Background Summary:
Skrilla made a thread on here demanding that MarketLeverage pay him the money he made on a recent mailing campaign he had done for their advertiser (esurveypanel). Esurveypanel's client being Harry & David was the campaign Skrilla chose to run through MarketLeverage.
Argument Summary:
- Skrilla created a thread here demanding that MarketLeverage is at fault for not paying him for the campaign he ran, explaining how he changed the email advertisement so to gain access to the inboxes easier, and to make it convert better. The second part of his argument was that even after MarketLeverage was forced to kill the campaign, he was told he would still be paid for the campaign.
- MarketLeverage claimed that Skrilla violated their Terms of Service, and the terms of both the CAN-SPAM compliance act, and the TOS of their advertiser esurveypanel and would not be getting paid, regardless if they were paid for the campaign or not, because of the violation to their TOS.
- As a result of the mailing, esurveypanel lost their client advertiser (Harry & David), recieved lots of complaints from the mailing, and were sent some legal documents from H&D.
Results found:
After looking into the issue pretty in-depth, and speaking with esurveypanel, MarketLeverage, and Skrilla, making sure that each party got their points and stories across, it was pretty obvious that Skrilla was at fault and should not be paid. You'd think it would be over right there, but to Skrilla's defense, there was an email sent to him AFTER he was shut off from the campaign by an executive at MarketLeverage saying he would be paid for the campaign but under some circumstances. The CEO of MarketLeverage had no idea about this email being sent, and acknowledged that it was definitely a big mistake, but volunteered to honor it.
WickedFire's judgement call:
In terms of the original issue. Of violating the TOS with MarketLeverage, Esurveypanel and H&D, Skrilla is 100% AT FAULT, and should not be paid for violating the terms for the following reasons:
1- Removing the Rules/Terms from the original email creative without the permission of the advertiser.
2- Removing the physical address (CAN-SPAM) of the advertiser without their permission.
3- Not disclosing all of the details that may have put him at fault, and instead putting full blame on MarketLeverage and their advertiser Esurveypanel.
In terms of the executive at MarketLeverage sending Skrilla an email saying they would pay him but then backing out of it or not making good on their word, they are held accountable for it and have agreed to pay, regardless of the outcome from the original complaint.
End result:
- MarketLeverage agrees to pay Skrilla via wire a sum of $19,939.50 or all of the money he earned from the campaign that EsurveyPanel pays to MarketLeverage on net 15 or sooner.
- Skrilla will be banned from working with MarketLeverage as an affiliate for a long long time.
WickedFire's terms to these results:
- Skrilla acknowledges he was at fault from the start, and DID in fact violate the TOS of all three parties and as a result, agrees to publicly apologize to MarketLeverage, Esurveypanel, Harry&David, and to the members of WickedFire for creating such a shitstorm that could have been settled in an hour or less had he disclosed ALL of the facts instead of just his side.
- Skrilla must also privately apologize and thank MarketLeverage for the harm he may have caused to them on here with his original thread, and with the fact that they are paying him for what he earned EVEN THOUGH he was at fault, and under any other circumstances would NOT be paid.
- MarketLeverage will NOT be banned because they are NOT at any fault.
I want to make it clear now when I say that the end result was pretty unexpected and the decision on MarketLeverage's CEO Michael Jenkins should be applauded, because if it were me, I would have said "fuck him, he spammed and violated the TOS, that's his lesson for fucking up". But instead he came right out, and said that even though the email that one of his guys sent to Skrilla was a total mistake and he never approved that, he'd still pay Skrilla because they make good on their word to their affiliates.
This is also a coincidence that ML advertises on WF, because had they been found guilty and at fault, they would have been removed immediately and added to our evil banned list.
Phew. Alright, case closed with a happy ending for all. Next time someone makes a post like this, you better disclose all of the details first and only post on the forum as a LAST RESULT when all else fails.
