even though the account was active when I earned that money) because of their terms that allow them to cancel an account for any reason. SCAMMERS!!!

I've always respected this board and remember it was always good to me and my fellow webmasters back in the day and hope that fellow webmasters will chime in along with me and encourage VS Media to do the right thing and re-instate my account, pay me the back owed money and always honor the "lifetime" rev-share program they pitch. Trust me, I'm sure if this happened to anyone of you, you would feel the same about earning money off customers you referred to them. Remember, they wouldn't be getting that money if I never sent them the traffic in the first place. Thanks for your help guys! I am also posting this on several other boards and contacting my attorney's. My advice until this is resolved is NOT TO DO BUSINESS WITH VIDEO SECRETS AKA VS MEDIA! I will post any developments here on this thread.
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byte4plus3, Jun 18, 2008 IP

byte4plus3 Peon

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#3

and shame on GFY for censoring the free discussion between webmasters, how else can webmasters protect each other from bad affiliate sponsors, just because they are advertising on a board shouldn't give them a free pass to not be criticised if they are doing something wrong

byte4plus3, Jun 18, 2008 IP

canam Peon

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#4

It seems to be common in business that money comes before right and wrong

It shouldn't be that way, and I agree I hate censorship

canam, Jun 18, 2008 IP

Alifk Active Member

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#5

Thats terrible. The advertising revenue from them probably isnt even that much.. Its sad really

Alifk, Jun 19, 2008 IP

narsticle Peon

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#6

if people dont like GFY's moves they will leave

narsticle, Jun 20, 2008 IP

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VIDEOSECRETS - affiliate program ripoff?

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