Text Link Advertiser Requesting a Refund | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

Post edited 11:38 am – January 20, 2011 by Budgeting in the Fun Stuff

HECK NO.  I have a feeling I'll be seeing the same email when I get home (creditloan.com and their other 3 sites, right?).  I will give them the choice of leaving the links up for the remainder of their term or taking the loss on their own.  They paid for x term (I don't remember) and I fulfilled my part of the bargain.  If they have a change of heart because they want to "go new driections", too bad for them…

That said, if I ever do leave blogging, I will give pro-rated refunds to anybody advertising with me then.  That would be my fault and I see no problem with being fair.  But, this is completely on the advertiser.

KNS Financial said:

 

---

I think you should give a prorated refund and ask for an explanation. This way you can avoid burning any bridges – especially if the advertiser is part of a network.
 

Good point. I was going to, and I think I still do ;), agree with Crystal. If the advertiser agrees to a year term…then you should get paid for a year.

But if it's a network, then yeah, you don't wanna tick them off in case they come back in the future.

Okay, I understand not wanting to tick them off, but they are making their own choice that has nothing to do with my site – in fact, my site got BETTER.  So no, I will politely explain that I fulfilled my half of the contract and they are more than welcome to change their ad, leave their ad, or remove their ad, but I'm not in the business of keeping money on hand for unfounded refunds.  :-)

Sandy has a good point! Having terms like that is a good idea. I'll put that on my list of things to generate. In the meantime, if I didn't have that, I would most likely give a pro-rated return and a slight scolding/explanation.

sandy@yesiamcheap said:

Ladies and gents.  You can avoid this by clearly stating everything in your terms when you strike a deal with the advertiser.  I send EVERY advertiser a bill with the terms laid out at the bottom which states that there are no refunds and all sales are FINAL.  By choosing to pay the bill they agree to all of my terms.  I give them a 7 day window to request a refund if they feel that I have not fulfilled my end of the terms.

Hindsight is 20-20 but forethought keeps the money in your pockets. 

Sandy, do you have a copy of your terms that you'd be willing to share?    If its generic enough then it would be handy for other people to use the same terms without reinvengint the wheel.

I never wrote up terms myself and I should really do so.

I'm with Sandy on this, you need a written contract with every advertiser covering all your agreements (ad placement, content, payment terms and refund policy).  Since you don't have a contract, you'll have to use your best judgement but I wouldn't give them a refund :-)

B

thanks alot Sandy. my blog is still new and without advertisers, but i'm sure your template will come in handy in the future

Thanks for the template Sandy.  I will make my own contract from your template and use it for all future sales.

Since I didn't use a contract with the advertiser I'm referring to in this post our emails constitute the contract.  We didn't discuss a refund but from what we did discuss I don't see how the advertiser would be entitled to a refund. 

I'm new to Yakezie (launching my newest blog soon), but I've been in the internet marketing game for awhile in SEO, and link brokering for financial-related firms.  Forex/stockbrokers/CFDs in the UK and spreadbetting elsewhere.

What I've found is that you're best to just give people like that a prorated refund.  Is it a pain in the neck? Yeah, you bet, especially since you probably gave them a one year discount.  But it also avoids a lot of trouble as well.  I remember one time I refused a refund, citing a particular agreement.  The next day I was DDoSed…can't make that up!  It was over such a petty amount, too.  That is the internet for you…plenty of people who operate in countries that unfortunately don't recognize basic crimes, let alone "cyber-crime."  Not like there's any intergalactic, e-police force either. ;)

Definitely always keep a contract in hand, and clearly specify the location of the advertising.  That invoice above is great, but I'd also reference an additional screenshot with an example ad placement.  Some advertisers/networks are insane about their placement…you wouldn't think 2-3px doesn't matter, but apparently it does LOL!

YMMV, but as far as I'm concerned I don't bother putting up a fight unless A: I have invested my own, tangible capital in the contract, thus putting myself in a position of losing money on a failure to perform or B: it is a sum of money that might leave my stomach growling should I lose it.  

Hello JT!

Thank you for your input on the entire thing (i've been following along). What is DDoSed?