dominique
Dormant account
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2003
- Location
- The Boonies
I received a note that my claim is being investigated.
I filed my claim with them and must say they were my biggest earners back when promoting, since then my affiliate business tanked a great deal and thats because while working with GP i devoted almost my entire site to them for over 5 years, they sponsored contest after contest and promotion after promotion, they were my main advertisers and when they locked me out it hurt greatly!
With that said, i still believe this is bullshit. Yes they may pay us a drop in the bucket of what they think they owe, but what about all the players that may have signed up but had not yet made thier first deposit back before Dec.08? What if they have all become active players since? Don't they owe us that money also? I mean they are still our players and were supposed to be for life, so as far as i am concerned they will never pay what is owed us because there is no way to put a money amount on this.
There are still all american players playing. They just aren't taking new ones.
The most flawed thing is that they are NOT contacting affiliates. The great majority of affiliates do NOT visit the ecogra site or any message boards. They need to be notified by mail that claims can be submitted.
Our plan would have included contacting all Grand Prive affiliates (not just those who submitted a claimant form) in the same manner that a class action lawsuit informs all affected persons.
That's when I contacted Andy from Affiliate Guard Dog (AGD), and even got the support of my contact at Grand Priv to allow Andy to oversee the audit, which was to be handled by an independent auditor such as Price Waterhouse or similar at the time.
I know eCOGRA started talking to GP early in 2009, even though at that stage eCOGRA weren't directly servicing affiliates, so I imagine reaching an agreement as to how to proceed has taken some time.
Both PR's call for eCOGRA to "notify all affiliates" which I think most people realise is probably not possible without co-operation, hence the claim form, as eCOGRA don't have an affiliate base to reach out to directly. Hopefully Andy & Warren have spoken to Andrew Beveridge or Tex Rees and made them aware of how they can help with that because the last thing we need is internal disagreements over procedures and processes right now. Also, if AGD/CAP clash with eCOGRA that will be potentially detrimental to affiliates now that eCOGRA have decided to assist in representing them. Unity is what is needed now.
I also wouldn't mind betting that GP don't have the affiliate contact details anymore, or else what you suggest Dom would be an obvious action.
I expect AGD and CAP will email/PM their members to let them know of the claim process anyway so hopefully that will help reach far and wide.
One thing I am pleased to see is that eCOGRA have got lawyers involved in this. I have alread had two emails from the law firm. It would be great if the experience of CAP and AGD can be used to assist in the process.
While these talks were still in progress, out of the blue over the weekend, came the ecogra press release.
Affiliates were completely side stepped.
One has to wonder: "why???"
One thought: AGD/CAP have spoken to GP about getting the list of their affiliates, and presumably from reading the PR reached agreement to use it: they should let eCOGRA know that this information is available because it sounds like GP possibly weren't as open with eCOGRA on that front.
Contacting ALL GP affiliates is the most important aspect that was sidestepped.
If all affiliates are not contacted - then I simply cannot forgive Grand Prive's past actions. I'll be happy for those affiliates who got their due, of course, but that won't earn Grand Prive's respect back.
Affiliate involvement has been effectively severed.
Do you mean eCOGRA have been contacted and they said they don't want any assistance?
Do you mean eCOGRA have been contacted and they said they don't want any assistance?
This is the case.
That's a shame. I would have expected them to ask for AGD/CAP to send out mass Emails/PM's to cast a wider net at least. And it sounds like AGD/CAP had agreement from Grand Prive to use their database - they shouldn't have turned that offer down.
I'll chat to Bryan and see if he can talk to eCOGRA on monday.
Do you think with Bryans help and the first order of biz we could get the 21st deadline extended first and foremost? I am worried for the affs that will not make the deadline.
In other words, contact mails went out to only those who already were on ecogras mailing list. Not GP's aff data which is unacceptable of course. Especially with a short deadline!
Worth asking.
It sounds to me like GP have not offered this info up to eCOGRA and only to CAP/AGD. Andy: can you or Warren step in and help resolve that one possibly?
It does seem though that if eCOGRA wanted to do a thorough job of this by being extremely attentive to accuracy and detail then this would be one of the first things they would ask for from GP IMO...
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