Skrilla made a thread on here demanding that MarketLeverage pay him the money he made on a recent mailing campaign he had done for their advertiser (esurveypanel). Esurveypanel's client being Harry & David was the campaign Skrilla chose to run through MarketLeverage.
Argument Summary:
- Skrilla created a thread here demanding that MarketLeverage is at fault for not paying him for the campaign he ran, explaining how he changed the email advertisement so to gain access to the inboxes easier, and to make it convert better. The second part of his argument was that even after MarketLeverage was forced to kill the campaign, he was told he would still be paid for the campaign.
- MarketLeverage claimed that Skrilla violated their Terms of Service, and the terms of both the CAN-SPAM compliance act, and the TOS of their advertiser esurveypanel and would not be getting paid, regardless if they were paid for the campaign or not, because of the violation to their TOS.
- As a result of the mailing, esurveypanel lost their client advertiser (Harry & David), recieved lots of complaints from the mailing, and were sent some legal documents from H&D.
Results found:
After looking into the issue pretty in-depth, and speaking with esurveypanel, MarketLeverage, and Skrilla, making sure that each party got their points and stories across, it was pretty obvious that Skrilla was at fault and should not be paid. You'd think it would be over right there, but to Skrilla's defense, there was an email sent to him AFTER he was shut off from the campaign by an executive at MarketLeverage saying he would be paid for the campaign but under some circumstances. The CEO of MarketLeverage had no idea about this email being sent, and acknowledged that it was definitely a big mistake, but volunteered to honor it.
WickedFire's judgement call:
In terms of the original issue. Of violating the TOS with MarketLeverage, Esurveypanel and H&D, Skrilla is 100% AT FAULT, and should not be paid for violating the terms for the following reasons:
1- Removing the Rules/Terms from the original email creative without the permission of the advertiser.
2- Removing the physical address (CAN-SPAM) of the advertiser without their permission.
3- Not disclosing all of the details that may have put him at fault, and instead putting full blame on MarketLeverage and their advertiser Esurveypanel.
In terms of the executive at MarketLeverage sending Skrilla an email saying they would pay him but then backing out of it or not making good on their word, they are held accountable for it and have agreed to pay, regardless of the outcome from the original complaint.
End result:
- MarketLeverage agrees to pay Skrilla via wire a sum of $19,939.50 or all of the money he earned from the campaign that EsurveyPanel pays to MarketLeverage on net 15 or sooner.
- Skrilla will be banned from working with MarketLeverage as an affiliate for a long long time.
WickedFire's terms to these results:
- Skrilla acknowledges he was at fault from the start, and DID in fact violate the TOS of all three parties and as a result, agrees to publicly apologize to MarketLeverage, Esurveypanel, Harry&David, and to the members of WickedFire for creating such a shitstorm that could have been settled in an hour or less had he disclosed ALL of the facts instead of just his side.
- Skrilla must also privately apologize and thank MarketLeverage for the harm he may have caused to them on here with his original thread, and with the fact that they are paying him for what he earned EVEN THOUGH he was at fault, and under any other circumstances would NOT be paid.
- MarketLeverage will NOT be banned because they are NOT at any fault.
I want to make it clear now when I say that the end result was pretty unexpected and the decision on MarketLeverage's CEO Michael Jenkins should be applauded, because if it were me, I would have said "fuck him, he spammed and violated the TOS, that's his lesson for fucking up". But instead he came right out, and said that even though the email that one of his guys sent to Skrilla was a total mistake and he never approved that, he'd still pay Skrilla because they make good on their word to their affiliates.
This is also a coincidence that ML advertises on WF, because had they been found guilty and at fault, they would have been removed immediately and added to our evil banned list.
Phew. Alright, case closed with a happy ending for all. Next time someone makes a post like this, you better disclose all of the details first and only post on the forum as a LAST RESULT when all else fails.
. they won't pay him for the fucked up campaign. i think this is a good resolution overall since ML didn't get paid for it either.
