Sorry man that sucks big time.
It didn't involve enough money to mention but something very similar happened with me and directleads as well last year. After that it threw a big enough red flag for me to stop all business with them before it turned into big money.
That's good that you didn't get in too deep before realizing they'd screw you over. I wouldn't want this happen to anyone else. I would have pulled out as well if I didn't get a guarantee as well as payments from them.
Yeah DirectLeads should have definitely been in the title. Maybe a mod can change that? If this ranks then they'll be forced to come in here to try and explain this mess.
I didn't mention them starting out because this was more of a learning experience for me rather than using WF to get my money. If this was a month or two ago I would have put Direct Leads, Direct Track, and Digital River all in the post title. I appreciate WF and all it's members for the comments and tips though, great community we have here.
DirectLeads will be at LeadsCon New York City booth #40 on July 26th and 27th. It would be pretty easy to get word out on the show floor about them to hundreds of affiliates, and confront them personally. This info is on their homepage.
OP: I admire your zen attitude. If this had happened to me, I'd be bouncing off rubber walls by now.
I should make shirts about how Direct Leads dicked me and hand them out at LeadCon. So many possibilities.
I love WF for that, already found this thread on page 5 on my Google. Posted a few minutes ago how Direct Leads scams affiliates and it already ranks for the term Direct Leads and Direct Leads CPA Network
Now I just hope this thread makes it close to rank 1 so every Affiliate interested in working with Direct Leads reads that the DirectLeads CPA Network cheats their affiliates
Yeah I noticed even without their name in the title it's ranking. Hopefully the others that they owe money to will come out soon and share their misfortunes with the company.
I agree with people above.
Start off by writing a letter to the CEO (and VPs) and directing them to the thread. Tell him that you will do everything in your power (in court and out of court) to get your money.
Just don't give up until you get the full dollar amount. They are a big business and I would assume they care enough about their reputation that they'd pay you rather than let everyone know about this.
JUST DON'T GIVE UP.
The thing is, I've talked to a lot of their representatives. They all said the same shit. Looks like Digital River as a company has a horrible attitude and practices bad ethics, so I'm not sure how much that will really help. Plus I rather not waste my time on them, all this shit consumed a lot of my life previosly.
I won't give up though, especially with the help I've gotten here and the people who have contacted me directly, which I deeply appreciate.